Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science

201 Pages·2018·3.104 MB·English

by  Terence Keel

D I V I N E VA R I AT I O N S
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D I V I N E V A R I A T I O N S
H O W C H R I S T I A N T H O U G H T
B E C A M E
R A C I A L S C I E N C E
T E R E N C E K E E L
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2018 by Terence Keel. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Keel, Terence, author.
Title: Divine variations : how Christian thought became racial science /
  Terence Keel.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2018. |
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017012164 | ISBN 9780804795401 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781503604377 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Race—Religious aspects—Christianity. |
  Race—Historiography. | Religion and science—History. |
  Eurocentrism—History.
Classification: LCC BT734 .K44 2018 | DDC 305.8001—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017012164]
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/15 Minion Pro
For Zemmie, Terry, and Terell
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C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Impure Thoughts: Johann Blumenbach
and the Birth of Racial Science 23
2 Superseding Christian Truth: The Quiet Revolution
of Nineteenth-Century American Science of Race 55
3 The Ghost of Christian Creationism: Racial Dispositions
and Progressive Era Public Health Research 83
4 Noah’s Mongrel Children: Ancient DNA
and the Persistence of Christian Forms in Modern Biology 113
5 Beyond the Religious Pursuit of Race 137
Notes 147
Bibliography 171
Index 183
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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
New thoughts come into the world by passing through the ideas of others. I am
indebted to the support of many individuals and institutions that helped make
this work possible.
I have many mentors to thank. I am grateful for Janet Browne, who en-
couraged me to bring together the connections I pursued over the course of
this ambitious project. I am indebted to Evelyn Higginbotham’s encyclopedic
understanding of race and American history and her constant reminder not to
lose sight of the politics of knowledge. I learned from Amy Hollywood the im-
portance of being attentive to the multivalent expressions of religious thought—
particularly in discourses about human difference. From Andrew Jewett I came
to appreciate the virtue of sound historical argument and to see how we carry
the past into the present. Noah Feldman’s lively exchange and precise criticism
pushed me to be a better scholar. I am grateful for Evelyn Hammonds and her
commitment to my intellectual and professional success. Elizabeth Lunbeck,
Emily Martin, and Duana Fullwiley were incredibly important during the very
early stages of this work. I am also thankful for both Eddie Glaude and Wallace
Best, whose important work inspired me to move my scholarship on race and
religion in a new direction.
I am fortunate to have many dear colleagues and friends who read drafts,
offered support, and provided feedback as I was researching and writing this
book. I am grateful to Sherene Seikaly, Sears McGee, Gabriela Soto-Laveaga,
Howard Winant, Kate McDonald, Paul Spickard, Jonathan Khan, Osagie
Obasogie, Deborah Bolnick, Kathryn Lofton, Kelsey Moss, Laura Portwood-
Stacer, and Eram Alam. I was fortunate to have had Thomas Franke and David
McIntosh help me make final adjustments near the very end of the process.
There were also many close friends who were simply there when I needed