We’re All Part of the Human Race

We’re all part of the human race, so how can we sometimes appear so different? A look back to the days of Noah can help us understand what is really a simple explanation to this question.

Because all of mankind was destroyed in the global flood except Noah and his family, everyone born after the flood descended from Noah’s three sons. During these early post-flood days, God commanded that the people multiply and fill the earth. While the people did multiply, in their rebellion toward God, they did not spread out to fill the earth. So God confused their language at a place that became known as Babel and scattered them to fulfill his command.

People Groups Develop

Within just a few generations of that time, distinct people groups (based on superficial differences such as skin tone and eye shape) could have developed due to the varying combinations of existing genetic information present in each group.

Genetic Variation

Skin tone, for example, is controlled by more than one gene. If Noah and his wife had middle-brown skin, their children could have exhibited the whole range of skin tones from light to dark. The genetic variability possible can easily explain the diversity in skin tones we see today.

Everyone Is Made in God’s Image

Every single person alive today is descended from Adam. We all belong to one human race, and from a biblical perspective there’s absolutely no basis for racism. God created all of mankind in his image, and all of us belong to one race—the human race.

Want to learn more about the history of Babel? Visit our Babel exhibit during your trip to the Ark Encounter. For more in-depth discovery on humans as God’s image bearers and the biblical answer to racism, a great resource is One Race, One Blood by Ken Ham and A. Charles Ware.