Materials
The
Bible And Slavery:
Applying The Principles Of Our Study
by R. Todd Bouldin
“There is no Jew nor Greek,
there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female;
all of you are one in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Galatians 3:28
The New Testament teaching on slavery gives us a real-life example of what early Christians did with a dominant social and cultural issue of those times. The issue illustrates an issue in which the early church both accepted and pushed cultural norms. The issue also illustrates how the modern church of the 19th century used to Scripture both to defend slavery and to trumpet the abolitionist cause.
Exercise: It is 1855 in America, and the churches are brewing with a fiery debate concerning whether Christians may own slaves.
The front half of the room will represent the slave holding Christians. Using Scripture and any other theological argument, defend the Christian practice of slave holding. Please concentrate on Scriptural and theological positions and not economic or constitutional ones.
Scriptures for Your Consideration: 1 Corinthians 7:17-24; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Titus 9-10; Philemon.
The back half of the room will represent the abolitionists. Using Scripture and any other theological argument, argue against the Christian practice of slavery.
Scriptures for Your Consideration: Genesis 1:26-27; Luke 4:18-19; Galatians 3:28; Philemon 15
Todd's Reflections On Slavery And Scripture
A Scriptural argument for slavery may be made if one only considers what Scripture says. Scripture might be used, and was, to both support and tear down the institution of slavery. Yet, we would all agree that slavery is immoral and a violation of the image of God in the person, as well as an offense to the message of liberation from economic barriers that the gospel promises and demands (Galatians 3:28). The isolation of each verse that defends slavery from the larger whole of Scripture is dangerous, for it would permit a person to defend slavery on the grounds that Scripture allows it when it is clear that the gospel does not.
The gospel always was what was at stake for Paul and the early Christians. Jesus certainly opened up the way for the treatment of all people as the beloved of God, and the liberation of all the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). As Paul reflected on the heart of Christ and the nature of the gospel, it led him to challenge the culture in new ways. Masters were to stop threatening their slaves and to recognize their common humanity (Ephesians 6:9). Philemon was to welcome his slave back as a brother, and not a slave (Philemon 8). Yet, Paul did not completely turn the tables on slavery.
If the church then had pressed the teaching of Galatians. 3:28 and Philemon as well as its more general message of liberation to its full conclusion, it would have been undermining the economic foundation of the Roman world. Slavery was a constant-a given-in the ancient world. Life would have been unimaginable without it. If the church then had energetically pressed this matter, it would have been quickly perceived as being dangerously subversive and a threat to the basic fabric of society. And it would have distracted almost everyone from its primary gospel message. The gospel would have been buried beneath layers of economic fear and conflict.
Today, in our understanding of those passages that urge slaves to obey their masters (1 Corinthians 7:17-24; Ephesians. 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Titus 9-10; Philemon), we appeal to context and original intent. We do not agree with those who in the early nineteenth century used these passages to defend slavery as a permanent God-ordained institution. And today we see in the biblical teaching on slavery an example of the necessary distinction between what the New Testament says about new life in Christ (Galatians 3:28) and the actual degree of loving implementation possible in the first century. In modern society, we can no longer defend slavery as the church progresses toward its Galatians 3:28 ideal. In short, we appeal to something beyond isolated Scripture texts – we appeal to the larger purposes of God in creation and in the gospel that require us to think theologically while we also think biblically. It is God’s larger purposes which are still at work in the church to create a community of believers where what matters is one’s spiritual relationship with God and not one’s economic status, race, or gender.
GENDER AND SCRIPTURE
The church has a long ways to go in eliminating the barriers of poverty and race still, but we have made a lot of progress in the past hundred years. We are just beginning to ask important questions about gender in the Churches of Christ. In consideration, will we choose to apply a different set of rules to gender than we would apply to slavery or race? Will we argue in defense of gender distinctions in the church based on isolated Scriptures or consider the larger framework and purposes of God in the gospel of Christ? What role will we give culture? How will our mission to Ventura County affect our view of the issue? How will our tradition contribute to the discussion? Finally, and most importantly, what would love call us to do? Stay tuned.
“There is no Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; all of you are one in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Galatians 3:28
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