| QUOTES from Anyabwile's
chapter |
The emphasis in the Old and New Testament
wherever the Bible speaks of creation of humankind is mankind’s
common biological descent from Adam. Our common ancestry is
underscored. The most fundamental recognition is not our
difference labeled “race” but our oneness; not our discontinuity
but continuity with one another and with Adam and Eve, our first
parents. [64]
If all people are not descended from Adam,
then (a) not all people inherited Adam’s sin, and (b) the
atonement of Christ is limited in an unbiblical and unhelpful
way, since he atones only for the race of Adam. Fall and
redemption are theologically pushed to a corner of humanity
rather than attributed to the whole. Race undermines the gospel.
[69]
Even the natural ethnic distinctions, which
are real and to be valued, are vastly secondary to this union
that God has so wonderfully wrought in Christ. Our doctrine of
man, which is to say, our understanding of ourselves and our
true identity, must be determined and informed by our union with
Christ in his person and work. [74]
The serious limitation of so many
well-intentioned racial reconciliation efforts [is that they]
seem to major on race and to minor on Christ and his work, in
too many cases. Some approaches seem to suggest that merely
embracing the “other’s” ethnicity and culture somehow enhances
our embrace of Christ. I think the opposite is the way forward.
It’s as we tightly cling to Jesus that we find ourselves
embracing other people clinging to the Savior. The cross
reconciles men to God and men to each other. [74]
All of human history is headed to this one
reality—a new kingdom of priests, one in Christ, redeemed by his
blood, serving the one true and living God. If that’s where
we’re headed, why not live more like that now? [79]
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