Tue, September 26, 2023
During the 19th century, slaveholders sometimes used Bible verses to defend their right to own slaves. In our time, atheists have used the same Bible verses to defend their claim that Christianity is a sham and its moral standards noxious. But both those who used Bible verses to defend slavery and those who use slavery to condemn Christianity overlook slavery’s historical context and misunderstand the reasons for the apostolic instructions.
Slavery is very old, older than the Bible itself. When the Bible was being written, people could not imagine a world without slaves. As we take electricity for granted, they took slavery for granted. Burning coal or firing up nuclear power plants may be a selfish and harmful way to produce energy — people in future generations may think it the epitome of foolishness and even arrogance — but few people would suggest that we do away with electricity. Likewise, it never occurred to people in antiquity to do away with slavery.
Ancient slavery differed from the slavery we know about, which marred America from the 17th century through the 19th century. When people claim that Christianity supports slavery, they have in mind the African slave trade in Europe and in the Americas, and that is at best misleading. It was, in fact, Christians who led the campaign to end slavery in Europe and America.
Ancient slavery differed from its modern counterpart. In antiquity, slaves often sold themselves into slavery, usually to pay off debts. They then saved their money (they frequently were paid) in order to buy their way back out. Some slaves were like family members: loved, honored and well-treated; others were treated poorly, neglected, and abused. Some slaves were better educated than their masters. They sometimes held positions of importance. Slaves were not only laborers; they were also accountants, lawyers, soldiers, teachers and administrators.
The slavery of the first century Mediterranean never oppressed a particular people group because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin. Slaves in Paul’s day were not kidnapped from their homes and forced into slavery. Unlike their 18th-century American counterparts, few first-century slaves spent their entire lives in slavery. And unlike 18th century slaves, first-century slaves were often better off financially than the day laborers who were free.
In ancient Israel, slaves would serve no more than seven years, when the law required their release. A slave could choose to remain with his or her master if they liked the work and appreciated the security, but a master could not force anyone to remain in slavery.
When people fault the biblical writers for their failure to denounce slavery, they frequently ignore what the writers did say. For example, the apostles counsel Christian slaves to buy their freedom if they are able. They command masters to treat their slaves with justice and remind them that they also have a Master who is watching and will hold them responsible for their actions.
The Christian perspective on slavery was unique among the ancients. Greek and Roman moralists sometimes addressed slaves’ responsibility to their masters (and for that matter, wives to their husbands) but not of masters to their slaves (or husbands to their wives). It took someone with a radically different outlook to even think in that way — someone with a mind being reshaped and renewed by a connection to God.
When the Apostle Paul told slaves to obey their “earthly masters with respect and fear,” he used the same words he employed in a different context of all Christians. He wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” where in the original language the prepositional phrases are identical. That he used the same expression to describe working out salvation and working second shift reveals the importance of work and work relationships, regardless of one’s status as slave or free.
Though Christians like the Apostles Paul and Peter accepted slavery as a societal institution, they also recognized the dangers inherent in it. They insisted that Christian masters treat their slaves justly, and offered counsel to slaves that would make their lives better. Though they did not denounce slavery as an institution, they did denounce injustice and oppression within the institution.
— Find this and other articles by Shayne Looper at shaynelooper.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Shayne Looper: Did Christianity support the institution of slavery?
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