There’s only one race, biologically, with all of today’s people groups going back to one man and one woman (Adam and Eve), said creationist Ken Ham during his talk, “One Race, One Blood,” at Second Baptist Church in Lancaster on April 27.
Ham discussed how he became interested in racism and prejudice early in his ministry and how Genesis 1:11 serves as the foundation for social issues, such as abortion, marriage, gender and racism.
CEO and founder of the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in Kentucky and the Answers in Genesis ministry, Ham began his ministry in the United States 30 years ago. Ham said he was asked to speak on the topic of “One Race, One Blood,” an issue he said he believes a lot of churches “don’t deal with in an appropriate way,” or don’t address at all.
Ham said he has been shocked by the racism he has seen in U.S. churches. When a pastor in Georgia showed him a church graveyard of enslaved people whe were not allowed to have their names on their graves, Ham wondered how Christians could treat others that way.
He challenged the audience to change their way of thinking and think in terms of people groups, not races, emphasizing that we are all one family as the human race.
“Our thinking has a starting point; you don’t just grab your thinking out of the air,” Ham said. “There are only two starting points or two foundations for your thinking — either man’s word or God’s word. What I want to do tonight is show you how we should think as Christians by starting with God’s word.”
Ham became interested in the subject as a public high school science teacher in Australia in 1975. After he taught a lesson on the Tower of Babel, a story in Genesis explaining why different languages are spoken by people around the world, he was approached by three Aboriginal students who asked him to tell them more.
“I realized how important it was to them,” Ham said. “In Australia’s history, because of Darwinian evolution, the Australian Aboriginals were considered the missing links in evolutionary history; they were considered closer to the apes. There were people from England and scientists from Germany who sent people to Australia with instructions on how to kill Aboriginals. It’s a very sad part of Australian history. But wait, you’re related to me; we are all one family. That’s when I first started developing material on one race.”
At the end of his talk, Ham was available for a meet-and-greet with the audience. Wendy and David Funderburk, who attend Second Baptist Church, came out to hear Ham speak live.
“We’ve been following him in his ministry for years and even had some of his books, so I was very excited to find out he was coming here,” Wendy said. “I like the way he presented the materials and how it helps us to know how to present it.”
“His explanation about creation and how it came to be and the facts behind it were undeniably true,” David said. “Everyone got to hear that, even people that were maybe a little confused or not exactly on the path of knowing the truth.”
Sponsored by Nutramax Laboratories, the free, ticketed event received over 1,100 RSVPs.
“This was a great event for our community,” said Dr. Brian Saxon, pastor of Second Baptist Church. “Ken Ham presented a biblical view of race and how we are all from the same family. It was great to see people of all colors studying God’s word together in unity and harmony, a message that our country really needs to hear.”
At the end of the evening, an all-expenses paid trip to visit the Ark Encounter in northern Kentucky was raffled away in a drawing. The prize was won by Darlene Denyer, a Lancaster resident who said she’s talked about visiting the facility, but hasn’t had the opportunity to yet.
“I feel great; I never win anything,” said Denyer, who said she looked at the number on her ticket three times to make sure it matched what was called out from the stage.
“I always wanted to go and take my girls, but now they’re grown and I’ve got grandkids, so I’d love to be able to take them.”
