Did Paul Support Slavery?
June 21, 2009
How do we think about slavery when we read about it in Paul’s letters? Was it the same as American slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries? If Paul had been an American in the 1850s, would he have argued for or against abolition? What views lay behind Paul’s words we studied on Sunday: “Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity” (1 Corinthians 7:21)?
Such questions present more material than one brief article can address. Yet enough significant differences exist between slavery in the ancient and American contexts that we can at least clarify what Paul is and is not saying underneath his advice to slaves. Here are some of the major distinctions:
–Unlike the American version, slaves in the ancient world had the opportunity to purchase their freedom, typically around the age of 30. Paul alludes to this common practice in the verse above, and the church at Corinth was likely comprised of many former slaves.
–Treatment of slaves in antebellum America was by no means uniform, but could be generally described as ranging from unkind to inhumane. In the ancient world, however, slaves had a wider and often more positive range of experience. Certainly some were treated cruelly and worked nearly to death. But many were taught and practiced law or accounting or medicine, and continued in these professions as freedmen once they purchased their freedom.
–Politically speaking, the United States had a democratic system in which the people could change a system like slavery through elected officials. The Roman Empire, under the Emperor’s rule, had no such structure, rendering protest movements largely powerless.
–While Paul does not decry the institution of slavery outright, he speaks plainly against many of the practices associated with American slavery, for instance, calling “kidnappers” or “slave traders” sinners under God’s judgment (1 Timothy 1:10).
If Paul had been an American in the 1850’s, would he have argued for abolition? Many evidences suggest that the answer is yes. Though we must guess at how Paul’s views may have worked out in a different scenario, we do not have to guess at how he saw the gospel changing everything within the existing structure of slavery. He urged Philemon to release his slave Onesimus for the sake of kingdom labor, viewing him “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (Philemon 1:16). And as we saw on Sunday, he saw the gospel reversing the perception of slave and free. “He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:22).
Biblical scholars point out that this gospel-informed view of slavery could only lead to the demise of the institution as the gospel spread. Paul’s radical vision of God’s people unified in Christ would not allow for distinctions based on male/female, Jew/Gentile, or slave/free. Let us continue to apply this vision of community to our current context that Christ’s gospel might be on full display as we experience life in him together.
Pastor Chris