Why do some Christians believe the various colors of people...?

Question

happened at the tower of Babel?

That is where God confused their languages, it says nothing about color coding them. Couldn't it be the colors already existed and God changed their languages in accordance with their "already existing" skin color.

Wouldn't it make more sense to believe that Adam and Eve were genetically perfect and contained the genetic coding for ALL races, which in time... became the different races of people? (as in light skinned persons married light skinned persons and dark skinned persons married dark skinned)

I am confused about why people associate the Tower of Babel with Color differences.

So, if I move to Africa... will I turn black? ( I mean, if it is environmental)

Answer 1

I think you are partially correct. I tend to agree with following piece, that the people groups arose from Noah and his family, not the tower of Babel.

"According to the Bible, all humans on earth today are descended from Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, and before that from Adam and Eve (Genesis 1-11). But today we have many different groups, often called ‘races,’ with what seem to be greatly differing features. The most obvious of these is skin color. Many see this as a reason to doubt the Bible’s record of history. They believe that the various groups could have arisen only by evolving separately over tens of thousands of years. However, as we shall see, this does not follow from the biological evidence.

The Bible tells us how the population that descended from Noah’s family had one language and by living in one place were disobeying God’s command to ‘fill the earth’ (Genesis 9:1, 11:4). God confused their language, causing a break-up of the population into smaller groups which scattered over the earth (Genesis 11:8-9). Modern genetics show how, following such a break-up of a population, variations in skin color, for example, can develop in only a few generations. There is good evidence that the various people groups we have today have not been separated for huge periods of time.

What is a ‘race’?

There is really only one race—the human race. The Bible teaches us that God has ‘made of one blood all nations of men’ (Acts 17:26). Scripture distinguishes people by tribal or national groupings, not by skin color or physical appearance. Clearly, though, there are groups of people who have certain features (e.g., skin color) in common, which distinguish them from other groups. We prefer to call these ‘people groups’ rather than ‘races,’ to avoid the evolutionary connotations associated with the word ‘race.’

All peoples can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. This shows that the biological differences between the ‘races’ are not very great. In fact, the DNA differences are trivial. The DNA of any two people in the world would typically differ by just 0.2 percent. Of this, only 6 percent can be linked to racial categories; the rest is ‘within race’ variation.

Variation in DNA between human individuals
The variation in DNA between human individuals shows that racial differences are trivial. This genetic unity means, for instance, that white Americans, although ostensibly far removed from black Americans in phenotype, can sometimes be better tissue matches for them than are other black Americans.

Anthropologists generally classify people into a small number of main racial groups, such as the Caucasoid (European or ‘white’), the Mongoloid (which includes the Chinese, Inuit or Eskimo and Native Americans), the ******* (black Africans), and the Australoid (the Australian Aborigines). Within each classification, there may be many different sub-groups.

Virtually all evolutionists would now say that the various people groups did not have separate origins. That is, different people groups did not each evolve from a different group of animals. So they would agree with the biblical creationist that all people groups have come from the same original population. Of course, they believe that such groups as the Aborigines and the Chinese have had many tens of thousands of years of separation. Most believe that there are such vast differences between the groups that there had to be many years for these differences to develop.

One reason for this is that many people believe that the observable differences arise from some people having unique features in their hereditary make-up which others lack. This is an understandable but incorrect idea. Let’s look at skin color, for instance. It is easy to think that since different groups of people have ‘yellow’ skin, ‘red’ skin, ‘black’ skin, ‘white’ skin and ‘brown’ skin, there must be many different skin pigments or colorings. And since different chemicals for coloring would mean a different genetic recipe or code in the hereditary blueprint in each people group, it appears to be a real problem. How could all those differences develop within a short time?

However, we all have the same coloring pigment in our skin—melanin. This is a dark-brownish pigment that is produced in different amounts in special cells in our skin. If we had none (as do people called albinos, who inherit a mutation-caused defect, and cannot produce melanin), then we would have a very white or pink skin coloring. If we produced a little melanin, we would be European white. If our skin produced a great deal of melanin, we would be a very dark black. And in between, of course, are all shades of brown. There are no other significant skin pigments.

In summary, from currently available information, the really important factor in determining skin color is melanin—the amount produced....."

Answer 2

>> Couldn't it be the colors already existed and God changed
>> their languages in accordance with their "already existing"
>> skin color.

        Well, you're close. I do believe Adam & Eve (and Noah and his three sons) had all the genetic coding to create the different colors. However, as long as the genetic pool remained close-knit (diverse), you wouldn't get any of the color variations being segregated because of having every genetic selection from which to mix.

        Thus, though God did not create the color segregations at the Tower of Babel, it was definitely as a result of the Tower of Babel that the color segregations occurred. As peoples of the same tongue moved off to associate only with each other, this also caused the genetic pool to become more specialized.

        It is quite conceivable that noticeable color variations would have begun to occur is just two or three generations. Then, as you said, "light skinned persons married light skinned persons and dark skinned persons married dark skinned" within their own group. This would further subdivide the genetic pool and color variations would quickly become much more prominent.

        Thus, the Tower of Babel *is* associated with -- but not directly linked to -- color differences. It was the dispersal from the Tower of Babel area that caused genetic variances, through gene pool concentration, to be associated with a particular group.

God bless.

Answer 3

You are correct - it doesn't say that. The result of confusing the language split the people up.

There are just 2 genes that determine the amount of melanin in our skin. The combinations give light, medium and dark skin.

Within one generation, the different shades could come out. It's not evolution. It's just genetics. If the people are split up, their children will show the same characteristics. So, yes. I think that the tower of Babel could have that effect.

Answer 4

While some racial traits, such as color, can develop in a large group, most of the time they develop in small groups. When you limit a population to only a few hundred people, more mating will occur between people who share a common trait, so that trait will become more common within the population. (For example, how many families do you know where all the kids look the same.)

So it seems more likely that the difference races, and other traits, would develop after the population was split, and the gene pools were smaller, then that they would develop in a large and diverse population.

Answer 5

This is the first I have ever heard of this theory. I am an avid Bible reader. My own idea is that the various skin colors came after Noah's Flood. His Family was all one color. The skin colors changed according to the environment the people moved into.

Only 9 people alive on the Earth. Noah's son's descendants
repopulated the earth. His son were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The nations listed below are Biblical.

Nations descended from Shem;
Hebrews
Chaldeans
Assyrians
Persians
Syrians

Nations descended from Ham;
Canaanites
Egyptians
Philistines
Hittites
Amorites

Nations descended from Japheth.
Greeks
Thracians
Scythians.

Shem's descendants were called Semites. Abraham, David and Jesus were descended from Shem.

Ham's descendants settled in Egypt, Canaan, and the rest of Africa.

Japheth's descendants settled for the most part in Europe and Asia Minor.

My sister in law grew up in NY state. As an adult she lives in Florida. She used to be white. Now her shin is permanently bronzed. Her skin has changed due to the climate.

Answer 6

Color Coding - lol - I like that!
Your hypothesis makes a lot of sense to me. I'm a bit confused as to the "why" here too - so I'll just sit back and watch the answers.

Answer 7

Dogs take a long time to mutate. It can be accelerated ask the Annannuki when they come back in 2012. Seeing as they are the ones who messed with our genetics to create a slave race (that's how we learned slavery) they should know why they messed with the color too.

Answer 8

It most likely was the beginning of various skin colors and other adaptations, because people were scattered about all over the earth after that time, and lived in different places according to their new languages.

Skin color is simply an environmental adaptation after all.

Answer 9

Those are all the wrong questions. Why do you still believe in that theistic nonsense after knowing that story? That's the question you should be asking yourself.

Answer 10

...OR, it could be that people living in various parts of the world developed different skin pigments based on the amount of exposure to the sun they got.

It's called evolution, sweetheart. Remember, that thing that takes millions of years?