Should Slaves Obey their Masters?
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Should Slaves Obey their Masters?

by Greg M. Johnson

Outline

Quotes
Two forms of mischief
The passages
Biblical problems with American slavery
Should a slaveowner hold onto the slave?
Should a slave obey his or her master?
Where does this leave us?
Links

Quotes

"What? The Bible allow slavery? In what sense allow it? and under what circumstances? and what kind of slavery? These are all very important inquiries if we wish to know the certainty and the meaning of the things we say... Moreover, God enacted statutes for the protection of the Hebrew servant, which made his case infinitely better than being cut off in his sins. And who shall call this cruel? Jewish servitude was not American slavery, nor scarcely an approximation toward it."
Charles Finney, Sermon 6, "THE SINNER'S EXCUSES ANSWERED"

"The time has come, in the providence of God, when every southern breeze is loaded down with the cries of lamentation, mourning, and woe. Two millions of degraded heathen in our own land stretch their hands, all shackled and bleeding, and send forth to the Church of God the agonizing cry for help. And shall the Church, in her efforts to reclaim and save the world, deafen her ears to this voice of agony and despair? God forbid!"
Charles Finney, LECTURE XIII HOW CHURCHES CAN HELP MINISTERS

"When the master, or his representative, the man who justifies slaveholding, comes with the whip in one hand and the Bible in the other, the slave says, at least in his heart, lay down one or the other. Either make the tree good and the fruit good, or else both corrupt together. Slaves do not believe that THE RELIGION which is from God, bears whips and chains."
Lewis Garrard Clarke Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke, During a Captivity of More Than Twenty-Five Years, Among the Algerines of Kentucky, One of the So Called Christian States of America. Dictated by Himself, 1845

"It becomes proper, therefore, to show at some length, that this doctrine of [American slavery advocates] is founded and sustained entirely on perversions of certain passages of the Scriptures, forged by falsifications of their true meaning and intent."
George Bourne, A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument; By a Citizen of Virginia, 1845

"Therefore maintain and clothe those that are in want from the righteous labour of the faithful. And such sums of money as are collected from them in the manner aforesaid, appoint to be laid out in the redemption of the saints, the deliverance of slaves, and of captives, and of prisoners, and of those that have been abused, and of those that have been condemned by tyrants to single combat and death on account of the name of Christ. For the Scripture says: 'Deliver those that are led to death, and redeem those that are ready to be slain, do not spare.'" Apostolic Constitutions, Book I - VI ca. A.D. 250

"I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."
The Lord, Exodus 3:6-8

Two forms of mischief

There have been two forms of mischief perpetrated over the years related to the passages in the Old and New Testament related to slavery.

The passages

  • Ephesians 6:5-9

    Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

  • Colossians 3:22-4:1

    Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

  • 1 Timothy 6:1-2

    All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.

  • Titus 2:9-10

    Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

  • 1 Peter 2:18-19

    Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

  • Other verses

    See a complete list at The Bible Gateway

Biblical problems with American slavery

  1. How does one get a slave?

    I can imagine at least two ways to get a slave today, which are not too different from 200 years ago:
    • KIDNAPPING BY MILITARY OR PARAMILITARY SQUADS
      Imagine a Chinese sub surfacing just offshore in Virigina Beach, VA. Chinese marines pour out onto the beach, invade a church, and cart people away to be shipped to China for years of hard labor. Isn't this exactly what happened to the citizens of Africa? Would the culpability of the kidnappers be any different if the Mayor of Virginia Beach were complicit in choosing who'd be sent away? Wouldn't this violate laws against kidnapping; aren't we called to ransom the captives?
      • Exodus 21:16 "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death."
      • Deuteronomy 24:7"If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you."
      • 1 Timothy 1:9-11 "We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." [emphasis added].


    • DEBT EXPLOITATION
      Some may sell themselves into slavery for the purpose of paying down a family debt. This may be a motivation behind some slavery in Sudan. A Christian response to the needy, however, ought not be to take advantage of that person.
      • Leviticus 25:39 "`If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave.
      • Mark 12 "As he taught, Jesus said, 'Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces,and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." [emphasis added]
      • Jesus action in cleansing the temple has been interpreted by some as taking action against those who were exploiting the poor (those whose sacrifices would have been doves) with high exchange rates.
      • The Confessions of the Lutheran church include Luther's Large Catechism, which reads:
        Everyone misuses the market in his own willful, conceited, arrogant way, as if it were his right and privilege to sell his goods as dearly as he pleases without a word of criticism... If, when you meet a poor man who must live from hand to mouth, you act as if everyone must live by your favor, you skin and scrape him right down to the bone, and you arrogantly turn him away whom you ought to give aid, he will go away wretched and dejected, and because he can complain to no one else, he will cry to heaven. Beware of this, I repeat, as of the devil himself. . .

  2. Gross violations of human decency

    THE SLAVES' BABIES ON GEORGE WASHINGTON's PLANTATIONS WENT NAKED IN WINTER
    • Job 31 "If I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint."
    • Matt 25 Jesus warns the goats in the Last Judgement, "I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."


  3. It was so different from the Jewish institution

    • NO JUBILEE FOR BELIEVING SLAVES Can you imagine what American would be like today if every slave had received a share of his master's wealth after 7 years' work?
      Deut 15:12-14 "If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you."

    • LACK OF ANY MODERN CALLS FOR HOLY WARS TO POSSESS PROMISED LAND
      It has been argued that the Jewish institution of slavery allowed for a reduction in barbarity: captives were enslaved rather than slain.

Should a slaveowner release his slaves?

  • Yes is the easy answer: Paul urged Philemon to "do the right thing."

    In his letter to Philemon, he sends a slave back to his master and urges the slave holder to release the slave

  • Yes is the easy answer from a perspective of justice

    • Zacchaeus was a wealthy oppressor of his people-- a tax collector. Upon entering into fellowship with Jesus, gave half his possessions to the poor and paid back anyone he had cheated four times the amount. Luke 19
    • James warns those who held back the wages of their workers, those whose workers cry out against them, "Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you." James 5. It's hard not to imagine this passage applying to American slaveholders.
    • Job thought it would have been a terrible sin to ignore the cries of his workers. "If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me." Job 31:13-14.

Should a slave obey his or her master?

  • Yes is the difficult answer from a perspective of nonviolence

    This interpretation would place this passage in league with many other difficult ones that suggest nonretaliation. Christians are urged to let the state or Lord himself redress wrongs and not worry about retaliation or justice for oneself.
    • Why worry about winning lawsuits? [1 Cor 6: 4-7]
      Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another--and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
    • Why worry about winning fist fights? [Matthew 5:29-30]
      "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."
      St. John Chrysostom wrote in his HOMILY XXII:
      "Look how [Paul] divests thy slavery of its meanness. For just in the same way as the man who has been robbed, if he gives still more to him who has taken, is not ranked among those robbed, but rather amongst liberal givers; not amongst those who suffer evil, but amongst those who do good; and rather clothes the other with disgrace by his liberality, than is clothed with disgrace by being robbed,--so, I say, in this case, by his generosity he will appear at once more high-minded, and by showing that he does not feel the wrong, will put the other to shame. "
    • Why worry about winning disputes over resources to run your business? [Genesis 26]
      Isaac seemed not to worry too much about people taking the wells he had so painstakingly dug to feed his flocks and family.


  • Yes is the difficult answer from a perspective of nonmaterialism

    • Paul survives his thorn [2 Cor 12: 7-10]
      "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
    • Lilies don't worry either [Matthew 5:27-30] "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."


  • Yes is the difficult answer from a perspective of love

    In the situation of the believing slave and the unbelieving master, the ethic here seems to be that one ought to love and serve one's neighbor first and foremost over the demand for one's rights.

Where does this leave us

In viewing the totality of Scripture, we see a blueprint for a community where neither slave revolts, slave trading, kidnapping into slavery, nor debt enslavement would be tolerated. One finds an economy where we find both employers dread to give their workers any reason to complain and workers happy to work under unjust conditions. One finds a church where both injustice and discord really are viewed as "sin," where everyone tries to "seek the interest of one's neighbor."

Links

Other anti-slavery arguments from Christians

See A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument; By a Citizen of Virginia by George Bourne, 1780-1845

Groups fighting modern instances of slavery

CASMAS, the Coalition Against Slavery in Mauritania and Sudan.
General Links on Human Rights from Amnesty International
Consumers International
Friends of the Earth
Global Exchange
Globalization Action Center
Green Group at the European Parliament
ONE/Northwest
One World
Road to Seattle
Third World Network
WTO Watch
Counter

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