I recently posted on Facebook an article that relates Ralph Reed’s conversation with Bill Maher. I commented that this story is “an excellent example of how uninformed Christians are hindering the cause of Christ.” That post provoked a conversation with a dear brother, a conversation that cannot be adequately conducted in a few sentences. So, I extend our conversation here. I have suggested many times that Christians, especially those who wish to engage the public square, must become better exegetes and interpreters of Scripture. This does not mean taking a low view of Biblical inspiration and authority. To the contrary, taking a high view requires serious reflection.
So, how would I respond to an unbeliever’s question about slavery in the Bible? This could result in a book of hundreds of pages, so be aware that the best I can do here is offer an outline in a few hundred words.
First, it must be conceded that the Old Testament has extensive legislation which institutionalizes and regulates slavery. I view this legislation in the same regard that Jesus viewed Moses’ laws on divorce – “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way” (Matthew 19:8). In other words, neither divorce nor slavery are established in God’s good creation; but are a product of the fall and sinfulness of human civilization. The creation narrative reminds us that humanity is created in the image of God – all humans were created and born to reflect the glory of God. To enslave a human being is to deny the enslaved human the dignity of God’s image. Also, it should be noted that even as the Torah legislates slavery it provides for redemption – the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25).
This brings us to the inaugural words of Jesus’ ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). To those who have suggested that Jesus never condemned slavery I respond, “Yes, he did! The “favorable year of the Lord” is a reference to the Jubilee. The Gospel reinterprets the Law in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul spent his entire career reinterpreting the Law in the light of Christ. Paul declared, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Co 5:14-17).
For Paul, the revelation of Jesus Christ fulfills the Law in ways that no one could have anticipated. In Christ, an uncircumcised Gentile is a child of Abraham. Because “from now own we recognized no one according to the flesh” Paul comes to an astounding conclusion: “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you” (Galatians 3:26-29 NLT). As I have previously written, “In this ‘old’ age – the age of the flesh – Gentiles, slaves, and women are of an inferior status. Jews, freemen, and males are assumed to have priority. However, in the new creation – the age of the Spirit signified by water baptism – Gentiles, slaves, and women inherit a new status. In the human community of the new creation all social and political distinctions of the old order have passed away. In the new creation all humans – Jews and Gentiles, free and slave, male and female – share in the glory of Christ.”
But what about Paul’s command, “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ” (Ephesians 6:5)? Paul often presents household codes common to the ancient world. He is not canonizing ancient household codes, but reinterpreting them in the light of Christ. Christian homes should be sanctuaries of love, unity, and peace. Paul is not canonizing slavery, he is recognizing its presence in this corrupt age. Slavery is “according to the flesh,” signifying an old order that is passing away.
Paul offers a glimpse of how slavery is to pass away. In his letter to Philemon he encourages his friend to receive Onesimus, the runaway slave, as “a beloved brother” (Philemon 16). This request is made possible only because in Christ the old order is passing away, the new is coming. Also, in writing to Timothy, Paul declared, “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted” (1 Timothy 1:8-11). The word kidnappers (menstealers in the KJV) is translated from the Greek ἀνδραποδιστής (andrapodistēs). A better translation would be “slave traders” (see ESV, NLT, NRSV). Paul views slavery (and homosexuality) as “contrary to sound teaching.”
So, to all the Ralphs out there, before you seek to be a defender of the Christian faith in the public square you must first “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
