They Agree: Name-Calling Is Wrong

The terms “stone age,” “primitive,” and “savage” are offensive and “should not be used to describe living peoples,” reports the BBC on an Association of Social Anthropologists ruling. The association claims the terms “ha[ve] serious implications for [the] welfare” of these groups.

A secular evolutionary worldview dictates that our only value comes from our ability to survive and reproduce, and that “races” that do this effectively are, in essence, more highly evolved.

Interestingly, this attitude reflects the biblical position on anthropology and human origins rather than the evolutionary one. A  secular evolutionary worldview dictates that our only value comes from our ability to survive and reproduce, and that “races” that do this effectively are, in essence, more highly evolved. In times past, evolutionists famously placed various races on a ladder of “closer to” and “farther from” apes. Such ideas were taught in public schools and led to inhuman crimes such as the horrible story of Ota Benga.

The Bible, in stark contrast, teaches that all humans on earth are descended from Noah, and, in turn, from Adam, who was created in the image of God. The Bible teaches in Genesis 11 that our ancestors once spoke the same language; it was only after the dispersion at the Tower of Babel that we split into various people groups, divided by language. One result of this switch was varying skin tones; another was that our societies developed in dramatically different ways. Yet no people groups are better than any others; we are all sin-cursed and in need of a Savior.

Ultimately, it is the biblical worldview that should drive us to care for members of all people groups, for all are one in Christ (see Galatians 2:8). Furthermore, Christians should point out the bigotry that is the logical result of evolutionary doctrine. See our Q&A on racism for more information on this important topic.