{"id":84729,"date":"2025-02-20T11:55:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=84729"},"modified":"2025-02-20T16:00:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T22:00:16","slug":"are-interracial-marriages-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-interracial-marriages-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Are interracial marriages wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Hello Jeff,<\/p>\n<p>I have been a bit worried lately, and I needed your guidance.<\/p>\n<p>I am currently dating someone of a different race. We love and respect each other, but like any other relationship, it has ups and downs. We also do our best to follow Christ&#8217;s teachings.<\/p>\n<p>Lately, I have heard people&#8217;s views on interracial dating and marriage. I have been hearing the term &#8220;miscegenation&#8221; going around. I was told that race-mixing is abuse and forbidden by God. People were saying that adultery originally meant miscegenation, but it was changed to mean sexual affairs. Additionally, white people have a racial covenant to stay pure.<\/p>\n<p>I understand that there are problems when it comes to interracial dating, such as potential problems with children and cultural differences. I also trust in the Bible and believe it comes with no errors. However, that statement I mentioned earlier has made me worried. I don&#8217;t want to commit adultery, and I trust Jesus and his teachings. I love my boyfriend and want to marry and live with him while following Christ. It&#8217;s just that after hearing this, I wondered if I was doing something wrong just being with him.<\/p>\n<p>I need a response from you. I have been so stressed out over this issue lately.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>The concept of race doesn&#8217;t exist in the Bible. Although there are nationalities, God states that all mankind is one race. We all descend from the same couple: Adam and Eve. &#8220;<em>He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 17:26). The concept of race is an artificial division of mankind based on external variations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joseph married an Egyptian woman (Genesis 41:50).<\/li>\n<li>Moses married a woman from Cush (Ethiopia) (Numbers 12:1).<\/li>\n<li>Boaz married Ruth, a Moabite (Ruth 4:10; Matthew 1:5).<\/li>\n<li>Salmon married Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute (Matthew 1:5).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The last two are ancestors of Jesus.<\/p>\n<p><em>Na&#8217;aph<\/em> in Hebrew means &#8220;to commit adultery.&#8221; It referred to having intercourse with a married or engaged person. In Greek, the word is\u00a0<em>moicheuo\u00a0<\/em>and means &#8220;to commit adultery.&#8221; The claim that it once referred to interracial marriages is false. I cannot find such a claim in any reference book.<\/p>\n<p>The claim that white people have a racial covenant is also outlandishly false.<\/p>\n<p>Just because you can find something on the Internet, it doesn&#8217;t make it true. Most people are not credible sources.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Response:<\/h2>\n<p>Thanks, Jeff,<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know why people make bizarre claims. I needed to remind myself that the internet can sometimes be deceiving and stop worrying about such issues.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, I wish you all the best for you and your church.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Hello Jeff, I have been a bit worried lately, and I needed your guidance. I am currently dating someone of a different race. We love and respect each other, but like any other relationship, it has ups and downs. We also do our best to follow Christ&#8217;s teachings. Lately, I have heard people&#8217;s views&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[214],"class_list":["post-84729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-racism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18315,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-in-the-bible-can-i-learn-more-about-dating\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":0},"title":"Where in the Bible can I learn more about dating?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which books of the Bible would you recommend me to read when it comes to dating? I do not know how to deal or talk with girls at all. My ex told me that I do not know what I am doing when it comes to dating. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34198,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-ok-to-use-online-dating\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":1},"title":"Is it OK to use online dating?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you believe that it is OK for a Christian to use online dating if he does not currently have any options where he goes to church or where he works?\u00a0 The few whom I would be interested in at church are simply not interested in me. (I understand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19103,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-courtship-and-dating\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":2},"title":"What is the difference between courtship and dating?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the difference between courtship and dating? I don't see any difference. Answer: Dating in American culture is when a boy and a girl see each other regularly and go out on outings together, one-on-one. The purpose is to get to know each other and to decide if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-move-near-each-other-before-getting-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":3},"title":"Should we move near each other before getting married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I need some advice. You see, my girlfriend and I have been friends for a while. We prayed together and made sure we were the ones for each other before we did anything. Our relationship is definitely God-centered. It's so amazing! But we are in a long-distance relationship.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-the-man-i-want-to-marry-turns-out-to-be-a-polygamist\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":4},"title":"What if the man I want to marry turns out to be a polygamist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good afternoon sir, I'm in a relationship with a guy who comes from a polygamous family I love him and want to marry him but I'm scared of the future. His mother is harsh, and although I've been praying about it, I am worried about the future. What if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/problems-with-dating-and-job-search\/","url_meta":{"origin":84729,"position":5},"title":"Problems with dating and job search","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Well, thanks for all the information on dating and marriage you sent to me a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I won't need it anymore. My girlfriend and I broke up. Not by my choice, but her parents, family and all disapproved of me because I was jobless\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}