The document discusses racial tension and discrimination in the Bible and early church. It notes that while the concept of race is not found in the Bible, there are examples of what would be considered racial tension. The Bible does not support the superiority of any race, as all are created in God's image. However, some have attempted to use Scripture to justify racism and slavery. The early Jerusalem church struggled with discrimination between Jewish and Gentile believers, but the church in Antioch evolved as a superior model where grace allowed different races to be represented in leadership without discrimination.

1. RACIAL TENSION
IN THE BIBLE
LIVING FREE FROM RACISM IN A RACIALLY DIVIDED
WORLD

2. • While the concept of race is not found in the
Bible, we still find numerous examples of what
we today would classify as racial tension.
• It is also interesting to note that the popular
"doctrines" of race originated in their present
form in the 19th century as a result of modern
biology, zoology and the Darwinian
evolutionary theory.

3. • In the Scripture there is no support for a
hierarchy of races or for the superiority of
any one race.
• The weight of the Scripture is in the unity
of humankind:
• We are all created in the image of God (Gen
1:26)
• We all come from Adam and Eve (Gen 3:20)
• We all have sinned and fall short of God's
glory (Romans 3:23)

4. • The Christian faith is a faith for all
nations, a universal faith witnessing to a
universal Kingdom (Gen 18:18)
• All races are objects of God's love (Rev
7:9)
• Each human being, irrespective of age,
sex, race, nationality, culture, etcetera,
is worth more than the entire world
(John 3:16)

5. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY ATTEMPTS TO
USE THE SCRIPTURE TO JUSTIFY RACISM:
• It has been contended that Ham was born black
and that his descendants are the black race.
• A curse was placed on Ham that involved the
servitude of his son Canaan to the descendants
of Shem and Japhet.
• Therefore, all blacks are to be understood as
under the curse of God.
• Slavery is thus justified because God intended it.

6. •Some have contended that the curse and
mark on Cain was black skin and
servitude.
•Ham supposedly married a descendant of
Cain, making Ham's son Canaan doubly
cursed.
•Some have maintained that the black race
is not part of Adam's race.
•The black race is human, but constitutes
another species of man; Adam is father

7. • While others have alleged that blacks
are to be understood as two-footed
beasts.
• Because they are with us today, they
must have been in the ark but not as
part of Noah's family.
• As one of the beasts in the ark, blacks
were viewed as having no soul and
therefore not in need of God’s salvation.

8. • The ultimate argument to justify racial
discrimination and even slavery is as
follows:
• Blacks or other minority race groups are
not humans; consequently, they do not
have the rights that humans have.
• Lesser forms of prejudice have been
directed at various groups.
• All have the tendency to attribute a lesser
human status to the out group.

9. JEWS AND GENTILES IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
• In the Scriptures we find many conflicts in
relationships between Jews and Gentiles.
• We might conclude from Israel's status as the
chosen nation that God's concern for and
interest in humanity is limited to the Jewish
people, but then we would be far from the
truth.
• It is clear from the Scripture that when God chose
Abraham and gave promises to his descendants,
they were chosen not to be exclusive recipients of
the blessings of God, but rather recipients and
transmitters of that blessing to all families of the
earth.

10. •In fact, Abraham himself experienced
racial tension when he was a temporary
resident of Canaan; he was an
immigrant from a far off country.
•When he lived in Gerar he felt the
pressure of being an alien and stranger
among the people.
• Because he had fewer privileges and rights
than the people of the land, he lied about
his wife and found himself in conflict with

11. •Also note, Abraham didn't want Isaac to
marry a woman of the land of Canaan,
that he rather should marry one of his
own kind.
•When Abraham was dead and Isaac lived
on in Canaan he encountered the same
racial tension.
• The Philistines felt Isaac was too powerful
for them; he was a threat to them because

12. • When the Israelites were fruitful and became so
numerous that they filled the land of Egypt, the
Egyptians feared them and racial tension arose
immediately.
• Their numbers grew even when segregated-
placed in the land of Goshen.
• Now as the Israelites multiplied, many of the
Egyptian kings made them slaves; they were
second-class citizens because of their race.

13. • When God gave the nation of Israel his
covenant law he told them: "When an alien
lives with you in your land, do not mistreat
him.
• The alien living with you must be treated as
one of your native-born.
• Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in
Egypt”. "The Lord loves the alien, give him
food and clothing”.
• Leviticus 19:33, Deuteronomy 10:18

14. • So, we find that God very much opposed
Miriam and Aaron when they rebelled
against Moses because he had married
a black Ethiopian woman.
• Their racial attitudes and jealousy
provoked the Lord's anger toward them,
clearly showing that the Lord is against
racism.

15. •The Gentiles were far less sharply
differentiated from the Israelites in Old
Testament than in New Testament times.
•Under Old Testament regulations they were
simply non-Israelites, but they were not
hated or despised for that reason, and,
except certain tribes in Canaan, were to be
treated almost on a plane of equality.

16. • Civil rights were provided for foreigners and
they came under the same legal processes and
penalties. Exodus 12:49; Leviticus 24:22
• They were to be treated politely, loved as
those loved by God, treated generously if poor
and worthy of sharing the fruit of the harvest.
Leviticus 20:4; 24:16, 22; Numbers 15:15-16;
Deuteronomy 1:16
• Foreign servants were to receive treatment
equal to Hebrew servants. Deuteronomy 24:14

17. • Obviously the Israelites did not always live by
God’s commands and racial tension and
discrimination seemed to be quite common if we
judge by the many words the prophets spoke
against the Israelite’s prejudices.
• If you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or
the widow and do not shed innocent blood in
this place, and if you do not follow other gods to
your own harm. Jeremiah 7:6

18. • For when I brought your forefathers out of
Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give
them commands about burnt offerings and
sacrifices. Jeremiah 7:22
• According to God’s will, aliens, foreigners
and strangers were in the same category as
the fatherless and widows, they were to be
treated with care and love.
• Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the
alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil

19. JEWS AND GENTILES IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
• When we come to the Christian era, the
attitude of the Jews toward the Gentiles has
changed drastically from that of the teaching
of the Old Testament.
• In the New Testament we find the most
extreme aversion, scorn and hatred for
Gentiles.
• Children of mixed marriages were considered
bastards.
• This is what caused the Jews to be so hated by

20. SOME OF THIS WE FIND REFLECTED IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT:
• The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew
and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me
for a drink?" John 4:9
• The Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the
Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and
to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not
enter the palace. John 18:28
• He said to them: "You are well aware that it is
against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile
or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not
call any man impure or unclean”. Acts 10:28

21. BARBARIANS
• The Greeks, viewing themselves as the only truly cultured
people in the world, tended to refer to everything non-Greek
as barbarian.
• The Romans adopted Greek culture, and considered
themselves equal to the Greeks, and regarded other
languages, customs, and people as barbarian.
• In 1Corinthians 12:23, Paul says that if we speak in tongues
and are not understood by another person, we would be
barbarians to that person.
• In a profound statement that the message of Jesus Christ is
for everyone Paul says there cannot be Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,
free man, but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:11

22. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
• Although it is never explicitly stated as such, it
seems to be the common understanding in the
Old Testament that a neighbor is a fellow
member of the covenant community, that is,
another Israelite. Leviticus 6:1-7
• The Israelite is commanded to love the
neighbor as he loves himself, and later in the
same chapter he is told to love the foreigner as
well. Leviticus 19:18, Leviticus 19:34
• The alien living with you must be treated as
one of your native-born. Love him as yourself,
for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD

23. • In Judaism it is clear from Rabbinical material
that Samaritans and Gentiles living in the land
are excluded from being considered "neighbors"
and thus unworthy of love.
• Even within the Essene community at Qumran,
the "neighbor" to be respected and treated fairly
was restricted to one's fellow community
members.
• When Jesus said, "You have heard that it is said,
"You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy" he was quoting only partially from the
Old Testament. Matthew 5:43-48

24. • The last phrase reflects the contemporary Jewish
feeling toward outsiders; that is, God did not require
love toward those considered enemies but only
toward fellow countrymen.
• Jesus advocated extending the obligation reserved
for the neighbor to the enemy as well and in so
doing, destroyed the distinction between neighbor
and enemy, fellow countryman and one from another
race altogether. Matthew 5:43-48
• The irony of the story of the Good Samaritan is that
one not considered worthy to be called neighbor by
Jews was precisely the one who showed himself to be
a neighbor to the victim. Luke 10:29-37

25. • Jesus sets no limitation on who qualifies
as the neighbor, God commanded his
people to love.
• In the early church Paul twice states that
loving our neighbor is the "fulfillment of
the entire law" and James referred to the
same commandment as "the royal law".
• Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14, James
2:8

26. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE
JERUSALEM CHURCH
• The early church in Jerusalem was Jewish in
composition. However, there were two
groups of Jews within the fellowship:
• Grecian Jews. They were born in lands other
than Palestine, spoke the Greek language,
and were more Grecian than Hebraic in their
attitudes and outlook. A good number of
them were proselytes as well.
• Hebraic Jews. They spoke Aramaic and/or
Hebrew dialects of Palestine and preserved
Jewish culture and customs.

27. • Tension arose between these groups due to
discrimination.
• The apostles proposed to elect seven men to
wait on tables and see to it that all received
their fair share of food.
• It is interesting to note that the chosen seven all
had Greek names.
• Later, when Peter had been with Cornelius, the
Roman centurion, hostility grew within the
Jerusalem church because of Peter's non-
discrimination toward the Gentiles due to the

28. • Apparently, discrimination was practiced for a long
time in the Jerusalem church.
• While Peter was visiting the church in Antioch, he
used to eat with the Gentiles.
• But when certain men came from James in the
Jerusalem church, he began to draw back and
separate himself from the Gentiles because he was
afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision
group.
• Likewise, we find that the Jerusalem church
discriminated against non-Jews by preaching the
message of the Gospel only to other Jews.

29. • But praise God, some of them were more open-
minded; men from Cyprus and Cyrene began to
speak to the Greeks also, telling them the good
news of the Lord Jesus.
• A great number believed and turned to the
Lord.
• News of this non-discrimination reached the
church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to
investigate what was going on.
• Being a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and
faith, he was able to see the grace of God
among them and rejoiced in what God was

30. ANTIOCH THE SUPERIOR GRACE
MODEL
• The Jerusalem church seemed to be unable to
free itself from its Jewish traditions and culture.
• Their legalism and their attitude of racial
superiority toward non-Jewish people were the
main reasons why they ceased to be the leading
centre among the new churches.
• Antioch evolved as the centre for the expanding
Christianity.
• Here the grace of God was evident among the
believers and they were free of racism allowing
different races to be represented in their
leadership.