Kerby Anderson

The events over the last two weeks are reason enough to ask a tough question. Why do some people believe there are superior races and inferior races? That is certainly not a biblical perspective.

Mark Bailey is the President of Dallas Theological Seminary. He has written an insightful commentary on The Absolute Absurdity of a Supreme Race. His biblical argument looks at two key Bible passages. First, is the biblical account of creation that explains that, “God made each and every human being in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27). But not only does the idea of a supreme race contradict the biblical revelation of creation, it contradicts the Great Commission where “Jesus commanded his disciples to reach and teach all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).”

So where does this idea of superior and inferior races come from? In the past, each race and country probably thought of themselves as superior (Greeks and Romans for example thought they were superior to the barbarians). But if you want to find the origin of the modern idea of inferior races, you need look no further than Charles Darwin.

The full title of his book was: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle of Life. In his book, The Descent of Man, he predicted that “the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races.” It is an interesting irony that although Darwin was an abolitionist who hated slavery, he also in his books promoted the idea of superior races and inferior races.

Once again we see the clash of worldviews. One worldview says that every person is created in the image of God and therefore has value and dignity. The other worldview says that we are an evolutionary product, and that some races are more evolved than others.