So, the question is now raised, was
the early church in error because it did not condemn slavery and if so, then
maybe they were also in error in the condemnation of divorce, women clergy,
homosexuality, etc.
This question arises from two
contemporary perceptions or assumptions that are taken for granted but are
erroneous.
The first assumption is that
slavery, per se, is wrong or of itself immoral.
Slavery, set in historical context, was the employer/employee model of
the "business" world of that day (as in the early days of America). There were no huge companies or malls or
human resource departments, no payrolls, insurance, taxes, etc. People did not draw incomes, live in the
burbs and drive to work. Poor people and common laborers could not rent
an apartment and make a living on their own.
The only viable and culturally acceptable solution to the need of
employers and employees was that of slavery that provided the necessary labor
for the farmers and necessary housing, food, clothing and employment for the
common laborers.
(It should be noted that slavery was not just
among Black people but in many nations among many peoples. Some Black nations/cultures have also
participated in owning and selling slaves. Many nationalities have experienced slavery in
their ancestral history but not all use it to create a culture of victimization).
Slavery was not only a viable business
model for landowners but also a viable option for people who were poor,
uneducated and lacking in the ability to survive on their own. Our government continues a form of slavery
today in the form of housing projects and welfare but does not require people
to work for their benefits. I know it is
hard for the modern mind to accept but many slaves of benevolent owners who had
food, shelter and basic needs met by contributing hard work, were much better
off than many today in housing projects robbed of all dignity and self-worth
with no requirements or standards and are thus subject to drugs and crime. There always has been and always will be a
segment of society dependent on others for their livelihood. In other days and cultures slavery was one
answer to that need whereas today the government attempts to answer it.
So the first false assumption of our
times is that slavery in its essence is immoral. It is not.
The abuses that accompanied slavery were most definitely immoral and
this is what the apostle Paul addressed.
To the contrary, homosexuality, adultery, women clergy, etc. are wrong
in their essence because they violate the order of creation or a clear
Divine prohibition. There is no such
prohibition against slavery in the Bible, only its abuses. Slavery was a common practice in the Old
Testament and New Testament days. The
Saviour often used the master-slave setting in his parables and commended the
good master and the good slave/servant. Christians
are likened to indentured slaves of Christ.
Would the Holy Scriptures use symbols of immorality to describe and
define the believer’s relationship to Christ?
To be sure, slavery, even in a good
and benevolent form, is no longer a viable or workable model for the business
world of today. Furthermore, our society
has rejected slavery in all forms and has the right to do so as a civil law. But from a Biblical point of view slavery is
neither forbidden nor commanded.
The second false assumption that
often accompanies a discussion of social issues is that the Church has a
mandate to overthrow cultural institutions and achieve justice in society. The Church has no such mandate. The Church has a mandate to preach the Gospel
and proclaim the Church as the Kingdom of God.
Only in the Kingdom of God can we expect to find righteousness, peace
and justice. When the Church has proclaimed the Gospel of
the Kingdom faithfully and effectively and nations have been Christianized,
cultural institutions were changed and injustices overthrown but as a result of
converted individuals or peoples who became the salt of the earth.
Neither Jesus nor his apostles
advocated demonstrations or efforts on the part of the Church to overthrow
government or cultural institutions even though there were many in those days
that were immoral and evil including completely pagan governments. To the contrary, they taught the Church to
submit to the laws of the land unless they violated the laws of God, in which
case they were to disobey man’s laws and suffer the consequences with humility
and hope. They were not taught to take
to the streets demanding rights or to participate in mobs, marches or anarchy. The Beatitudes tell us our proper response in
the face of evil. They teach us to
resist not evil, to turn the other cheek and to rejoice in persecutions.
In summary, the early Church was
right about slavery, homosexuality, women clergy and all the rest and the
slavery issue cannot be used to suggest that if the early Church was wrong
about one moral issue it may have been wrong about others or all. This attempt is made because of efforts to
adapt to the constant changing society and morality of the world. The Church never has and never will change
Her truth to adapt to or accommodate the democratic votes and whims of the
world that lies under the sway of the god of this world. Those who do have fallen away from the
Church. Once you concede that truth is
relative and the Church may have been wrong about some issues, you no longer
perceive the Church as the Body of Christ and the pillar and ground of truth that
cannot be separated from Christ the Head, but as a human and democratic
society.
