Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

>What race were Adam and Eve?

My first, admittedly flippant response would be: the human race!

I believe the current theory is that the first of our oldest ancestors
may have been black (Negro).

But, I really don't know.

Shalom,
Richard

re .0

Steve,

;What race were Adam and Eve, (how do you know)

The Bible indicates that Adam was originally part of God's 
family (race). This is seen in the genealogy line mentioned
in Luke chapter 3, see verse 38 were Adam is described as
"the son of God". Others shown to be in God's family are
the angels in the heavenly realm (compare Job 38:7). After 
the rebellion Adam & Eve left God's family to start up their
own, known today as the human race. They wanted self rule
saying what was good and bad for themselves, rather than 
their previous family head Jehovah God.

BTW The Hebrew term adham' (Adam) is also translated "man,"
"earthling man," and "mankind."

;and where did the other races come from?

Some may reason that's its unreasonable to believe that all
races came from the same original parents. However, here are 
some different comments...

"Science now corroborates what most great religious have long
been preaching: Human beings of all races... descended from the
same first man." Heredity in Humans (Philadelphia and New York,
1972), Amram Scheinfeld, P238.

"The Bible story of Adam & Eve, father and mother of the whole
human race, told centuries ago the same truth that science has 
shown today: that all the peoples of the earth are a single
family and have a common origin." The Races of Mankind (New York,
1978), Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish, p3.

And a bible writer wrote "[God] made out of one man every nation
of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth." Acts 17:26
NWT

Steve, I know realitively little when it comes to science. But 
from a bible's point of view, a start to seeing where the current
human family originated from would be a study of Noah's sons,
Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 9:18,19).

Phil.

Quotes taken from the book "Reasoning from the Scriptures" p27.

re .0 

Steve,

It just ocurred to me that you might be asking where the
first human family were geographically located.  No one
knows for certain where the garden of Eden was located.
However the Genesis account mentions a river flowing out
of Eden which divided into four, Pishon, Gihon, Tigris
and Euphrates (Genesis 2:10-14). This would indicate that 
the garden was located somewhere in the location known 
today as Iraq.

Phil.

    I've also heard Mesopotamia but I don't know how they drew that
    conclusion.  
    
    So what race were they?  Well obviously they were White Anglo Saxon
    European types.  She had hair like Farrah Fawcett and he was a tall guy
    with a hairy chest!  :-)
    
    -Jack

    > What Race were Adam and Eve
    
    Ummmmm... what does it matter?  
    
    
    Re .2
    
    >"Science now corroborates what most great religious have long...
    
    Science has never preached anything different.  This basic notion is 
    rooted in that 4 letter word which is spelled with 9 letters... 
    "evolution".  Sounds like this Amram Scheinfeld has an agenda.
    
    
    

Actually I was less curious about what race Adam and Eve were, and moreso 
about where the other races came from. Many Christians do not believe that the 
theory of evolution is correct, which might provide an explanation, but in the 
relatively short time since the creation this may not be likely either. The 
Bible accounts for multiple languages from the tower of babel, I was wondering 
how it accounted for different races.

Steve

Steve,

From a Bible perspective the various races are merely facets of
the total variation possible in humankind. They are all of the
same "kind" that is the human family. It is a fact that all races
can intermarry and reproduce so we are of the same stock.

The international body of scientists covened by UNESCO, quoted in
'Statement on Races' "All men kiving today belong to a single species,
Homo Sapiens, and are derived from common stock... Biological
differences between human beings are due to differences in hereditary
constitution and to the influence of the environment on this genetic
potential. In most cases, those differences are due to the interaction
of these two set of factors....Differences between individuals within
a race or within a population are often greater than the average
differences between races or populations." (New York 1972, third ed),
Ashley Montagu, pp.149,150.

"A race is simply one of the partially isolated gene pools into which
the human species came to be divided during and following its early
geographical spread. Roughly one race has developed on each of the
five major continental areas of the earth... Man did indeed diverge
genetically during this phase of history and we can measure and study 
the results of this diverenge in what remains today of the old
geographical races. As we would expect, divergence appears to be
correlated with the degree of isolation.... When race formation took
place on the continents, with the bottlenecking of thousands of 
populations in isolated gene pools all over the world, the gene- 
frequency differences we now see were established.... The paradox
which faces us is that each group of humans appears to be externally
different yet underneath these differences there is fundamental
similarity." (Heredity and Human Life, New York, 1963, H.L. Carson
pp.151,154,162,163

Now with the above comments in mind and looking at the bible's
account of the tower of Babel, you will see that persons where not
only confused by being given different languages but also scattered
abroad over the face of the earth (Genesis 11:4). Over time, within
groups of people who became isolated certain combinations of genetic
traits were ephasized in their offspring. 

It should be noted, that God created life so that within each
kind there would be a diversity. For this reason though similar, we 
are all unique including the animal kingdom.

Phil.

    Species are defined as being groups of individuals which can produce
    sexually viable offspring.  Under that, there is the concept of 
    "varieties" (same species because they can mate to produce offspring yet
    appear to be different and prefer to mate within their variety).  If a 
    biologist were asked to define race, he/she'd probably use the word 
    variety.  But that's just taxonomy.
    
    FWIW, science/evolution would claim that the rise of human varieties
    (races) was due to the reasons stated in .7.  But I see no paradox as
    cited in .7.  Many species have a set of varieties which have different
    physical appearances.  SCience would see man as a single species with 
    several varieties (created for reasons cited in .7).  Language,
    culture, etc... would also come from group isolation.
    
    

Doesn't the Bible also attribute different groups to some later descendent?
For example, Cain became the "father" of a certain group of people, then 
later, a different people grew out of each of Noah's sons. I think there 
may be other examples as well.  .7 sounded reasonable to me. I don't think
the Bible actually tries to answer the question of race though.

Leslie

    The earliest story tellers attributed  to the descendants of Adam
    and Eve, names that correlated with the nations surrounding the promise
    land.