The vast majority of Christians (and nonChristians) today would agree that racism is immoral. So, to some, there might seem to be little point in making a theological case for the immorality of racism. However, as much as we might like to think otherwise, there are some Christians today who hold racist attitudes. Additionally, the topic of racism and how to address it have become prominent social and political issues in American society in recent years. So, it is important for Christians to engage in careful theological reflection about why, from a Christian perspective, racism is morally wrong, and how the Church should address it.
Racism and Scripture
Christian Scripture never directly addresses the issue of racism. This is because “race” is a modern concept. Certainly, people have always recognized differences between different ethnic groups. However, the division of all of humanity into a number of discrete “races,” each of which has more internal similarity than it does similarity with other “races,” is a product of modern thought. This concept has been soundly debunked scientifically, showing it to be merely a social construct. Racism, that is, the justification of the domination of members of one “race” by members of another “race,” has thus been unmasked as an unscientific theory created in order to justify various forms of oppression and injustice.
Thus, we should not expect to find explicit discussion of racism in ancient Scripture, and we do not. However, Scripture does have things to say about division and hostility between different ethnic groups. We should examine what Scripture has to say about these issues, and see what theological implications we can draw from it for the modern problem of racism.
In the story of Scripture, we see God forming a covenant relationship with a particular people group: the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This people group, Israel, becomes God’s chosen people, given a special privileged relationship with God and called to be separate from the nations around them. However, even in the Old Testament, the boundaries of God’s covenant people were not sharply defined along ethnic lines. Joseph had an Egyptian wife (who became the ancestor of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) (Gen 41:45). When the Israelites left Egypt, various other ethnic groups joined together with them (Ex 12:38). One of Moses’s wives was from Cush (east Africa) (Num 12:1). When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, at least some Canaanites (Rahab and her family), were able to become part of Israel (Josh 6:25). Later, in the book of Ruth, we see Ruth the Moabite marry Boaz and become part of Israel. Both Rahab and Ruth were ancestors of King David, and, eventually, of Jesus the Messiah (Matt 1:5).
On the other hand, God does warn the Israelites not to intermarry with the inhabitants of Canaan (Deut 7:3; Josh 23:12-13). Moses commands the Israelites, “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation [i.e., not ever]. . . Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live” (Deut 23: 3,6). The post-exilic books of Ezra and Nehemiah present Israelite men marrying foreign women as a major problem; they deal with this problem by excluding those of foreign descent from Israel and having everyone send away their foreign wives (Ezra 9-10; Neh 13).
It is important to recognize, however, that these commands about not intermingling with foreigners have absolutely nothing to do with a sense of ethnic/racial superiority or hierarchy. The reason God warns the Israelites not to intermarry with the Canaanites is so that the Israelites will not be influenced by them to worship foreign gods (Deut 7:4). The reason Nehemiah was concerned about Israelites marrying foreign women was that their children were being raised as pagans (Neh 13:24-27). We can contrast this with Rahab and Ruth, both of whom professed faith in the God of Israel (Josh 2:8-13; Ruth 1:16). Moses’s command to exclude Moabites and Ammonites from Israel has a different rationale: it is “because they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and hired Balaam the son of Balor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you” (Deut 23:4). This is the one case where the Old Testament does seem to provide a troubling affirmation of ethnic hostility. However, we should note that this hostility is based in a historical conflict, not in ethnic/racial difference per se.
It is tempting to point to the New Testament’s teaching about Jews and Gentiles being united in Christ as an anti-racist teaching. Paul tells us that Jesus has destroyed “the dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:14). This, many argue, means that we are supposed to end hostilities between different races and to bring about racial reconciliation.
However, on closer examination, this augment does not really work. Paul had an enormous conflict with the “Judaizers” who objected to the inclusion of Gentiles within the Church. However, there is absolutely no evidence that any of Paul’s opponents (or any member of the early Church) had a problem with including ethnic Gentiles per se in the Church. What they had a problem with was including Gentiles within the Church without them being circumcised and following the Law of Moses. The division between Jew and Gentile was not a difference of ethnicity per se; it was a religious, cultic, and ceremonial difference. Paul’s reference to the “wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile is not an abstract reference to ethnic/racial conflict; it is a reference to the wall around God’s holy temple, where Gentiles were not allowed to enter. Jesus has provided a way for Gentiles to enter God’s Holy presence, without being circumcised and following the Law of Moses; thus, Jew and Gentile can now be united into one holy people, the Church. The teachings of the New Testament about Jews and Gentiles being united in Christ is not an anti-racist teaching; it is a teaching about how all people can now become part of God’s holy covenant people through Jesus.
The Theology of Anti-Racism
So, if there are no explicit anti-racist teachings in Scripture, why should Christians be opposed to racism? There may not be explict anti-racist teachings in Scripture, but the story of the Gospel does provide a firm basis for the repudiation of racism.
According to Scripture, the God of Israel is the Creator and Ruler of the entire human race. All human beings are of one race created in the image of God, giving all human beings, whatever their ethnicity, the same inherent dignity and worth (Gen 1:26-28). There is no hint anywhere in Scripture that God has created some human beings more valuable than or superior to others. God did choose Israel to be His special holy people, but He is very clear that this was only because of His grace, not because Israel was better than any other nation (Deut 9:1-6). Moreover, Scripture is clear that God cares for all of humanity. While God focuses on His relationship with Israel, He does this with the intention of through them eventually bringing His blessings to all the nations of the world (Isa 2:1-5).
According to Gen 11:1-8, the division of humanity into various nations first occurred at the Tower of Babel. Displeased with humanity being united in opposition to His will, God confused their speech into various languages and scattered them across the earth. In the book of Acts, we see the promise of a reversal of the Tower of Babel incident at Pentecost (Acts 2). By the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles speak in other tongues, and people from all different tongues gathered there are all able to hear and understand what they are saying. The apostle Peter then invites them to believe in Jesus and be baptized into the Church, declaring that God’s promise of salvation “is for you and for your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39).
Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ means proclaiming that people of every tongue and nation across the whole earth are invited to be united into one holy people, the Church, through Jesus. The divisions between ethnic groups and nations, begun at the Tower of Babel, will cease as humanity is united into one nation. This time, however, it will be a unity in diversity, with various tongues and tribes all together (Rev 7:9). And this time, humanity will be united not in opposition to God’s will, but in joyful submission to it.
The holy nation of the Church is a family. It is a body. It is a community of love. This means that any divisions or hostilities created by the world between various groups have no place within the Church. This includes divisions and hostilities based on differences of sex or socioeconomic class. It also includes divisions and hostilities based on differences of ethnicity or “race.” Families love, accept, and care for one another, in spite of their differences. Bodies cannot be divided, or else they die. Loving one another as Christ loved us means rejecting oppression, domination, and exploitation in favor of kindness and service. If the Church tolerates divisions or hostilities within itself on the basis of ethnicity or “race,” then it has turned away from its identity as the body of Christ.
The Christian response to racism, then, is not to scream in protest at some allegedly racist thing some nonChristian did in some far off city. The Christian response to racism is for the Church to visibly be a countercultural community in which racism is unthinkable, and divisions and hostilities based on “race” simply do not exist. If the Church does this, it can provide a model to the world of what racial reconciliation looks like, acting as salt and light within a racist culture.
Unfortunately, there is a long, ugly history of racism within the American church. The legacy of this is that Sunday morning is still one of the most racially segregated times of the week. This is a major blow to the credibility of the Church’s talk about racial reconciliation, and a significant blow to the credibility of the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel. If the Church cannot bring about racial reconciliation within its own walls, how can it expect nonChristians, who do not know God and are enslaved to sin, to enact racial justice? Churches should seriously consider plans to deliberately integrate racially uniform congregations into mixed-race congregations. The process may be awkward, even painful, but it will be of significant value in better showing the world what God’s Kingdom looks like: people of every sort united in one loving family gathered around praising and serving the crucified and risen Lord and Savior of all the nations of the earth.