Today I launch a series of posts on the subject of slavery. The thinking that lies behind this series has been brewing over the course of years. Only rarely do I wait so long before putting thoughts into writing. What is the cause here? This subject is fraught with difficulties that impede our discussion of it. I dedicate the initial post, therefore, to an exploration of those difficulties, somewhat in order to try to exalt every valley and lay low every mountain and hill before embarking upon the processional.
- It is hard to talk about slavery because we struggle to separate the subject of slavery from the subject of race. This is not a phenomenon unique to our nation or our epoch. The Spartans enslaved the helots. The Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews. For as long as there has been slavery, one form of slavery has been the subjugation of one race to another. Indeed, our English word “slave” is a derivative of the name of a race—the Slavs—who were enslaved.
We do well to note, however, that it has not always been the case that slavery was tied to race. Jews sometimes enslaved other Jews. Romans sometimes enslaved other Romans. The history of non-racial slavery is as old as the history of racial slavery and persists for as long (sex trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery that is based upon something other than race).
Of course, we fought a war over a particular institution of slavery, and that episode was racial in nature and was tied to a theory of racial superiority and inferiority (as such forms of slavery sometimes are). The racism continued after the slavery had ended, and we struggle greatly to discuss slavery in any way that ever leaves the orbit of nineteenth-century American chattel slavery of blacks.
That we so rarely and so poorly discuss slavery as a matter distinct from racism is to our detriment. It allows people to defer conversations about racism that they need to enjoin and it hampers our ability to discuss slavery rationally.
- It is hard to talk about slavery because we often don’t know what slavery is, at least in any precise way. What differentiates a slave and an employee? What about a slave and a prisoner in the state penitentiary? A person who has been committed to institutional care against his or her will? A child living in your home?
We deprive people of their freedoms more than we like to think. The philosophical distinctions between the slave and the employee are rather esoteric. They often depend upon conceits like “property in the person” whereby selling your time for forty hours of the week in an ongoing contractual way is treated as though you are selling something other than yourself. Any child can see that you are not.
We trade our freedom in order to obtain things that we want more than we want freedom. Ironically, if we were unable to do so, we would hardly be free. All of us sell ourselves and vacate our freedom of self-determination in a thousand different ways. Slavery is therefore one part of a larger economic reality. Recognizing what differentiates slavery from other barterings away of our freedom is an important first step to having a conversation about slavery, as is seeing the defining characteristics that differentiate one form of slavery from another.
Talking about slavery becomes more difficult when we don’t know what we’re talking about.
For the purposes of this series of essays, I will define slavery as any situation in which another person, not your parent and not as a consequence of any crime that you have committed, gains absolute and total authority and responsibility over your economic life without paying you a monetary wage in return.
I encourage you to attempt your own definitions. The exercise will help you to see how difficult (and sometimes how arbitrary) it is to differentiate slavery from things that are still common aspects of our lives.
- Talking about slavery becomes more difficult in the midst of Libertarianism. I have expressed formerly “Why I Am Not a Libertarian” and taking a few moments to read that essay might assist you in understanding this one more fully. A great many of us have drawn conclusions about self-ownership and liberty without doing the work of delving into the finer points of the underlying premises. To do so is a robustly American thing to do, and it is not an impulse entirely antithetical to the teachings of the Bible, which has a thing or two to say about in commendation of freedom.
There is always the risk, however, that when we read “free” in the Bible we define it more in terms of contemporary political thinking than we realize. Libertarianism is not a biblical philosophy. According to the Bible, where slavery is wrong it must have a reason for being wrong (in what it does to slaves, or perhaps in what it does to masters). According to Libertarianism, slavery is wrong simply because it is not liberty—no explanation or justification is necessary.
“Slavery is wrong because it is slavery” is a level above which present-day discourse rarely rises, and as the next essay will demonstrate, this is an idea diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ, who must be decried by Libertarian theory as one of the great purveyors of evil in all of human history. But more of that later.
- Talking about slavery becomes more difficult because we’d rather not talk about slavery. For some people a sense of guilt for the American institution of race-based chattel slavery makes this a dangerous topic that they’d rather avoid. For others on the other side of history, painful recollections of American slavery and its aftermath make the subject so unpleasant as to render it unprofitable to discuss. Some fear that exposure of the problems of slavery will disadvantage their political agendas. Others fear that resolution of any of those problems at all will disadvantage their political agendas on the other side. Slavery has always been a topic with winners and losers.
Nevertheless, as Bible-believing Christians we must talk about slavery because the Bible does so. Unable to avoid the conversation, we might as well try to conduct it in truthful and helpful ways.
This post is admittedly preliminary. It may leave little of substance to discuss. The greatest value of this post, for my part, is simply that I will refer back to it frequently in the subsequent posts as we meet with difficult elements of the research.
This is a good topic, Bart. I hope folks will actually read what you wrote before they react. Too often, American Christians are slaves of their cultural traditions while they think they are free of bias and objective. No doubt slavery existed in the world before the flood of Noah, and the Book of Revelation mentions slaves at the end times. I have written extensively about the world before the flood and will continue to do so. American Christians have a cultural tradition of ignoring the 1,650 years of earth history betweeen the creation and the flood. You touched on… Read more »
I look forward to your series, Bart. I mentioned on my blog (and maybe here as well) that we need to have honest conversations rather than just saying what we think other people want to hear. Honest conversations can be difficult, but will yield the most fruit.
Bart, Good post, I really look forward to your series on these matters. Thank you. “For the purposes of this series of essays, I will define slavery as any situation in which another person, not your parent and not as a consequence of any crime that you have committed, gains absolute and total authority and responsibility over your economic life without paying you a monetary wage in return.” I like that definition as far as the economic facet is concerned…but didn’t chattel slavery include but go beyond that? Here is what I mean. It was not solely control over economic… Read more »
Not all forms of slavery extend to “control and dominance over another entire life and existence.” Not all forms govern procreation. A significant number of non-slavery arrangements control a person’s freedom of speech or expression. There are aspects of life and existence that do not yield easily to external control and domination. One’s relationship with God comes to mind. If I belong to someone in the sense that I must work for him, cannot work for anyone else, cannot take advantage of more attractive working opportunities as they come along, and will not be paid for my labors, BUT I… Read more »
I’m interested I how you will develop this. Curt Flood et al were slaves to team owners? Hollywood actors/actresses were slaves due to personal services contracts? Non-compete contracts make individuals temporary slaves?
Look forward to reading your take on this.
It’s tough putting together a good definition, isn’t it, William!?
In the case of personal services contracts, it is a feature of our society that people actually cannot bindingly commit themselves in such a way (because we do not permit slavery). You’ll pay a penalty to walk away, but you can walk away.
Guess my working definition of chattel slavery is a little more complex than economic: “http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Chattel+slavery 1. (Law) the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controlshis life, liberty, and fortune. That’s more like how I view it. “If I belong to someone in the sense that I must work for him, cannot work for anyone else, cannot take advantage of more attractive working opportunities as they come along, and will not be paid for my labors, BUT I have the freedom to eat according to my likes and… Read more »
Oh, I ENTIRELY agree that slavery has often controlled much more than just someone’s economic existence. And one point where we seem to be talking past one another is that you keep defining CHATTEL slavery, while I keep defining slavery. You realize that chattel slavery is but one form of slavery, right? So, there’s the tricky part of definitions: Shutting everything else out without failing to keep every proper thing in. With regard to slavery, this is a challenging task. Slavery CAN involve much more than a person’s economic life. The question is whether it MUST entirely dominate everything before… Read more »
Yes, Mark I understand that – however when you mentioned the word slavery today – chattel slavery is where everyone’s mind immediately goes.
Should have named Bart, not Mark.
What should help it to not be difficult is that we have non-race-based slavery in the US right now. The sex slave trade is big and growing and we need to be the people at the front of the line addressing it like we have been with abortion. I daresay that those who are for the sex slave industry aren’t soon going to come out against people speaking up against it, like they are with abortion, as long as slavery is still an issue that perpetuates racial tensions; many of the same people are invested in promoting both the sex… Read more »
You also don’t hear much about sex slaves because it isn’t quite the problem some evangelicals make it out to be. It exists, it is a problem, it needs to be stopped, but isn’t what some try to make it.
Statistics are hard to come by, so I’d refrain from judgment on those kinds of generalizations. The best compilation of statistics I know of is the Polaris Project.
You may not hear about sex slavery, but that is about all I hear about! My wife is involved in ministries that focus on sex trafficking and slavery and such things and we just had a big conference at our church. Actually, this is becoming a hot-button issue in a lot of Christian circles. The mayor came to our conference. We’d talked to the sheriff and others who said there were no such issues around here, but the mayor came and had his eyes opened (he’s a member of the other SBC church in town) and he’s committed to working… Read more »
I hear about it, stories and such but when the numbers come out the problem is not as large as some make it to be. I’m not sure why the stories are as exaggerated as they are, it is a problem that needs to be halted no matter how big or small, but causes are not aided by misinformation.
Hey, it happened twice in writing a reply to Chris.
Bart, It’s amazing and uncanny, because I was thinking about this very thing, yesterday morning. I don’t know, but I was. And, I was wanting to ask about slavery being immoral, or sinful, whenever the Bible doesn’t teach this. In fact, the Apostle Paul had every opportunity to very plainly say, “Slavery is sinful;” but he didn’t. In fact, he told slaves to work hard and respect their masters. Colossians 3:22-24 And, he told masters to treat their slaves right. Colossians 4 and Ephesians 6. And then, you add on the situation with Philemon and Onesimus, where Paul told Onesimus… Read more »
BTW, I just want to say that I am thrilled to be a slave…a slave of the Lord Jesus.
Hallelujah!
David
I don’t always agree with you, David, but so far I think you’re on the right track with this one; and I’ll stand with you as one thrilled to be a slave of our Lord. (That has to be one of your best comments.) There’s no freer place to be in my estimation.
David, There is no doubt that what you said concerning the scriptures is true. Slavery was certainly very different in the Bible than it was in the South in the 1800’s. First, most usually a slave would eventually be a free person. Second, Roman history tells us that many slaves rose to pretty high prominence in Roman culture. Third, in the absence of a social safety net, a person could sell themselves into servitude in order to pay debts or survive. Fourth, slaves were paid wages. The American form of slavery was patently unbiblical. First, as Bill Mac, mentioned it… Read more »
John, First of all, thank you for answering. Most certainly, there were abuses of slaves in the South, back in the day. And, some of the things done to Black folks was terrible….wrong. But, they were abuses; right? I mean, it was the abuses that was sinful. But, what about slavery? Now, of course, once again, I’m all for freedom of every man. I’m glad there is no slavery….well, that slavery is not legal in the USA. Of course, sex slaves in our country, and in other countries exists. Also, in other countries, I believe forms of slavery still exists,… Read more »
Brother David,
Yes slavery in the American form was sinful. Because as I stated, it started in kidnapping ( a capital offense in the O.T.). It was a lifelong institution. The did not pay the slaves. All of these things were endemic in the American system making it sinful.
John,
What about slavery in other places? In other ways?
Again, I’m not FOR slavery, and I don’t want anyone thinking that I’m arguing for slavery, because I’m not. I’m just trying to gain insight form yall, about the way the NT deals with slavery.
David
David, I know it’s not the most popular thing to say, and it gives fodder to anti Christians, but slavery in some places does not appear to have been inherently sinful. In the absence of a social safety net it probably saved people from starvation. In the Roman economy slaves were held in higher esteem than day laborers because they had gainful employment. In my opinion, the problem would be dehumanization. In the NT you were to treat a slave as a brother, you were to pay him what is fair, you were to remember that you had a master… Read more »
John, But if a man slept with his slave he could still marry another woman while sleeping with his sex slave (Exodus 21:10). He could also dismiss the sex slave if he was dissatisfied with her (Exodus 21:11; Deut 21:14) – no money was to be given to her, no supplies, no goods, just cast her to the streets. He could also give her to his son (Ex 21:8; don’t try to soften this by the fact that he is to treat her as a daughter, she is still very much a sex slave). As for kidnapping slaves, slaves could… Read more »
It’s times like these when I’m glad no one has bought my copy of Logos. Makes it easier to find all these passages Christians love to avoid.
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,[b] he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her… Read more »
Lydia,
But weren’t these commands given to them by God? Was God not yet enlightened about the treatment of women? Is he bound by what culture deems acceptable and normal?
Understanding matures in the world as the world matures. When the world was young, understanding was immature. God worked with the world in the limited understanding they had and expects more as the world matures. Thus the church came at a time that was right and ripe for a more mature understanding of human relations. Thus we can see a big difference in relational understandings from then to now, both in the world, and in the church. But where hard core sin still reigns, so does poor relational understandings, as in sex traffic or Muslim ideology. Much sin today has… Read more »
And I do believe that if we compare later OT Hebrew society to earlier Hebrew society, there would be a noticeable difference in relational understandings.
Chris: It seems odd of God to make a clod, but I have stumbled over many of them in my life time. And no by clod, I am not referring to you. The difficulty of the clod is the difficulty in life or the Bible. Part of the problem is that we simply do not recognize the extent of the fall of man. Consider the world as an insane asylum with the inmates in charge. There is reason to think of it as such, considering Eccles. 9:3 which speaks of the madness in man which continues until the day of… Read more »
A Christian who openly admits that the Bible does not condemn slavery! Refreshing!
Chris,
Really, I’m wanting Bart, Dwight, and others to weigh in, on this. I would really like to hear their viewpoint and explanation…based on the passages of Scripture that I mentioned above.
David
Chris,
One more thing…I’m all for freedom. I’m all for every person being looked upon as equal.
Just wanted that to plain and clear.
David
(with some more equal than others?)
Chris,
Of course not. With all people being treated right and enjoying freedom…no matter the color of their skin, nor the financial standing, nor the educational level.
David
“But weren’t these commands given to them by God? Was God not yet enlightened about the treatment of women? Is he bound by what culture deems acceptable and normal?’ God could have forced Adam not to disobey, too. of course God was/is enlightened. but people were not. why would God allow them to live and be slaves of pagans for so long? once we go down that road it is a dead end. My view is that God met them where they were culturally. have you ever read any ancient pagan codes? they are eerily similar to some of the… Read more »