Response:

The reasons usually given for Biblical CONDEMNATION of inter-racial marriage are the origin of the races, and God's forbidding of the Jews to inter-marry with the Canaanites. The reasons usually given for Biblical SUPPORT of inter-racial marriage are God's judgement on Aaron and Miriam for their thoughts about Moses marrying a Ethiopian woman, and Solomon marrying a black woman in Song of Solomon.

Here are my thoughts on those issues.

• I. Where do the races come from?
  • A. Noah

    As his children and grandchildren moved to different areas, inbreeding would take place which would result in passing certain genetic traits along to the offspring.

  • B. Tower of Babel

    • 1. As the different language groups separated from each other, you would assume that families still spoke the same language. Therefore, families would be inbreeding based upon language, which would result in genetic traits being passed along.

    • 2. You could build the argument that the purpose of judgement at the Tower of Babel was to separate people, and that any racial differences were thus intended to keep people separate. That might be a possibility, but all the Scriptures say is that separation, and the ultimate replenishing of the earth, was accomplished through language differences, not racial differences. Theology based upon inference is probably not the way to go.

  • C. Either of the above options "1" or"2" is OK with me. The Bible does not say.

  • D. Are blacks a result of Noah's curse on Canaan? NO! The curse was not placed upon Ham, but upon his son Canaan. Blacks came through the line of Ham's son Cush, and perhaps Phut. Canaan was the father of the Canaanites: those people who Israel conquered to win the Promised Land. The Canaanites were not black people, so the black race is not "cursed".

  • E. God has made the human race "of one blood" (Acts 17:26)

• II. Does the Bible forbid interracial marriage? NO.

  Jews are forbidden to inter-marry with Canaanites, but that was based upon religion, not race. (Deut 7:1-3, Josh 23:12-13, Nehemiah 13:23-27)

• III. Are there Biblical examples of inter-racial marriage? MAYBE
  • A. Moses (Num 12:1-10) Is she black? Maybe. She was a Cushite, which sometimes had reference to Arabs, although it usually referred to Ethiopians. Some use this to prove that inter-racial marriage is OK, because of the punishment Aaron and Miriam received for rebuking Moses. In reality, the motivation for their rebellion is shown in verse 2 of Numbers 12: "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?" It seems that they used his marriage as an excuse to rebel against his leadership. Their punishment is for this rebellion, as is evidenced by God's words of condemnation in verses 6-8. Thus, this passage deals with rebellion against God's chosen leaders, not the properness of inter-racial marriage.

  • B. Song of Solomon 1:5-6 Is this woman black? Probably not. She is a Shulamite (6:13), which means she was from Shunam, which was about 50 miles north of Jerusalem. She was not from Africa. According to verse 6, she is black because of the sun beating down on her while she worked in the vineyards. Thus, this passage has nothing to do with inter-racial marriage.

• IV. Does the Bible say anything pro or con about inter-racial marriage? NO. The Bible is completely silent on the issue

• V. What should the believer do?
  • A. According to I Cor 10:31, the believer is to do "all to the glory of God". Therefore, the believer must ask himself, "Will this inter-racial marriage help me to bring glory to God?"

  • B. According to Matthew 28:18-20, the Believer is to be motivated by fulfilling the Great Commission. Therefore the believer must ask himself, "Will this inter-racial marriage help me to fulfill the Great Commission?

  • C. According to Gal 5:13-14, the believer is to be motivated by love for others. Therefore, the believer must ask himself, "Will this inter-racial marriage be a loving action towards others?"

  • D. According to I Cor 8:9-13, the believer is to be motivated by an intense desire to not cause another brother to stumble. Therefore, the believer must ask himself, "Will this inter-racial marriage cause weaker Christians to stumble?"

Each person will have to answer those questions for themselves. It is my opinion that there are places in this world where inter-racial marriages are very well accepted. There are places where the ability to evangelize will not be hurt one bit by an inter-racial marriage. In those instances, I believe inter-racial marriage is fine. I think that currently in much of the USA, inter-racial marriage is not accepted. If an inter-racial couple came to the door soul-winning, many homes would turn them away. Therefore, a person's ability to minister in America would probably be hindered by an inter-racial marriage. If that be the case, it shouldn't happen. My opinion is that in another 50 years, inter-racial marriage will be so prevalent that it will NOT hinder a person's ability to minister. Then, I don't believe it would be a problem. There was a time when the children of inter-racial marriages were not accepted. Therefore, to get into a marriage that would produce those children would be unloving towards them. However, those days are pretty much past. Each case will have to be decided individually.

One last thought. Almost always, these discussions revolve around Black-White marriages. Why not Asian-White, or Asian-Black? Probably because society accepts these, and there is no stigma with them like in a Black-White marriage. However, they are inter-racial marriages. If one is OK, then all are OK. If one is wrong, then all are wrong.

By Dr Mark Montgomery Ambassador Baptist Church 1926 Babcock Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15209 (412)477-3210