Versión de HTML Básico
of the country—in the churches, in housing, and in employment,
for example. Hence, there has been a general need to examine at
a deep level the meaning and the implications of the American
democratic creed and of biblical faith for the manifold aspects of the
racial problem. It has not been sufficient to appeal to the general
practice of our society or of the churches, for there has been the
uneasy feeling that this practice has fallen far short of the fundamental
norms which have been professed. In the political realm we have been
forced to reconsider the meaning of the Constitution itself. In the
religious realm we are being forced to go back and examine the
meaning and implications of the fundamental tenets of Christian
faith concerning the nature of man, man’s relationship to God and
his fellowmen, and the nature of the Church. The traditions of men
who have profited from segregation are not a trustworthy guide to
God’s will. For this reason these traditions must be examined in the
light of the experience and insight of the larger community of those
who share the Christian faith. This means, above all, that Christians
must seek to discover God’s will in the area of race relations by be
ginning with God rather than with themselves and their customs.
THE CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF RACE
The starting point of Christian ethics as it seeks to deal with the
racial problem, therefore, is the effort to understand what God is do
ing in this area of human relationships as Creator, as Judge, and
as Redeemer. Man’s action in this sphere, as in every other, should
be a grateful and obedient response to the will of God who is the
Lord of history.
We have emphasized the fact that, while it is impossible to divide
the divine action into three distinct forms of behavior, it is possible to
discern a three-fold purpose in God’s activity. Man’s action, we have
insisted, should always be a three-fold response to this ever-present
three-fold intent of God. It is particularly important to remind our
selves of the total character of the divine action in the area of race
relations, for here perhaps more than elsewhere in our day many
voices are raised in the name of religion which seek both to defend
and to attack segregation by appealing to the partial will of the
Creator or the Judge or the Redeemer with little or no effort to relate
this partial will to the total purpose and action of God. Thus, seg
regationists widely appeal to the intent of the Creator as this is
346
Biblical Faith and Social Ethics