The Bible applies perfectly to all its readers in ancient times, in modern times, and all times in between. In order for that to be true, though, some passages need to be read within their unique cultural context. For example, Paul  writes:

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.[1]

In this passage, he references the current laws and standards. Slavery wasn’t a controversial issue of social justice in ancient times. It was the normal way of life. If you weren’t a slave , you were probably part of a household that owned slaves . A slave  wasn’t just property; wives and children were also property. A slave  was a slave  for life, alienated, treated with violence, and generally dishonored.[2]

In this culture where slavery was normal, Paul  instructs slaves  how to act. Few of us believe Paul was writing a rule for all future cultures. That distinction will be important later as we analyze biblical texts on sex.

Jesus  also makes reference to servants (i.e., slaves ) in his parables. Neither Jesus , nor Paul , nor any Biblical writer ever mentions opposition to the institution of slavery.[3] As we saw in the above, New Testament writers told slaves  how to be better slaves , not how to escape or change the slavery system.

The Old Testament supports slavery even more. Moses , the lawgiver, describes how slaves  can be purchased and handed down as property.[4]

Your male and female slaves  are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves .

You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.

You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves  for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.[5]

Most folks today who read the hundreds of pro-slavery  verses in the Bible conclude that these writings were meant to be taken in cultural context.[6] Certainly God does not command slavery or even endorse it. He allowed comments to be made about a current practice.

But, if you lived in the American South in the mid-1800s, owned slaves , and loved Jesus , you likely would have interpreted these Bible verses differently. How could these Northern agitators—the so-called abolitionists—conclude that God was on their side?

In fact, even Christian slaves  struggled with how to interpret biblical teachings on slavery. Frederick Douglass , who was born a slave  and escaped north in his mid-20s, wrote, “I had at times asked myself the question, ‘May not my condition after all be God’s work, ordered for a wise purpose, and if so, is not submission my duty?’” [7]

Douglass  struggled with the concept of being a “slave  for life.” In his younger years, he accepted the brutality he encountered, but the thought that he would never be anything but someone else’s property—never have a permanent wife, never be certain when his children would be sold away from him—made that life unbearable.

Douglass  decided to escape. He expected to be tortured and to die. He consciously chose death over a continued life of slavery. He knew slavery was a great evil, both to the slaves  and to the slave  holders, but he’d heard the pro-slave  verses preached as truth his entire life.

Now let’s try to imagine what our life might be like in America in the 1850s as a slave . The master could rape  you (though it’s not rape  because you’re his property). The master could make you work anywhere and take all your wages. The master could sell your children. The master was not allowed by law to teach you to read. The master could kill you.

On the other hand, say you lived in the North. You probably didn’t think about slavery  often. It was an issue far away that affected other people. You’re busy enough with your own life and don’t need to solve other people’s problems. No one made you the General Manager of the Universe.

But if you lived in the South and weren’t a slave , you grew up with slavery being a normal part of the culture. Your minister preached regularly on pro-slavery verses. You believed the kindest thing you could do for the colored folks was to keep them in slavery since they weren’t capable of taking care of themselves.

How would you have interpreted the Bible if you were in one of these situations above in the 1850s? How would you have lived? Would you have said about slavery , “The Bible says it, I believe it and that settles it”? Or would you have been an abolitionist?

Most abolitionists were ardent Christians who felt the Holy Spirit  leading them to declare slavery evil and fight against it. Douglass  writes about the Quakers who helped him gain freedom at great risk to themselves.[8] He marvels at those who “took me in when I was a stranger” and “fed me when I was hungry.” Douglass (and all slaves  eventually) felt the love of Jesus  through those works.

Jesus  gave us a simple test. Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.[9] William Wilberforce  showed the bad fruits of slavery  to the British Empire in the early 1800s. The American Abolitionists highlighted those bad fruits in the mid-1800s, culminating in the Civil War. As the laws changed, churches evaluated the scriptural teaching vs the bad fruits concept.

Slavery was a case in which biblical interpretation and church doctrine changed dramatically. What are some others?

[1]  I Pet 2:17-20 (NIV 2011)

[2] Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death (Cambridge MA: Harvard College, 1982), 13.

[3] You could argue that Paul  told the owner of Onesimus to give him his freedom to help Paul, but that wasn’t an argument against the institution of slavery  itself.

[4] Abraham, the great man of faith in the Bible, was also a slave  owner (Gen 12:5). Solomon  writes that slaves  will need to be beaten for correction (Prov 29:19).

[5] Leviticus 25:44-46

[6] Supposedly 326 pro-slavery  Bible verses, though I haven’t counted.

[7] Douglass, Frederick, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc, 2003), 141.

[8] Ibid. 143-4.

[9] Matthew 7:15-20