I was intrigued by Olaudah Equiano’s narrative because it put an interesting perspective on the Colonial-era slave trade. However, what really captured my attention is the blatant disregard of basic Christian values during the era. Why was slavery seen as acceptable by Christians? Furthermore, why was it often endorsed by Christian leaders? To me it seems that slavery is one of the most unethical things that a person could do to another. Although Christianity has taken an ambiguous stance on slavery from the very beginning, Christians used loose references found in the Bible to justify the enslavement of Black Africans. Perhaps the Bible was used as a smokescreen to conceal their real motivations, which were most likely fueled by high profit margins of maintaining a slave labor force, or perhaps these people truly did believe that they were doing God’s work.
Historically, Christianity has had a very ambiguous stand on slavery, it has neither condemned it, nor supported at, with only a few exceptions. One major exception is a case of Pope Nicholas V blatantly endorsing enslavement of non-Christian Africans in his Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex of 1454. Pope Nicholas V, as well as other Christians, rationalized slavery through a connection found in the Bible. The connection is referred to as the “curse of Ham”, or the “curse of Canaan.” The curse was placed on Canaan, the son of Ham, who “saw his father’s nakedness.” This crime seems rather miniscule, however the phrase is used several times elsewhere in the Pentateuch as a euphemism for having sex with one’s mother. The descendents of Canaan are believed to be the black inhabitants of Africa, and consequently available for enslavement. Whether it was seeing his father naked, or having sex with his mother, either of the crimes seem unworthy of justifying the enslavement of an entire race for the rest of eternity.
The Hebrew Bible only condemns slavery when race is involved, such as the Hebrews being enslaved by the Egyptians. However, a Jew was allowed to have Jewish slaves, the only stipulation was that they were supposed to be freed after six years of service, while non-Jewish slaves could remain as slaves for life. This also makes very little sense to contemporary person, why is race an issue, but coercion isn’t?
Making matters worse, slavery was commonplace throughout Palestine while Jesus was there, however Jesus mentioned nothing regarding the practice. Jesus’ silence on the topic may serve as further proof to some people that the practice is not un-Christian. It is furthermore mentioned in the New Testament, but once again without any opinion regarding it; it was generally accepted as a natural condition.
Many religious people actually believed that slavery is sanctioned by the Bible, as seen in the following quote by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states of America, “[slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.” This type of thinking was common throughout history, and the average Christian slave owner perhaps believed that they were simply carrying out God’s plan by keeping slaves.
The historical relationship between slavery and Christianity demonstrates how loose connections found in the Bible could be used to justify virtually anything. Most contemporary societies agree that slavery, which is now called human trafficking, is unethical. Human trafficking is no longer openly supported by any government, to my knowledge, and is no longer justified by religion. Nonetheless, it is still very common, and is as big of an issue as ever.
Slavery and Christianity
I was intrigued by Olaudah Equiano’s narrative because it put an interesting perspective on the Colonial-era slave trade. However, what really captured my attention is the blatant disregard of basic Christian values during the era. Why was slavery seen as acceptable by Christians? Furthermore, why was it often endorsed by Christian leaders? To me it seems that slavery is one of the most unethical things that a person could do to another. Although Christianity has taken an ambiguous stance on slavery from the very beginning, Christians used loose references found in the Bible to justify the enslavement of Black Africans. Perhaps the Bible was used as a smokescreen to conceal their real motivations, which were most likely fueled by high profit margins of maintaining a slave labor force, or perhaps these people truly did believe that they were doing God’s work.
Historically, Christianity has had a very ambiguous stand on slavery, it has neither condemned it, nor supported at, with only a few exceptions. One major exception is a case of Pope Nicholas V blatantly endorsing enslavement of non-Christian Africans in his Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex of 1454. Pope Nicholas V, as well as other Christians, rationalized slavery through a connection found in the Bible. The connection is referred to as the “curse of Ham”, or the “curse of Canaan.” The curse was placed on Canaan, the son of Ham, who “saw his father’s nakedness.” This crime seems rather miniscule, however the phrase is used several times elsewhere in the Pentateuch as a euphemism for having sex with one’s mother. The descendents of Canaan are believed to be the black inhabitants of Africa, and consequently available for enslavement. Whether it was seeing his father naked, or having sex with his mother, either of the crimes seem unworthy of justifying the enslavement of an entire race for the rest of eternity.
The Hebrew Bible only condemns slavery when race is involved, such as the Hebrews being enslaved by the Egyptians. However, a Jew was allowed to have Jewish slaves, the only stipulation was that they were supposed to be freed after six years of service, while non-Jewish slaves could remain as slaves for life. This also makes very little sense to contemporary person, why is race an issue, but coercion isn’t?
Making matters worse, slavery was commonplace throughout Palestine while Jesus was there, however Jesus mentioned nothing regarding the practice. Jesus’ silence on the topic may serve as further proof to some people that the practice is not un-Christian. It is furthermore mentioned in the New Testament, but once again without any opinion regarding it; it was generally accepted as a natural condition.
Many religious people actually believed that slavery is sanctioned by the Bible, as seen in the following quote by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states of America, “[slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.” This type of thinking was common throughout history, and the average Christian slave owner perhaps believed that they were simply carrying out God’s plan by keeping slaves.
The historical relationship between slavery and Christianity demonstrates how loose connections found in the Bible could be used to justify virtually anything. Most contemporary societies agree that slavery, which is now called human trafficking, is unethical. Human trafficking is no longer openly supported by any government, to my knowledge, and is no longer justified by religion. Nonetheless, it is still very common, and is as big of an issue as ever.