Leading the Way

illustration by Viktor Miller-Gausa

Ken Ham
President/CEO
Answers in Genesis

Words like race, racism, prejudice, blacks, and whites in the media seem to be almost an everyday occurrence. But where is the church regarding the “race” issue?

I suggest that if the church believed God’s Word in Genesis, had taught creation apologetics, and raised up generations with the right foundation, it would be leading the way in dealing with such issues.

In my 40 years’ experience of traveling and speaking in churches and other Christian institutions (and from research we’ve conducted), I’ve found that

• The majority of Christian leaders compromise Genesis with evolution and/or millions of years. And sadly, Darwinian evolution is inherently a racist philosophy. There’s no doubt Darwin fueled racism, even in the church, with his ideas of lower and higher races, or that certain dark-skinned people were closer to the supposed apelike ancestors of man than those with light skin, and so on, as detailed in his book The Descent of Man.
• Many conservative Christian leaders avoid teaching on Genesis because it’s considered too controversial or they don’t know how to deal with what they perceive as scientific issues.

As result of these factors (and others), most people in churches really don’t understand the foundational importance of the book of Genesis, and they don’t understand the true history of the world. Because of this, they really have no basis to effectively deal with topics like racism.

This is also reinforced by the fact that a recent survey by Crossway regarding Bible reading habits clearly showed that people reading the Bible spend much more time toward the end and not much time reading the beginning (for instance, Genesis). This to me reinforces the fact that most people really don’t see the history behind the gospel as important—yet it’s foundational to all doctrine and foundational to dealing with racism.

Bible Reading: Frequency & Comprehension

(January 2018 Crossway survey)

Which section of the Bible do you read most often?

Which do you find hardest to understand?

It is my contention that if the church had stood uncompromisingly on the book of Genesis and taught creation apologetics to equip people to defend the Christian faith and thus the history in Genesis, the church would be leading the way in combating racism. And the church should be!

I wrote a book for kids ages eight through teens (though adults will also enjoy it) titled One Blood for Kids—What the Bible Says About Race. In this book, I teach that all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve, so there are no biological races because all people belong to the same race—we’re all one family. I also explain that because of the tower of Babel event after the flood, the human population was dispersed into different language groups that resulted in different people or ethnic groups over time.

Also, the book explains that all humans have the same basic skin color because of a pigment called melanin. This pigment is manufactured in special structures in the outer layer of our skin, and the instructions come from the genes we have in our DNA. Thus, there are no truly “black” or “white” people.

These basic truths from God’s Word also help people to understand that all humans are equal before God, all are sinners and need salvation.

Those reading these concepts in the book will then understand that the answer to racism is to see people converted through the saving power of the gospel as they believe and apply the true history of the world that God reveals to us in his Word beginning in Genesis.

We are so burdened to see people understand this message that Answers in Genesis’ VBS from 2019, The Incredible Race, dealt with this topic in detail for kids across the country and around the world.

Yes, the church could be leading the way in fighting prejudice and racism if God’s people were motivated to do so, but so many lack information they need. AiG is doing its best to help equip the church in this area so many more voices will speak out with the truth from God’s Word, which deals powerfully with the problems of racism and prejudice so ingrained in our culture.

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26).

The answer to racism is simple. People need to be saved and build their worldview on God’s Word beginning in Genesis, but it will require people to become biblically and scientifically literate and to earnestly “contend for the faith” (Jude 3).

I urge God’s people—let’s lead the way and deal with the sin of racism!