[greenbear]

Originally Posted by Diligent

That's the wrong question. The question is, is it unbiblical? Since our apostle is Paul, and Paul specifically said there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile for us now, what basis is there to discourage people from marring people with different levels of melanin in their skin? A bunch of lines of reasoning directly contradicted by Scripture (Boaz, Moses, etc)?

It is an untenable position to hold! There were no "white Americans" in Acts 17:26 -- what does it have to do with who someone marries? -- since there was no "american nation" to speak of, where do we go to marry? What do you suggest someone who is the son of "mixed races" go for a spouse?

This is all confusion -- races are not nations. Applying the rules of separation for the nation of Israel under the law to someone today based on what color their skin is is confusion in the highest order.

Brother Brandon,

When you say "races are not nations" are you saying that you see different "races" as opposed to different "nations" within humanity? Or are you saying that "nations are not races", meaning the concept of different races within humanity is wrong?

Sister Jennifer

[Diligent]

Originally Posted by greenbear

Brother Brandon,

When you say "races are not nations" are you saying that you see different "races" as opposed to different "nations" within humanity? Or are you saying that "nations are not races", meaning the concept of different races within humanity is wrong?

Sister Jennifer

"Race" is an evolutionary/Darwinian concept that I reject. In order to communicate with other people I will still use the term "race" as it is commonly used, but when it comes down to practical matters, I throw it out along with psychobabble and other false sciences.

The reason I do this is because the Bible speaks of nations, not races. And even within the Jewish people there is a gamut of skin colors from light to dark.

The problem here, expressed by some posters on this forum and taught by people like Ruckman, is that they are confusing the false-science concept of "race" with nations. They point to verses that say nothing of the color of someone's skin, and use that as the proof for saying someone with darker skin than me shouldn't be my spouse -- even though we are both Americans and of the same nation! But they do not try to argue that a Britain white shouldn't marry an American white, even though the verses they point to are all about boundaries and nations, not color of skin.

My poistion is simply that Paul never said we have to concern ourselves with such matters. The only people in the Bible who did were Israelites under the Law. And to take it one step further, Paul said we are all one in Christ.

The idea that we should ignore Galations 3:8 when it comes to qualifying a spouse is abhorrent to me.

Having said all of that, I will also say that there are real "issues" with culture that need to be seriously considered when people marry. Cultural differences can certainly be a big strain on a marriage, but it is foolish to assume that all Blacks, or all Whites, or all Filipinos are in monocultures. But there is nothing forbidding an American male marrying a woman from a different culture -- in fact, given American culture I would highly recommend it!