Christian views on slavery are varied regionally, historically and spiritually. Slavery in various forms has been a part of the social environment for much of Christianity's history, spanning well over eighteen centuries. Saint Augustine described slavery as being against God's intention and resulting from sin. The earliest elaboration of abolition that survives from antiquity is Gregory of Nyssa's sermon on owning slaves and pride (380 AD), anticipating the moral groundwork of the abolitionist movement by nearly 1,500 years. In the 1700's the abolition movement took shape among Christians across the globe.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century debates concerning abolition, passages in the Bible were used by both pro-slavery advocates and abolitionists to support their respective views.
In modern times, various Christian organizations reject the permissibility of slavery.
Biblical references
The Bible uses the Hebrew term () and the Greek term () to refer to slaves. has a much wider meaning than the English term slave, and in many circumstances it is more accurately translated into English as servant or hired worker.Jewish Encyclopedia (1901), article on Slaves and Slavery is more specific, but is also used in more general senses as well: of the Hebrew prophets (Revelation 10:7), of the attitude of Christian leaders toward those they lead (Matthew 20:27), of Christians towards God (1 Peter 2:16), and of Jesus himself (Philippians 2:7).
Old Testament Historically, slavery was not just an Israelite phenomenon, as slavery was practiced in other ancient societies, such as Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and Rome. Slavery was an integral part of ancient commerce, taxation, and temple religion.Archer (1982), Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 86-87
In the book of Genesis, Noah condemns Canaan (son of Ham) to perpetual servitude: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (Genesis 9:25). T. David Curp notes that this episode has been used to justify racialized slavery, since "Christians and even some Muslims eventually identified Ham's descendants as black Africans". This is widely regarded as a misinterpretation today. Anthony Pagden argued that "This reading of the Book of Genesis merged easily into a medieval iconographic tradition in which devils were always depicted as black. Later pseudo-scientific theories would be built around African skull shapes, dental structure, and body postures, in an attempt to find an unassailable argument - rooted in whatever the most persuasive contemporary idiom happened to be: law, theology, genealogy, or natural science - why one part of the human race should live in perpetual indebtedness to another."
The Canaanites settled in Canaan, rather than Africa, where Ham's other sons, Cush and Put, are considered to have most likely settled by those who believe that they were real historical figures. Noah's curse only applied to Canaan, and according to biblical commentator, Gleason L. Archer, this curse was fulfilled when Joshua conquered Canaan in 1400 BC. Although there is considerable doubt about the nature and extent of the conquest described in the early chapters of the book of Joshua, the post-Flood story did supply a rationale for the subjugation of the Canaanites. It is possible that the naming of 'Canaan' in the post-Flood story is itself a reflection of the situation of warfare between peoples in the time when the written form of the story took shape. Due to Canaanites being identified as Ethiopian, it was presumed that this curse was towards all Africans.
Some forms of servitude, customary in ancient times, were condoned by the Torah. Hebrew legislation maintained kinship rights (Exodus 21:3, 9, Leviticus 25:41, 47–49, 54, providing for Hebrew indentured servants), marriage rights (Exodus 21:4, 10–11, providing for a Hebrew daughter contracted into a marriage), personal legal rights relating to physical protection and protection from breach of conduct (Exodus 21:8, providing for a Hebrew daughter contracted into a marriage, Exodus 21:20–21, 26–27, providing for Hebrew or foreign servants of any kind, and Leviticus 25:39–41, providing for Hebrew indentured servants), freedom of movement, and access to liberty.
Hebrews would be punished if they beat a slave causing death within a day or two, and would have to let a slave go free if they were to destroy a slave's eye or tooth, force a slave to work on the Sabbath, return an escaped slave of another people who had taken refuge among the Israelites, or to slander a slave. It was common for a person to voluntarily sell oneself into slavery for a fixed period of time either to pay off debts or to get food and shelter. It was seen as legitimate to enslave captives obtained through warfare, but not through kidnapping for the purpose of enslaving them. Children could also be sold into debt bondage, which was sometimes ordered by a court of law.Jewish Encyclopedia (1901), article on Slaves and Slavery
The Bible does set minimum rules for the conditions under which slaves were to be kept. Slaves were to be treated as part of an extended family; they were allowed to celebrate the Sukkot festival, and expected to honor Shabbat. Israelite slaves could not be compelled to work with rigor, and debtors who sold themselves as slaves to their creditors had to be treated the same as a hired servant. If a master harmed a slave in one of the ways covered by the lex talionis, the slave was to be compensated by manumission; if the slave died within 24 to 48 hours, it was to be avenged (whether this refers to the death penaltyMaimonides, Mishneh Torah or notJewish Encyclopedia (1901), article on Avenger of Blood is uncertain).
Israelite slaves were automatically manumitted after six years of work, and/or at the next Jubilee (occurring either every 49 or every 50 years, depending on interpretation), although the latter would not apply if the slave was owned by an Israelite and was not in debt bondage. Slaves released automatically in their 7th year of service. This provision did not include females sold into concubinage by impoverished parents; instead their rights over against another wife were protected.Jewish Encyclopedia (1901), article on Law, Codification ofPeake's commentary on the Bible (1962), on Exodus 21:2-11 In other texts male and female slaves are both to be released after the sixth year of service. Liberated slaves were to be given livestock, grain, and wine as a parting gift. This 7th-year manumission could be voluntarily renounced. If a male slave had been given another slave in marriage, and they had a family, the wife and children remained the property of the master. However, if the slave was happy with his master, and wished to stay with a wife that his owner gave to him, he could renounce manumission, an act which would be signified, as in other Ancient Near Eastern nations,Thomas Kelly Cheyne and John Sutherland Black, Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903), article on Slavery by the slave gaining a ritual ear piercing. After such renunciation, the individual became his master's slave forever (and was therefore not released at the Jubilee).Thomas Kelly Cheyne and John Sutherland Black, Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903), article on Slavery These are provisions for slavery/service among Israelites. Non-Israelite slaves could be enslaved indefinitely and were to be treated as inheritable property.
New Testament Early Christians reputedly regarded slaves who converted to Christianity as spiritually free men, brothers in Christ, receiving the same portion of Christ's kingdom inheritance. These slaves were also told to obey their masters "with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ." (Ephesians 6:5 KJV) Paul the Apostle applied the same guidelines to masters in Ephesians 6:9: "And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality." Nevertheless, verses like Ephesians 6:5 were still used by defenders of slavery prior to the American Civil War. Slaves were encouraged by Paul in the first Corinthian Epistle to seek or purchase their freedom whenever possible (1 Corinthians 7:21).
Avery Robert Dulles claimed that "Jesus, though he repeatedly denounced sin as a kind of moral slavery, said not a word against slavery as a social institution", and believed that the writers of the New Testament did not oppose slavery either. In a paper published in Evangelical Quarterly, Kevin Giles claimed that, while he often encountered the claim, "not one word of criticism did the Lord utter against slavery"; moreover, a number of his stories are set in a slave/master situation, and involve slaves as key characters. Giles noted that these circumstances were used by pro-slavery apologists in the 19th century to suggest that Jesus approved of slavery. Giles, Kevin. The Biblical Argument for Slavery: Can the Bible Mislead? A Case Study in Hermeneutics. Evangelical Quarterly 66 (1994): p. 10 However, it should be also be noted that in what the Gospel of Luke reports as his first public teaching, Jesus explicitly stated: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Luke 4:18-19).
It is clear from all the New Testament material that slavery was a basic part of the social and economic environment. Many of the early Christians were slaves. In several Pauline epistles, and the First Epistle of Peter, slaves are admonished to obey their masters. Masters were also told to serve their slaves in obedience to God by "giving up threatening". The basic principle was "you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality." The author of 1 Peter was aware that there were masters that were gentle and masters that were harsh; slaves in the latter situation were to make sure that their behaviour was beyond reproach, and if punished for doing right, to endure the suffering as Christ also endured it. The key theological text is Paul's declaration in Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 3:28): "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus", suggesting that Christians take off these titles because they are now clothed in Christ.
Paul's Epistle to Philemon was an important text for both pro-slavery advocates and abolitionists.Religion and the Antebellum Debate Over Slavery, by John R. McKivigan, Mitchell Snay This short letter, reputedly written to be delivered by the hand of Onesimus, a fugitive slave, whom Paul is sending back to his master Philemon. Paul entreats Philemon to regard Onesimus as a beloved brother in Christ. Cardinal Dulles points out that, "while discreetly suggesting that he manumit Onesimus, [Paul] does not say that Philemon is morally obliged to free Onesimus and any other slaves he may have had." He does, however, encourage Philemon to welcome Onesimus "not as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a beloved brother".
The instructions to slaves in the Epistle to Titus, as is the case in Ephesians, appear among a list of instructions for people in a range of life situations. The usefulness to the 19th century pro-slavery apologists of the epistle's contents is obvious: "Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior."