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| Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, (Valentin de Boulogne, c. 1618 - 1620) |
Recently I saw some Christian critics online saying that Christianity endorsed slavery, with special attention to Apostle Paul. After all, Paul instructed slaves to serve their masters well in Ephesians 6:5-8.
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 as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. -- Ephesians 6:5-8
However this is a very myopic reading. We have to be fair to the text. Paul lived in the 1st-century Roman Empire, where slavery was a widespread and deeply entrenched institution. His letters, written to early Christian communities, reflect this context. He does not explicitly condemn or endorse slavery as an institution, but his writings address how Christians should navigate relationships within that social structure.
Slaves in the Roman Empire
The modern concept of slavery is different from the Roman concept of it. Slavery in the Roman world was not based on race but on conquest, debt, or birth. Slaves could hold varied roles, from laborers to educated professionals, and manumission (freeing slaves) was common. Yes, slaves in the Roman Empire could earn their freedom.
Paul’s audience included both slaves and slaveholders, and his letters aimed to foster unity in diverse Christian communities. As a religious leader, not a political revolutionary, Paul focused on spiritual transformation.
In one explicit example, Paul appealed for the freedom of a slave
In this short letter, Paul writes to Philemon, a Christian slaveholder, about Onesimus, an enslaved person who had become a Christian. Paul urges Philemon to receive Onesimus "no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother".
Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. - Philemon 1: 15-16
Paul’s language advocates for Onesimus’ freedom, as treating him as a "brother" in Christ undermines the slave-master dynamic.
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| William Wilberforce |
Paul's letters inspired William Wilberforce to abolish slavery
William Wilberforce, the British parliamentarian and evangelical Christian who led the successful campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 (and slavery itself in 1833), drew deep inspiration from Scripture. His faith, awakened in the mid-1780s, compelled him to view abolition as a divine mandate to address social injustice.
In his diaries (as revealed by the book The Life of William Wilberforce), he would quote Galatians (one of Paul's letters) often. It encapsulated his endurance amid fierce opposition, including parliamentary defeats, personal health struggles, and public vilification over nearly 20 years of advocacy.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9
Wilberforce's worldview was shaped by verses emphasizing human equality, such as Galatians 3:28 ("There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"), which he saw as a foundational critique of slavery's dehumanization.
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:26-29
Inspired by his Christian faith, he wrote in A Practical View of Christianity (1797),
“The grand object of religion is to bring the soul to a state of just affections towards God and man... the love of our neighbor must know no bounds.”
Conclusion
Paul did not endorse slavery as a moral good, but he also did not outright call for its abolition. His concerns were to encourage Christians to live out their faith within existing social structures while emphasizing spiritual equality and ethical treatment.
Paul's writings were also inspired William Wilberforce 1700 years later to abolish slavery in the British Empire.
