The New Testament mentions slavery. Critics of the Bible have sometimes
latched onto these texts as alleged evidence of the inferiority of the Bible
ethics. Why doesn’t the New Testament
speak against slavery? It seems to
endorse the status quo. So
goes the challenge. What can be
said in response to such challenges?
Here a few items to consider…
1.
We need to properly contextualize slavery in the
New Testament. Simply mentioning a
practice does not mean God condones or endorses the practice. Paul urges Christians to honor the
government but this doesn’t mean he condones everything the government does
(Romans 13.1-7).
2.
The culture of the time did not allow for
large-scale revolution on the issue of slavery. Christians had to navigate the times with wisdom and engage
in a longer-term project of undercutting slavery. By some estimates 85-90% of the inhabitants of Rome and the
Italian peninsula were slaves or of slave origins. During the first century Caesar Augustus passed laws
governing the number and ages of slaves who legitimately be set free. It is helpful to remember also that in
73 BC Spartacus led a slaves revolt and this caused the general populace to
look with fearful suspicion on any who would potentially foment opposition to
slavery.
3.
It needs to also be remembered that the
Christian communities to which Peter wrote were being increasingly seen in a
negative light. Their lifestyles
and refusal to fully endorse the gods brought them into conflict with the
dominant culture. This leads Dr.
Steven Tracy to write:
What then could Christian slaves (who had
no legal rights regarding their masters' abuse) and Christian citizens (who
stood on the cusp of legal prosecution for their faith) do when experiencing
abuse? Their best response was to let their godly behavior challenge unjust
treatment and unjust slander, which is precisely what Peter repeatedly
prescribes (2:12,1&-20; 3:16).[1]
4.
There are ways that the New Testament expresses
both direct and subtle opposition to slavery. In 1 Timothy 1.9-10 and Revelation 18.11-13 kidnapping for
the purpose of slavery is spoken against and presented in a negative light and worthy
of judgment. In 1 Corinthians
7.20-22 the apostle Paul encourages slaves to acquire freedom if possible. In Ephesians chapter six when Paul
mentions slaves and masters he does not quote Scripture as he does when
discussing the other aspects of the household such as husbands/wives and
fathers/children. The marital and
family bonds between men/women and parents/children were created by God so Paul
can quote Scriptures about those relationships. Slavery is an institution not created by God so the lack of
a Scriptural citation is subtle but significant.
5.
The equality within the church tended to
undercut the nature of slavery.
What is noteworthy is that slaves are addressed by Paul and Peter in
their letters. This dignified them
as part of the church of Christ.
This was also different from the moral codes of the time outside the
church. As one biblical scholar
writes:
The reason for this difference
between 1 Peter and other moral codes of his time is simple. For society at large slaves were not
full persons and thus did not have moral responsibility. For the church slaves were full and
equal persons, and thus quite appropriately addressed as such.[2]
There are seemingly even slave
names mentioned by Paul in his conclusion to the book of Romans when he is
thanking and commending those who are worthy of mention in the church. “The names of those mentioned in Romans
16 suggest that many had been slaves.
Andronicus [v. 7] and Urbanus [v.9] were exclusively slave names in the
literature and inscriptions of Paul’s day.”[3]
6.
It should also be noted that the symbolic
actions of the early church tended to undermine the dominant culture’s ideas of
slavery. The holy kiss and the
language of “brothers” and “sisters” reinforced the larger family dynamic of
the church. Masters addressing
slaves as “brother” would begin to subtly overturn the overt power structures
of the relationship. The words of
biblical scholar F. F. Bruce regarding the letter of Philemon seem to apply
more broadly to these kind of relational dynamics as well:
What this letter does [and I would
argue these practices—RJK] is to bring us into an atmosphere in which the
institution [of slavery] could only wilt and die.[4]
Yes, the New Testament mentions slavery but within the
message and actions of the church are the seeds of slavery’s destruction.
Resources for
further study:
1.
“Slavery in the Bible: Some Perspectives on a
Difficult Topic.” This is a Bible
study I did last year on the topic of slavery. It covers details of OT and NT slavery. It also has some more resources listed in
the bibliography. Online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2015/11/slavery-in-bible-some-perspectives-on.html
2.
The
Humanization of Slavery in the Old Testament, edited by Thomas
Schirrmacher. This is a collection
of three essays that give perspective on slavery in the Bible, history and
today. Very good research and
reasoning. Online: http://www.bucer.de/fileadmin/dateien/Dokumente/Buecher/WoT_8_-_Thomas_Schirrmacher__ed.__-_The_Humanization_of_Slavery_in_the_OT.pdf
[1]
Steven Tracy, “Domestic Violence in the Church and Redemptive
Suffering” Calvin Theological Journal 41 (2006), 290. Available
online: http://mendingthesoul.org/wp-content/uploads/DV-in-Church-1-Peter.pdf
