Thread by @AlsoACarpenter

@D_B_Harrison Along with Critical Race Theorists, I believe race is a biological fiction and a social construction. But you are Biblically incorrect about genos/ethnos, entirely incorrect in fact.

Genos comes from the word ginomai, denoting birth or origin, and thus has to do with 1/

@D_B_Harrison 2/ solidarity of people groups by common progeneration. As an example, we read of Pharaoh in Stephen’s speech that,

"He dealt shrewdly with our race (genos) and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive." (Acts 7:19)

This word is commonly

@D_B_Harrison 3/ used in the New Testament when referring to the Jews or Hebrews as common “race” of people. But we see the same applied to other people groups as well. E.g., Mark 7:26:

"Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth (genei). And she begged him to cast the demon out

@D_B_Harrison 4/ "of her daughter."

Again, Acts 4:36:

"Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native (genai) of Cyprus."

That is, Barnabas was Cypriot by genai, though he was a Levite.

@D_B_Harrison 5/ We also read that Aquila, though a religious Jew, was a “native” (genei) of Pontus, and Apollos a “native” (genei) of Alexandria (Acts 18:2, 24).

And more for more general usage, we read in our Lord’s Parable of the Net, the following:

@D_B_Harrison 6/ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind (genous).” (Matt. 13:47)

This word genos, with its various cognates, is also translated “kind,” “kindred,” “offspring,” “family,” “stock,” and even “nation,” showing some

@D_B_Harrison 7/ real semantic overlap with éthnos. There are in the Scripture genos of fish, genos of spirits, genos of tongues, genos of individuals, and genos of people groups.

But of course, neither éthnos, genos, or phulé are fixed biological categories, though there are certainly common

@D_B_Harrison 8/ biological underpinnings; for example, common lineage and thereby common phenotypical properties. Christ Himself is said to be the Seed of Abraham, the “root and genos of David” (Rev. 22:16), and was born of Paul’s “kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2, 5), yet He is

@D_B_Harrison 9/ clearly not the bearer of some biologically fixed Hebrew genetic pool. We see in His genealogy that He was also the offspring (genos) of Tamar the Canaanite, Rahab of Jericho, Ruth the Moabitess, and Bathsheba a Hittite’s wife.

The Samaritans are also a good example.

@D_B_Harrison 10/ In 721 B.C., when the Israelites were taken into captivity, the poor were left behind in the Land and were intermingled with Assyrian transplants. But by the time of Christ’s coming, this once intermingling of Hebrew and Syrian people, with their syncretistic YHWY worship,

@D_B_Harrison 11/ represented a specific people—a specific genos and ethnos. Not only were they seen as a different people by the Jews, they were kept separate and were despised by Israelites; they were an unclean people who “had no dealings with the Jews” (Jn. 4:19). (Which is what makes the

@D_B_Harrison 12/ story of the Good Samaritan so powerful.)

How had a formerly mixed group of Jews and Assyrians become a relatively stable class or genos of people, the “Samaritans”? Because, as sociologists have come to demonstrate about “race,” éthnos, genos, and phulé are socially

@D_B_Harrison 13/ constructed categories.

A “social construct” is,

"A concept or perception of something based on the collective views developed and maintained within a society or social group; a social phenomenon or convention originating within and cultivated by society or a particular

@D_B_Harrison 14/ "social group, as opposed to existing inherently or naturally."

The fact that, e.g., genos like “race” is a socially constructed reality, rather than a fixed biological reality, leads many to presume that things like genos and race are therefore unreal, “fake,” or even

@D_B_Harrison 15/ “imaginary.” This, of course, does not follow. Socially constructed realities are just that—real—in as much as they have very definite meanings to human lives, play significant roles in human history, define and regulate human relations, and are as much a part of the

@D_B_Harrison 16/ furniture of our reality as are rocks and houses. What distinguishes them from other realities is that they are not fixed—they can come into existence and pass away—and are entirely dependent upon the value and meaning in the minds of humans living together in society, with

@D_B_Harrison 17/ its collective history, norms, and values. The lack of definitive physical basis does not render socially constructed realities unreal. Most would give their lives for their nation, spend countless hours each week laboring for money, and sign legal documents and wear rings on

@D_B_Harrison 18/ their fingers in marriage—not to mention speak specific socially constructed languages. These are indeed very real, yet socially constructed, realities.

For an overview of modern "races" were constructed and why, please see:

alsoacarpenter.com/2019/08/20/wha…

@D_B_Harrison 19/19 I perceive that many look to you to confirm their priors, but it's important to get these things right, first Biblically, then historically and sociologically.

@D_B_Harrison 20/19 When "race" is no longer among the greatest predictors of wealth & income disparity, social location, neighborhood, school funding & performance, health, life expectancy, etc., etc., then we can start discussing it as more of an historical artifact.

@D_B_Harrison 21/19 Pretending like the historically created and entrenched "color-line" doesn't exist will not erase its 400 years long social consequences; it will merely obscure, legitimize, and ultimately "justify" these consequences, as most of these White Christians seem to prefer.

@D_B_Harrison So, @D_B_Harrison , I have shown you unequivocally that you are wrong about ethnos/genos in the Bible. What will you do now? Just ignore and leave your Biblical falsehood up? No integrity?