Like so many other controversial issues, it all depends on the readers and the preconceived notions that they bring to the text.
Let’s look at Ezra, chapters 9 & 10. This book tells the story of the people of Israel returning to the land after a significant time of exile in Babylon (in modern-day Iraq.) After working to rebuild the place of worship, it dawns on Ezra that the Israelite men have committed “abominations” by marrying women from the surrounding areas rather than other Israelites.
Ezra decides that those transgressors will have to send away their wives and children in order to purify the land. While this could be a call to racial purity, but it is far more likely that this is a call for religious purity. The “foreign” women would be bringing their religious customs with them, very likely diluting the unique monotheistic nature of Israelite worship.
Other commands like these found in the Bible portray the Israelites as set-aside people who need to keep their bloodlines pure. Again, it would seem primarily for religious, not racial, reasons. However we can also read passages like Judges 21 where the marauding Israelite warriors are told they can marry all the virgins after slaughtering the rest of the people in a defeated city. So it’s not all that clear cut.
Turning toward the books written after Jesus lived, we can see where Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6 that people should not be “unequally yoked.” But no racial overtones appear here–only ones of common belief and moral foundations.
In a letter to the Galatians, Paul declares unequivocally that “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” The phrase “no longer Jew or Greek” is a broad statement indicating Christianity transcends all racial boundaries. The letter was clearly addressing serious ethnic, racial and cultural tensions within the community.
Personally, I answer your question with an emphatic “No, the Bible does not forbid interracial marriage,” even though some have asserted that this is the case. Frankly, they are simply wrong, having read their racial prejudices into a racially unprejudiced text.
[Note: a version of this column is scheduled to run in the July 22, 2016 edition of the Denton Record Chronicle. The Thoughtful Pastor, AKA Christy Thomas, welcomes all questions for the column. Although the questioner will not be identified, I do need a name and verifiable contact information in case the newspaper editor has need of it. Please email questions to: [email protected].]
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