Lux Lucet

Slavery & Christianity
by John W. Robbins (Unicoi, Tennessee: The Trinity Foundation, 2007, 84 pages).

Slavery & Christianity

As Christians, we are called to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. That is to say, we are required to judgeallthings by the Word of God. And by doing so, Christians living in the West more and more find themselves at odds with their own societies. To the cheers of just about all the movers and shakers in the US, this summer the Supreme Court of the United States legalized so-called gay marriage in all 50 states.

Many Christian writers have objected to this very clear rejection of the Law of God by citing the Bible. The Bible, they say, condemns homosexuality not only as a sin, but also as a crime. And indeed, they are right in what they say. But arguing from the Bible can be dangerous too. For someone, and it usually doesn’t take very long for this to happen, will be sure to bring up the topic of slavery. “So, you say that the Bible condemns homosexuality,” they will say. “Very well. What about slavery? The Bible support slavery, doesn’t it? After all, Peter tells servants to be submissive to their masters. Even Christian writers have endorsed slavery. The writers of the New Testament were nothing but bigoted, homophobic, misogynist racists. Why should anyone listen to them?” This line of attack is designed to put Christians on the horns of a dilemma. By arguing this way, the opponents of Christianity hope to force Christians into the uncomfortable position either of defending slavery and misogyny, or dropping their Biblical opposition to homosexuality. Too often, this line of questioning reduces Christians to embarrassed silence or incoherence. Chalk up another win for the secularists. Game. Set. Match.

Giving a reason for the hope that is in us

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The apostle Peter enjoins his readers to, “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (I Peter 3:15). As such, Christians have a responsibility for understanding what the Bible has to say about slavery, in order that they may answer the objections the world throws at them when they bring the Bible to bear on the issues of the day. The good news is that Christians need not be embarrassed about the question of slavery. For far from supporting the enslavement of innocent men, the Bible has abolished involuntary servitude wherever the Gospel is preached.

This is the main point made by John Robbins in his brilliant book Slavery & Christianity. Published in 2007, it is one of the authors last works, and in the opinion of this reviewer, one of his best. Given the high standard that Robbins set over the course of his writing career, this is saying quite a lot.

The book itself is a commentary on Philemon. Listed last in the New Testament among the Pauline epistles, Philemon is one of the shortest books in the Bible, only 25 verses in length. Perhaps due to its small size, the book is often overlooked by commentators. Many people, Robbins tells us, “seem to assume that anything short cannot be important or profound, but they should know better.” Robbins makes the point, “Brevity, clarity and profundity are three virtues missing from the modern world, whose writers and thinkers are garrulous, vague, and shallow, loving to hear themselves talk and delighting in confusing others.”

And in Slavery & Christianity, Robbins does an exceptional job in following his own advice. For his Philemon commentary is brief, clear and profound. Philemon was a wealthy Christian whose slave, Onesimus, had run away, and been converted in Rome under the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Paul then sent Onesimus along with another of his associates named Tychius back, taking with them Paul’s letter to the Colossians and Philemon. As Robbins explains in his commentary, Paul commands Philemon to accept Onesimus back, not as a runaway slave, but as a freeman and brother in Christ. The basis for Paul’s injunction, Robbins tells us, is the second greatest commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Much more than one would expect

Although the main point of Philemon, and therefore Robbins’ commentary, is that the Bible provides for the peaceful abolition of slavery wherever the Gospel is preached, Paul’s epistle has much more to say to us. In Robbins’ words, “Philemon is a goldmine of doctrine – obviously about slavery and freedom, but also about church discipline, civil government, civil disobedience, and tact” (7).

Throughout Slavery & Christianity, Robbins draws out many of the ideas implied in the text, but which generally are overlooked by commentators. Take, for example, his discussion of the separation of church and state and distinction between legality and morality found on pages 28 and 29. Robbins tells us, “The doctrine of the separation of church and state is pervasive in the New Testament” (28). Due to the pervasive propaganda of the ACLU and others, this likely will come as a new thought to many, both Christians and non-Christians alike.

Regarding the distinction between legality and morality, Robbins writes,

Implicit in Paul’s doctrine is the idea that legality and morality are two different things. If they were the same – if whatever is legal were also moral, and whatever illegal, immoral – the there would be no law other than that of Caesar. If that were the case, then nothing governments do – including persecuting Christians – could be condemned on moral grounds.

But in any civilized society legality adn morality are not the same, though some actions they prohibit overlap. In a civilized society murder, for example, is both sinful and illegal. In his letter to Philemon Paul makes it clear that Christians must be governed by Biblical law, not pagan law, when the two differ. So even though slavery was legal in the Roman empire and acceptable to many people, including Christians such as Philemon, it was not fitting. (29)

This, of course, speaks to our own day with respect to the homosexual issue. Caesar has declared homosexual marriage legal, but it is condemned by Biblical law. And because it is condemned by Biblical law, it is not fitting for Christians to engage in it themselves or to sanction such behavior in others.

Summary

Slavery & Christianity is an exceptional work. It is logically sound, compact and a joy to read. Written in nontechnical language, Slavery & Christianity is both highly readable and quite simply the best treatment this reviewer has seen of Bible’s teaching on the subject of slavery. A topic all too often misunderstood by Christians and non-Christians alike.