To pursue this objective the word nation was replaced by the word ethnicity. But it won’t work!  It may have some success in Christian families, in the church were members of various nations all change their allegiance to Christ, and it may have some success within a common geographical boundary where the Ten Commandments of the Christian Faith still have the force of law, but outside of these, I believe it is ultimately a recipe for disaster. 

America is no longer a nation in the biblical sense.  It is an empire.  A nation has the four boundary markers I have just mentioned, but an empire is a combination of nations living under one authority, usually under some type of tyranny.

When I was a young minister, I never heard of the word “ethnicity,” but today it is as common as pumpkins in the Fall.  My contention is that this word is relatively new, and that it was intentionally created by modern America to replace the concept of a “nation” as it is used in the Bible.  It has become a popular word in the church too.  The word ethnicity is not used in the King James Version of the Bible.  Not that I am a KJV-only person, but the more ancient language translations do give us the mindset of the past.  For example, in the typical English translation of the Greek language, Jesus told his disciples to make disciples of all the nations, not of all the ethnicities. The word “ethnicity” comes from the Greek term “ethnos” which is generally translated as nation in the English Bible.

The English word “nation” is derived from the same word as “nativity” which reminds us of the birth of Christ.  The word nation was chosen in older translations because it describes a people group with the same birth or ancestry.  In the distant past there existed patriarchs (like Abraham), and from such men came forth generations to follow.  This created a nation.  The most common element of a nation was being of the same birth.  Later, the word “race” was used in other translations, but again, this is a relatively new word that was not used in the old KJV (except as in running in a race).

In the New Testament the Apostle Paul adds to this definition of a nation, when preaching on Mars Hill, he said that God created the nations and defined them by borders as well as birth.  “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).

Luke tells us of another common attribute of nations when he describes the nations gathered at Pentecost in Acts 2:5-6 as having a common language: “Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.  And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.”

The Bible obviously includes one more marker in the concept of a nation, and that is a common religion which produces a common culture with common traditions and customs such as the celebration of Christmas and Easter. The great commission (Matt. 28: 18-20) is a command to change the religion of each nation by the preaching of the gospel and by the power of the Holy Spirit. This assumes that a nation, as defined in the Bible, still remained a nation even after receiving the gospel, but the God it worshipped was changed (like in Ninevah).

Nations as defined in the Bible are here to stay.  Actually, nations even as defined by these markers will appear before God in heaven. Heaven is described as a place where, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Rev. 21:24).

Thus, the four common marks of a biblical nation are a common birth, a common border, a common language, and a common religion.

We still think of nations with these markers when we think of the Japanese, the Chinese, the Dutch, and even such nations as Israel.  They are typically nations with a common border, a common language, a common ancestry, and a common religion (communism in China).

This was true of the United States in its earliest days.  America for much of its early existence consisted of mostly White Evangelical Protestants who spoke the English language. The nation had borders (that eventually covered the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans). Blacks came to America under compulsion via the institution of slavery and eventually became part of the sinews of our nation, even though they were of a different birth and ancestry.  Indians (native-Americans) were incorporated into the United States by force under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny.  Ellis Island opened this nation to other European descendants. Jews and Muslims would follow.

Why has the word ethnicity replaced the word nation?  Because it aligns more with the American notion of a nation, which is contrary to the biblical view of a nation. The word ethnicity empties the word nation of three of its major markers—a common ancestry, a common language, and a common religion.  Like all generations, we tend to read the Scriptures through the lens of our culture rather than read the culture through the lens of the Scriptures.  America prides itself on the diversity of nations living within a common geographical boundary with different languages and religions where democracy guarantees freedom and peace for all eternity.  Democracy has become our new god.

To pursue this objective the word nation was replaced by the word ethnicity. But it won’t work!  It may have some success in Christian families, in the church were members of various nations all change their allegiance to Christ, and it may have some success within a common geographical boundary where the Ten Commandments of the Christian Faith still have the force of law, but outside of these, I believe it is ultimately a recipe for disaster.

America is no longer a nation in the biblical sense.  It is an empire.  A nation has the four boundary markers I have just mentioned, but an empire is a combination of nations living under one authority, usually under some type of tyranny.

Protestant pluralism is waning as a significant force in America.  We now live under a secular polytheism.  The United States Constitution was created for a Christian people, and not for a muti-cultural conglomeration of various nations with their different ancestors and different religions living within one geographical border.

America has been balkanized and there is no longer unity under the banner of Christ.  This is one reason why there is so much political upheaval. One good example of this is the hatred now seen on college campuses where there is a verbal war between Jews and Hamas-sympathizers (who represent Muslims). The Middle East has been imported to our American geographical boundaries, and the result is the seed of hatred between these various nations living within our country.  As other nations are imported into America (some in the middle of the night by airplanes), the danger of the demise of this great nation is at hand.

Somewhere along this timeline the word ethnicity replaced the word nation to accomplish a goal contrary to the Bible. Never in the history of man since Adam and Eve have different nations with different religions lived in peace within the same boundaries, except by the force of war.

However, America, in its arrogance and its belief in the goodness of man, thought she could ignore the biblical concept of a nation and create a new tower of Babel where a multitude of nations could live together within the same border in a peaceful existence without a common religion. The goal was a melting pot, but we have created a boiling pot. The word ethnicity was a means to this end. That’s why I don’t use the word.

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tenn.