Another Answer:
Generally speaking, there are 3 'races' of human beings - black, white, yellow. Variations of shades due to environment or intermixing among them resulted. God apparently loves variation and color as the natural world is full of it.
Genesis 1:27 says , "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them."
The above simple means we humans 'reflect' God meaning we are like God in some ways because "we are the offspring of God" as Acts 17:29 clearly states. This is the same meaning we get of Adam who later begets a son in his own image and likeness (Genesis 5:1-3).
God created man, with variation within to adapt to our environment - races and physical adaptations - after the God-kind and not the animal kind. Unlike the theory of evolution that describes man beginning with only crude grunts, Genesis shows Adam and Eve immediately after their creation being able to name all the animals, communicate in complete sentences and reason for themselves whether to obey God's instructions.
The Human Race, being made in God's image has an ultimate purpose. Humankind was created to be of the God kind - now physical but the Bible promises God's ultimate desire is for all of us to become His literal spiritual children (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
Modern humans evolved in Africa, where black skin provided some protection from the harsh sun. As people spread out across the world, some variations began to occur naturally, in response to environmental challenges.
In Europe and Asia, where sunlight was much weaker, dark skin was no longer necessary as a protection, but actually hampered the absorption of ultraviolet rays essential to the body's production of vitamin D. This resulted in the evolution of lighter skin. The cold air of northern Europe gave an advantage to those with slightly longer and narrower noses that could warm the air before it reached the lungs. For different reasons, large noses were an advantage in the Near East, where they could keep the desert dust out of the lungs. The people of East Africa evolved greater muscle mass of the "slow-twitch" type that aided in long distance running, while those of west Africa evolved greater muscle mass of the type that aided in short distance running and power sports.
Ethnic differences became exaggerated when people chose not to marry outside their own local group, often for religious reasons. Language also played a part. As dialects evolved and became mutually incomprehensible to neighbouring peoples, communications became a barrier of sorts against intermarriage. As long as there was little intermarriage, different groups could evolve different cultures and superficial ethnic characteristics. Intermarriage could also play a part in creating new ethnic groups, if distant immigrants were assimilated by one locality but not by its neighbours.
That is referring to the spirit of man, not the physical being. God is beyond being contained in a physical form.
That said, many groups have used this story as the basis for justifying racist discrimination. Some fringe Christian demoninations for example believe that black people are black because they are the decendants of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who was cursed by God for murdering his brother Abel. According to the Genesis, he was "marked" by God so that all who saw him would know what he had done, and they claim that black people wear the mark of Cain as dark skin.
Other groups twist this analogy of man being created in God's image to mean that others who don't look like themselves are either not in God's graces or even that they are not in fact human beings at all. Some churches echo a subtle racism by depicting Jesus as the race of their own particular church's ethnicity (ie a black, white or Hispanic Jesus as opposed to a Hebrew).
Additional Information:
Many, many Christian groups and individuals, including the mainline Protestant denominations and the official position of the Roman Catholic Church, find no conflict between faith in our Creator God and the scientific theory of evolution. Religion deals with the meaning of the universe, while science deals with the how of the universe.
The two things have nothing to do with each other. Adam possessed the potential and the genes that would later branch out to include all of us. Our being in God's image refers to our soul and free-will, which we all have.See also:
In reality, there is only one race - the human race, mankind, humankind. Skin color, eye, ear and nose shape are simply variations within mankind as is height, girth and strength. The Bible says mankind was made in the God-kind or in His image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26-27) just as Adam had his children continue in this same image (see Genesis 5:3 note: same Hebrew words used in both passages on image and likeness). We all are given the opportunity to eventually become His sons and daughters in the spiritual phase of life (see 2 Corinthians 6:18).
Genesis 5:1-2New King James Version (NKJV)The Family of Adam5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible observes: “Man’s resemblance to God is analogous to Seth’s resemblance to his father Adam. This makes it certain that physical resemblance must not be excluded” (p. 683).
As the question implies, we have to decide whether God created mankind unchangeably in his own image or whether man evolved as a species and different races are adaptations to the different environments humans found themselves over many thousands of years.
Africans were the earliest humans and they evolved dark skin as a protection against skin damage from the harsh rays of the sun. This protection was not needed in Europe, where a combination of dark skin and the wearing of clothes for warmth can result in a vitamin D deficiency, so Caucasians developed fair skin that helps absorb the sun's rays. They also developed high noses that allowed the cold air to be warmed before it enters the lungs. These are just two of the explanations for racial differences in different parts of the world, and are unconnected with religious traditions about creation.
On the contrary, Evolutionists need to explain how it is that all humans are able to interbreed. They also need to answer to the fact that the differences between Africans and Europeans was once cited as evidence that Africans "are lower in an Evolutionary sense" than are Caucasians. Racism exists, or existed, in scientific circles also, not only in (some) religious teachings. To address your question, God's image means that we have a God-given soul and free-will. It needn't have anything to do with physical appearance.
See also:
The differences among ethnic groups are both minor and recent. DNA analysis has shown that Europeans actually had dark brown skin until just 8,000 years ago, when farming was first established. A change from a hunter-gatherer diet to one based on grains resulted in vitamin D deficiencies, but the evolution of light skin allowed our ancestors to absorb more ultraviolet radiation and thereby produce our own vitamin D.
Depending on what we mean by 'his image', the evolution of different ethnic features is not inconsistent with divine creation. However, no hypothesis of divine creation could be correct unless it posits evolution of life, over a period of around three billion years.
because God create it. full stop. i understand how hurt it is to know that European features is way nicer than Chinese. what to do, God create it that way.no other races can beat European features, they are far way nicer than other races. i am other races too,i am not Chinese & not European. i be modest.
Different religions and beliefs have different interpretations on this topic. In Christianity, it is believed that all races were created by God.
Different mythologies and belief systems have varying interpretations about how the different races of mankind were created, some attributing it to the actions of gods while others emphasize other origins. It ultimately comes down to the specific cultural narrative or mythology being examined.
God created two people at the beginning of the world. Out of these two people, all races were created. This is the biblical view.
Races who are practicing Islam are covering all races of the world in all countries of the world. Even at the early days of Islam revelation by God to Prophet Mohamed, people of different races and different religions from both Genders converted to Islam. There is a verse in Quran that cementing the rule of equal rights among all races. The verse says that: " O mankind, I (god) created all of you from a male and a female and diversified all of you into different nations, races, and tribes. You are equal and one is better than another only according to his degree of obedience to God." Verse 13/ chapter 49/ Surat Alhogorat.
If you want biblical explanations, the bible does have one for the existence of different languages, which is the story of the Tower of Babel. As for different races, presumably different children of Adam and Eve gave rise to different races (some theologians prefer to trace back the different races to the different children of Noah). But bear in mind that the bible is a form of mythology, which should not be taken literally.
There are many different races in Canada.
Yes, different races can MARRY.
There are not different human races, there is only one.
There is no mentioning of the concept of race in the Bible. According to the Bible all man have the same origin (Adam and Eve). Genesis 5 The bible does refer to different nations and their chronicles however in the book of...1 Chronicles chapter 1. also in Genesis 10. again God didn't make different races in the bible.
There are many different races that are held besides foot races. These races include bike races, swimming races, and competence races.
Since I believe there is only one God, who has different names from different people, it took him 6 days to create the world.