The apostle Paul plainly stated that God “made out of one man every nation of men.” Or, as The New English Bible puts it:
"From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live." (Acts 17:26)
How Human Variety Came To Be
Scientific studies have shown that differences among living things are, basically, a matter of genetics. Adam and Eve had all the prerequisite genes for all the varieties of races/skin tones as well as the various features. It is said Adam and Eve could have been dark skinned to begin with, as light skin tone typically comes from dark. Note that we are all "brown"... we are simply different shades.
Now, suppose a group of people were isolated geographically from the rest of the human family. Certain characteristics among those people would become stronger, or “dominant,” throughout the group’s descendants. Eventually a new “race” would develop, yet it would remain human.
Professor S. A. Barnett, from the Australian National University, defines race as “a group which shares in common a certain set of genes, and which became distinct from other groups as a result of geographical isolation.”
How This “Geographical Isolation” Came About
The Bible mentions a time when there were not, as yet, any races. Back then, it could be said of mankind that “they are all a single people with a single language!” (Genesis 11:6 in The Jerusalem Bible)
However, the account in Genesis 11:1-9 talks about an attempt that was made to keep mankind in one location for religiopolitical purposes. But this ran contrary to God's original purpose for mankind when He said: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.” - Gen. 9:1; see also 1:28.
So the account goes on to mention that God suddenly caused men to speak different languages so they could not understand one another. Unable to communicate as one people, little groups, now isolated by the barrier of language, moved off on their own. As they spread farther afield, distance added another barrier to communication. The record of these events says that “Jehovah scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth.” (Gen. 11:8; NWT) Isolated by location and by language, the descendants of each group multiplied and developed the distinct features of their “race.”
Is any race “superior” to another?
As was mentioned above, all peoples, regardless of stature, culture, color, or language, are members of one human family and that "all nations" were “made out of one man. (Acts 17:26)
The Apostle Paul admonished Christians and practicers of Bible principles to do "nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with lowliness of mind considering that the others are superior to YOU." (Phil. 2:3) This certainly would not involve viewing those of another race as a so-called “inferior” race!
Notice what the apostle Peter wrote about how God feels:
“The truth I have now come to realise, is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” (Acts 10:34, 35, Jerusalem Bible)
For more, see:
RACES (Mankind) - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
Does God Value One Race Above Others? (w11 7/1 p. 23; Watchtower Online Library)
Races of Mankind (rs p. 300-p. 305; Watchtower Online Library)
We Are All One Family (AWAKE! 2009-11; JW.ORG)
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