There is hardly a corner of the earth that hasn’t been touched by some or other form of slavery in the course of history, not least Africa.
Whether you consider the approximately 12 million Africans who were stolen from this continent in the time of the transatlantic slave trade, or the indigenous communities who were forced into slavery by European settlers, or the slaves who were brought here from elsewhere whose descendants live on in our communities, this continent has borne the brunt of humanity’s tendency for enslaving and exploiting.
These chapters of our history horrify us. Rightly so. And yet the evil of slavery still lingers in our world today. International Justice Mission estimates that there are currently 50 million people being held in modern forms of slavery worldwide.
When it comes to the Bible and slavery, many people fall into confusion. After all, while Christians have often been at the forefront of abolition movements, there have also been people who have tried to use the Bible to justify some of the harshest and most brutal forms of slavery in history. How is this possible? Doesn’t God explicitly condemn slavery in the Bible?
Surprisingly, no. Scripture doesn’t ignore the reality of slavery but there is no clear commandment from God to abolish it as an institution. Some may feel (as atheist philosopher, Sam Harris, does) that God’s silence suggests that He does condone slavery, making Him an unjust, unloving God who is unworthy of worship. But this view does not take the whole of Scripture, nor its context, into consideration.
IN HIS IMAGE
The very first chapter of the Bible establishes God’s attitude towards humanity. The creation narrative makes clear that every single human being, irrespective of race, gender or age, has equal dignity in God’s eyes because they are created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Though humanity’s corruption by sin does mar this image, it does not obliterate it (Genesis 5:1-2). Every human being since Adam and Eve has been valuable in the eyes of God.
“ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
The creation narrative make clear not only humanity’s worth but also our purpose. We are the culmination of God’s creation, placed in the world not to be His slaves (as in the origin stories of other ancient religions) but as benevolent rulers over His creation. As Glen Scrivener writes in his book, The Air We Breathe, “Dominion, not subjection, is our lot. And our kind of dominion is meant to be a picture of God’s. In other words, it is meant to be power wielded for the benefit of those without it.”
God intended for all of humanity to rule benevolently over His creation. But the Fall happened, sin entered the world and slavery along with it. Before long, we find Israel’s great patriarch, Abraham, mistreating his slave-woman, Hagar, in defiance of God’s promise (Genesis 16). But the way in which God treats Hagar, the way He reassures her and graciously reveals Himself to her, sets the scene for God’s compassionate treatment of slaves in the Old Testament. And it is God’s view of slavery that the Bible wants us to take most seriously.
slavery in the old testament
It is very important to differentiate the forms of slavery which were common in the ancient Near-East from more recent forms such as the transatlantic slave trade. Slavery in Biblical times was not race-based, as it came to be in the seventeenth century. In the Old Testament, we encounter both an Egyptian woman enslaved by Hebrews (Genesis 16) and a Hebrew enslaved by Egyptians (Genesis 37).
Moreover, the law of Moses is very strict concerning the treatment of slaves (Exodus 21). The Israelites themselves were emancipated slaves and this experience was to inform the way they treated their own slaves (Deuteronomy 5:15, 15:15, 16:12, 24:18, 24:22). God’s law allows for voluntary servitude as a form of employment to keep someone from bankruptcy, but it does not allow man-stealing (this prohibition is repeated in the New Testament, 1 Timothy 1:9-11). The law also required slaves to rest on the Sabbath with their masters, Hebrew slaves were to be released after six years, and if any slave was permanently harmed by their master they were also to be released. Escaped slaves were to be given refuge (Deuteronomy 23:15).
Prisoners of war were also protected. Though it was common at the time for victorious soldiers to rape the women of the towns they conquered and keep them as sex-slaves, God’s law requires that such women be allowed time to mourn for their families and then any soldier who desires one of them should marry her, affording her permanent provision and a respectable position (Deuteronomy 21:10-14).
All of this was radically counter-cultural and reveals a God who cares for the poor and the downtrodden. But is this enough? Why doesn’t God reject slavery altogether?
slavery in the NEw testament
At first glance, the New Testament doesn’t seem satisfactory either when it includes a letter from the Apostle Paul to a Christian slave-owner, Philemon. In the letter, Paul says that he is sending Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus, back to his master. Oh dear. Does Paul support slavery too? Far from it.
Slaves in the Roman world were considered property rather than people. And yet Paul refers to Onesimus as his son, his “very heart”. As Rebecca McLaughlin points out, this is the most affectionate language used of any individual Christian in all of Paul’s writings.
Paul also makes clear that he is sending Onesimus back to Philemon, “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” Philemon should receive him “as you [Philemon] would welcome me [Paul].” This is a far cry from the brutal punishment usually administered to runaway slaves under Roman law.
And although Paul’s language is very gracious and entreating rather than commanding, Paul’s position of authority in the early church meant that Philemon could not disregard Paul’s requests without facing public dishonour. Paul was not messing around.
God’s law in the Old Testament afforded slaves rights, privileges and protection. The Apostle Paul’s attitude to slavery in the New Testament goes even further. Christian slaves and slave-owners were brothers in the Lord. How did Paul come to hold this view?
slave of all
In Philippians 2, Paul writes:
“Though [Jesus] was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Jesus had said about himself, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
Paul’s God had come to earth, not for glory or status or to exploit, but to serve as a slave. And because of how Christ loved and served people by giving His life for them, His followers were to continue his example. Throughout his New Testament letters, Paul refers to himself and other Christians as slaves of Christ. This should not be taken as an endorsement of slavery. Rather, the point is that every Christian has equal standing before God and they should treat each other as such, with great humility (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Galatians 3:28).
The New Testament does not forbid slavery because no Christian at the time was in any position to change Roman law. But the early church was radical in their rejection of the abusive, hierachical structure which was so entrenched in Roman society at the time. This is evidenced in a surviving letter from a Roman governor, Pliny, to the Emperor Trajan, dated around 111-113 AD, in which we discover that slaves could be appointed deacons (leaders) of churches. And though it took time, the Church’s validation of every person’s inherent dignity before God began to impact the rest of the world.
christian opposition to slavery
For centuries, people held a view of humanity which was more heavily influenced by the ‘natural’ way of things. In nature, the strong eat the weak. Life is a case of ‘survival of the fittest’. Writing in the fourth century, Aristotle said, “For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.” To 21st century readers, this way of thinking is abominable. But at the time, it was normal. It is largely because Paul and the early church, and Christians who came after them, stood against slavery the way they did that reforms were gradually introduced which did away with slavery, first in the eleventh century, and later again in the nineteenth century.
Yes, there have been Christians in history, particularly white Christians, who were complicit in the slave-trade to a greater or lesser degree. There is no excusing this. But that relatively small group of people should not define the story of the global Church across the centuries. Christian history is overflowing with notable characters whose faith compelled them to oppose slavery and courageously campaign for abolition.
If you would like to read more about this, you could investigate the writings of fourth century theologians, Archbishop Chrysostom (ca. 347–407) and Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–ca. 395). In the the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Christians like William Wilberforce and African-born freeman, Olaudah Equiano, were hugely influential in bringing about the abolition of slavery in England. Nineteenth century minister, Charles Spurgeon, was detested in America because of his denunciation of slavery. Some of the doctrines in this article are best expressed by heroes of the African American church such as Amanda Berry Smith, Harriet Tubman, Henry Highland Garnet and Frederick Douglass. And of course, there are Christian organisations like International Justice Mission, Embers International and Love Justice International who are currently working to end modern day slavery.
For further reading, have a look at Rebecca McLaughlin’s book, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion (Crossway).
