SLAVERY
Paul E. Kretzmann
Slavery in history
There can be little doubt, as a prominent writer (Brace, Gesta Christi) has pointed out, that the spread of Christianity was the cause of the increasing sentiment among the nations against slavery. It is true that the position of the slaves among the Jews was not attended with such shameful degradations as among the heathen, where slavery was a canker and the lot of the average slave was worse than that of a beast of burden. As the influence of Christianity increased, the hold of slavery gradually weakened, and where it was still maintained, the inhuman cruelties which were formerly practised were gradually abandoned. Slavery in the Eastern Empire was abolished at the end of the fourteenth century, in Greece in 1437. The serfdom which arose from the universal disorder and chaos of society in the Latin Empire was looked upon with disfavor from the first by men that realized whither it tended. In modern times enlightened states have abrogated both serfdom and slavery, the latter being abolished in England in 1833, 1846 in Sweden, 1849 in Denmark, 1848 in France, 1855 in Portugal, 1863 in the United States, 1871 in Brazil.
Biblical view of slavery
Though the question has, therefore, ceased to be a burning one, yet it is well to remember, in view of the numerous passages throughout the Bible which treat of slavery, that the institution of slavery is not intrinsically and fundamentally wrong from the Biblical standpoint. While a Christian may hold the opinion that it is far better, from a social and economic view-point, that slavery should not be tolerated in a state or country, he will still maintain that, according to the clear expression of God’s will in His Word, even Christians could possess slaves or sanction their holding. Against men-stealers, against dealers in slaves, we have a plain passage of Scriptures, 1 Timothy 1:10, but there is no word of the Lord forbidding slavery itself. What the apostle writes in Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:9-10, and in the letter to Philemon, agrees with what the Lord had spoken in the Old Testament, Leviticus 25:44-46; Genesis 30:43; Job 1:3.
God’s righteousness and love
It is true, of course, that God inflicted slavery upon men as a punishment for their sins, Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Jeremiah 5:19; Jeremiah 17:4, that He made whole nations the abject and spurned servants of others, but it is equally true that vile treatment of slaves is not a necessary concomitant of the state, and would not be thought of if all the masters had at all times feared God and heeded what the Lord says, Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1: “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” That slaves were a piece of property without rights and could be treated and disposed of by their masters as the latter chose, is an idea which nowhere finds confirmation in Scriptures. What the apostle taught in all the passages in which he treated of the institution of slavery was this, that slaves are not only human beings like their masters, having the same Lord and Creator in heaven above, but that they are also included in an equal measure in the salvation which was earned by Christ, that the gracious will of God concerns also them, that He desires them to be saved through the knowledge of the truth. Slaves must therefore be considered as possessing the full dignity of men, a fact which, together with the certainty of their salvation, gives them full equality before God with their masters. Had these truths of Scripture always received the recognition which they deserve, there would be no chapter concerning the inhuman cruelties of many slaveholders in the history of most civilized countries. These are the facts to be remembered regarding slavery.