Jesus and Slavery

Being raised in rural South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union immediately before the Civil War, I have gained a rather horrid distaste for slavery.  Also being a Christian, I have always been bothered by the use of slavery within the Bible.   Does God support something as oppressive and immoral as slavery?  Slavery in the New World often times meant the inevitability of being raped and abused, was it the same way for the Early Church and Israel?  Are we in this age more “morally evolved” than our descendants? Such questions have always plagued me.  Because of this wonder, I’ve decided to research the topic a little and share my findings (in other words, combine a lot of my resources especially from gotquestions.org and The Reason for God by Tim Keller).

The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether. Many have seen this to mean that the Bible authorizes all forms of slavery. What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was more a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters.

The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. In the United States, many black people were considered slaves because of their nationality; many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. The Bible most definitely does condemn race-based slavery. Consider the slavery the Hebrews experienced when they were in Egypt. The Hebrew were slaves, not by choice, but because they were Hebrews (Exodus 13:14). The plagues God poured out on Egypt demonstrate how God feels about racial slavery (Exodus 7-11). So, yes, the Bible does condemn some forms of slavery. At the same time, the Bible does seem to allow for other forms. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries.

In addition, both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of “man-stealing” which is what happened in Africa in the 19th century. Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who brought them to the New World to work on plantations and farms. This practice is abhorrent to God. In fact, the penalty for such a crime in the Mosaic Law was death: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8-10).

Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.

Social historian Rodney Stark states, “Although it has been fashionable to deny it, anti-slavery doctrines began to appear in Christian theology soon after the decline of Rome were accompanied by the eventual disappearance of slavery in all but the fringes of Christian Europe.  When Europeans subsequently instituted slavery in the New World, they did so over strenuous papal opposition, a fact that was conveniently ‘lost’ from history until recently.  Finally, the abolition of New World slavery was initiated and achieved by Christian activists.”

Christians began to work for abolition not because of some general understanding of human rights, but because they say it as violating the will of God.  Older forms of indentured servant-hood and bond-service of Biblical times had often been harsh, but Christian abolitionists concluded that race-based, life-long slavery, established through kidnapping, could not be found in alignment with Biblical teaching.  Christian activists such as William Wilberforce in Great Britain (btw, the movie about him entitled Amazing Grace is amazing), John Woolman in America, and many others devoted their entire lives, in the name of Christ, to ending slavery.  At the same time the slave trade was so financially rewarding that many within the church greedily sought to justify it.

When the abolitionists finally had British society ready to abolish slavery across the empire, many in the colonies said the price of commodities would skyrocket catastrophically.  This did not deter the abolitionists.  The House of Commons agreed to compensate the planters for all freed slaves, a sum which equaled to half of all the British government’s annual budget.  The Act of Emancipation passed in 1933, and the costs were so high to the British people that some have referred to the voluntary abolition of slavery in Britain as “voluntary econocide.”

Many have tried to understand why so many political figures would act so selfishly to do away with the act.  Why self-interest would they have in this act of abolition?  Rodney Stark has argued that the only reason why this sacrificial behavior ever took place was because it was Christian leaders who were in the forefront of this movement.  Many within Christianity had allowed this inhuman behavior to continue but being the “repentant religion” that Christianity is, many sought to correct this move.

Very much related to this topic, Martin Luther King Jr. realized that it was behaving more like a Christian would do away with such things as racial injustice.  He believed that it was a deeper and truer Christianity that would help change the face of America.  David L. Chappell believes that the Civil Rights was primarily a religious and spiritual movement as opposed to simply political.   He argues that white Northern liberals who were the allies of the African-American civil rights leaders were not proponents of civil disobedience or of a direct attack on segregation.  Because of their secular belief in the goodness of human nature, they thought that education and enlightenment would bring about inevitable social and racial progress.  Black leaders were instead much more rooted in the Biblical understanding of the sinfulness of the human heart and in the denunciations of injustice that they read in the Hebrew prophets.  The Civil Rights movement was a religious revival.

Alright, many might have read what I’ve stated and say, “What of the passages in Scripture that seem to be in favor of slavery?”  What do you do with passages like Ephesians 6:5 which states, “slaves obey your masters”?  Many times when people come across a passage like this they immediately disregard the Bible completely without understanding the text.

Often times when a passage like this seems so offensive, consider that it might not actually teach what it appears to be teaching.  Many texts people find like this can be cleared up with a decent commentary that puts the issue into its historical context.  Ephesians 6:5, for example, is often immediately understood in our culture to be parallel with the African slave trade, human trafficking, and sexual slavery practiced in many places today.  To believe this is simply ignoring the cultural context of that passage.

In the first-century Roman empire, when the New Testament was written, there was not a great different between slaves and the average free person.  Slaves were not distinguishable from others by race, speech, or clothing.  They looked and lived like everyone else, and were not segregated from the rest of society in any way.  Financially, slaves made the same wages as free laborers, and therefore not usually poor.  Slaves could even buy themselves out of slavery which almost always happened, very few slaves remained slaves for life.  Most could reasonably hope to be released within ten or fifteen years, or by their late thirties at most.  Also, these slaves were not owned completely but only their time and skills were owned by the master for a temporary amount of time.  There was, in essence, no difference between a slave and servant (the word is actually the same – δουλος).  It must also be noted once again that when this form of servant-hood is in place, it must be done according to the moral teachings of Scripture so that none shall be oppressed.

Even with all of this said, many people still find this to be offensive.  My advice in this respect is to simply consider that their problem with some texts might be based on an unexamined belief in the superiority of their historical moment above all others.  To reject the Bible as regressive is to assume that they have now arrived at the ultimate historic moment.  That belief is surely as narrow and exclusive as the views in the Bible that they regard as offensive.  Essentially, I’m advising you all to beware of the thought that you have progressed above other cultures.  In many ways, it is probably better that we do not have this type of servant-hood within our culture.  However, being that we live in such an anti-servant culture, such a thought becomes offensive to us (to a fault).  A common thought within this current historic moment is that we deserve to be served.  Such a belief has caused us to detest the thought of all types of serving.

With that said, many would find that offensive and thus believe that I’m advocating slavery.  By no means is that my intention!  I’m merely expressing that just as Jesus came as a servant, we too should serve our fellow man and free the captives.

Christocentrism in Sermon and Scripture

A major type or style of preaching that has been very popular recently is called narrative preaching.  The essential idea is that through the telling of stories, you teach concepts in Scripture.  There may be some good things about this type but often it teaches very little doctrine and is not as applicable as some other types.

Christocentric preaching takes this style of preaching and adapts it.  Instead of simply preaching the David and Goliath story with the idea that “you too can defeat your giants,” christocentric preaching instead would say, “Like David against impossible odds gained victory over Goliath, Jesus against impossible odds gained victory over death.”

This christocentric preaching style seeks to compare Old Testament narratives to the Grand Narrative.  Essentially, show how one event in the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of something to come. This way of going about teaching the Scriptures does essentially what Jesus did in Luke 24:27, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”  Such preaching is designed to “open the Scriptures” as verse 32 later says.  Luke 24:45 says that in this event, “He [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”  From Jesus’ perspective, they knew the Scriptures but never grasped the essential character of that text, himself!

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus states, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  In many ways, it seems as though many preachers do just that; they either refuse to acknowledge these fulfillments when preaching or they refuse to acknowledge the Scriptures fulfill anything.  I wonder how many times I’ve listened to a pastor preach an Old Testament text and never once mention how the New Testament speaks of that exact passage. The text is about Jesus!

As an example, how could we ever preach Isaiah 6 without mentioning Jesus? A portion of that text (6:1-6) states, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’”

Many pastors will preach this text and speak of how holy God is, how great and awesome he is, etc. but why do we never mention Jesus here?  In John 12 immediately after Jesus quoted another section of Isaiah 6, he states in verse 41, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”  This text is about Jesus!  In fact, all of Scripture is about the glorious holiness of Jesus Christ.

So many “religious people” study Scripture earnestly seeking to find God’s grace through it, but we often forget that it is through Jesus Christ as spoken of in that word that we are saved. John 5:39 states, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”  It is not through our own works, our rituals, or even our beliefs that Scripture is true that we gain salvation but purely the grace of Jesus Christ.  He alone gives salvation and He alone can change our hearts, minds, and attitudes.

How sad it is that I so often seeing people claiming that they are Christians and yet believe they are right with God simply because they do the right stuff.  They believe that through a high moral standard, becoming holy, reading Scripture, going to church, doing ministry, and telling people about Jesus that they are saved.  No, as Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Not by our vain attempts do we become right with God but solely through repenting before Jesus Christ – of our sin and of our pride.  All Scripture attests to the miraculous work of Jesus and only through Jesus do we gain salvation.

Humility of the Creator

Over years of debating religious matters with non-Christians one of the most common questions is the following, “If there is a God, He would never attempt to even acknowledge our existence due to our own insignificance.  When examining the God and Creator of the universe who is infinite in every characteristic that He possesses and examining humanity’s own insignificance in the comparison to the grand scheme of all reality, why would He even bother with us?”

Just think about this concept a while, let it rattle through your mind.  The infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe humbles himself to work in the lives of people who have no significance in relation to Himself.  In fact, these people are fallen depraved creatures who have rejected their Creator and often reject His various existence.  Why would such an almighty God do such a thing?  He had no need for us.  We can do nothing for Him or provide something for Him that He does not already possess.

He needs no fellowship that desire is made complete in His Trinitarian nature, not to mention the heavenly hosts of beings which worship Him.  Nothing we do puts Him in our dept, nothing we can ever do would mean God would require anything from us.  He is God.

Examining His greatness and our inferiority, it is not wonder that many non-Christians reject such a God.  Such a God that would humble Himself defies all human logic.  God has no need for us, why even acknowledge us?

While many might find this concept to be a stumbling block, the Christian finds this concept as a cause for rejoicing!  The almighty God and Creator of the universe humbled Himself to not only care for us but to become one of us!  God entered human existence by humbling himself to become a man, be born of a virgin, live the sinless life, be rejected by men, die on the cross, raise from the grave, ascend into heaven, and be glorified in all grandeur at the right hand of the Father – all according to the Scriptures.

Oh what a cause for rejoicing! Our Emmanuel, God with us, has come and brings salvation to all who believe and accept Him as Lord!

Philippians 2:5-11 states, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Being Nicodemus

Christians come in all shapes and varieties.  One such example is him who has been consumed with religion.  Religion in and of itself is not inherently evil, but it can often become a stumbling block to the gospel message.  We will take a look at this by examining the famous passage in John 3:1-10.

(1) Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. (2) This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (3) Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (4) Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” (10) Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

We see within this passage a very religious person coming to Jesus by the name of Nicodemus.  He was by all means perceived to be righteous by others and by himself.  However, he came to Jesus with a question that according to Jesus he should already know (e.g. “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”).

Nicodemus, being the pharisee that he was, would have memorized the Torah at a very young age.  He taught the things in Scripture and yet did not understand what he was talking about.  This problem is a common problem that many “hyper-religious people” often have.  He had heard these teachings his entire life but he never understood the true message.  Even his understanding of Jesus’ statements is hyper-religious as seen by his extremely literal interpretation of Jesus’ every word.

What was it Nicodemus was missing?  Even though he knew the Scriptures, he did not know them.  You see, this idea of becoming “born-again” is not a new concept.  Let’s take a look at some passages that Nicodemus should have known, the first being Deuteronomy 30:6.

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

This concept of becoming born-again is simply not a new concept in Scripture.  Jeremiah 31:33 is another example.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel 36:26 is yet another example.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

We now clearly see that this concept should not have been new to Nicodemus being as he was a teacher of such Scriptures.   What was it that blinded him to the truth?  Pride is the most clear answer and this pride could very well be within himself.

Being as all of us are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God, even the most religious person cannot escape from sin apart from Christ.  For the hyper-religious person, pride in one’s own apparent righteousness becomes a stumbling block for even feeling the need to seek Christ.  Jesus refers to this type of person differently than he does most.  When working with someone who needs mercy, he gives mercy.  For someone who thinks himself righteous, he humbles him.  He does this in Matthew 23.  As an example from that passage, here is verses 27-28:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

We see here Jesus humbling the religious person who thinks himself righteous.  Often times the best way of building someone up is to first tear them down.  With that said, very often the “Christian who is better than everyone else” needs to be torn down as well.  We are all in need of Christ and his mercy.  All of us.  Being born in a Christian home does not stop our need.  Going to church does not save us.

Nothing we can do saves us apart from faith in Christ given to us by his grace and his grace alone.  Through Christ and Christ alone can our hearts be made right with God.  We all need to seek after Christ an his mercy continually and continually repent before God.

But for the person like Nicodemus, possibly even you who are reading this, he knows these things.  He may have even heard it his entire life.  Does that mean he has experienced the mercies of God?  Has his eyes been blind to these truths?  How do you know that you are not just like Nicodemus?