Biblical Verses used by Slave Masters to Justify Slavery
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Psalm 123:2 (New International Version (NIV)): As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Ephesians 6:4-6: Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 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 like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Ephesians 6:5:Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
Ephesians 6:9:And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Colossians 3:22:Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Colossians 4:1:Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Titus 2:9:Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,
1 Peter 2:18:Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
Slaveowners would read these verses to slaves as part of the worship services that they allowed (and controlled) as a means of encouraging the proper attitude among their slaves. Based upon these isolated verses, slaveowners claimed that the Bible supported slavery and taught slaves to be obedient to their masters.
On the surface, this certainly appears true. However, When looking at the evidence, one has to remember that the Bible was created in a time when slavery was certainly condoned. Paul’s letters mention slavery so often because Christianity appealed to slaves. Many slaves converted to the new religion of Christianity because of Christianity’s message of justice and freedom. Nonetheless, Christianity was an outlawed religion in the Roman Empire. Therefore, Paul counseled his followers, if they were slaves, to be peaceable and obedient so that further oppression would not be brought down on the heads of slaves as well as upon the members of the Church in general. The verses about obedience are not condoning slavery but are practical matters to try to prevent further suffering of Christians, whether slave or free.
The most compelling argument AGAINST slavery in the New Testament is Paul’s letter to Philemon, in which Paul asks a Christian to free his Christian slave. Most Christians countered these claims of Biblical support that owning slaves violated the spirit of Christian teaching.
Categories: Religions, Africa, Global Africa Network
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52 Comments
Deb. Hughes says...Watching the video at the top has made me ILL!!!!!
Wow! This is a real eye opener..I have never even read some of these passages. I'm speechless
Your mother says...
This is such bullshit, how many people will actually look in the bible to check if this is out of context or not ? Full of lies, like most anti God vids. You are just like religious fanatics, just on the opposite side.
Ethio. says...
u make me ill. ahhh .. taking some portion of God's word is not the way to teach about bible. at first u r already a pagan. there is no way to believe ur ideas. how dare u blame God!!! ohhhh shit. blame peoples who used religion for bad like Catholic Church and peoples like uuuu. And Watch ur mouth!! be a with God's spirit as there are also evil spirits too
Divine providence, IMO, has brought me along a path cut from a horrific history that has withstood the blood, sweat, tears, and fearful, dreadful shackled hands and feet. I was born unscathed, untouched, and innocent of the lynch mob and have redeemed by slave past by my own instruction and reason. In spite of white supremacy I understand history, mathematics, computing systems, physics, art, and music by standing on the shoulders of giants who wrote down their knowledgeable insight and observations. I cannot be bound by injustice, hatred, even murder, because I have no fear of such things. I cannot be bound by lies that are backed by science and religion that claim Caucasian superiority. I am!
Christianity started in Jerusalem and not Europe. Moses was a prince of Egypt (Jesus, as a child, hid in Egypt). Neither or these are white or Caucasian lands, nor are the indigenous people Caucasian. Neither Judaism nor Christianity originated as white religions; fyi .... Jesus doesn't have blue eyes, blond hair, nor was he good looking. Neither Hitler's Third Reich, The KKK, nor any other such group can claim to follow Jesus' teaching. Just because some whites have profaned Christianity, don't misrepresent. To insinuate that anything touched and used by evil whites is not a sound position anyway. They use math and science very well, no one says don't read or study what they teach in those areas.
Knowledge did not begin with, nor is it the sole purvey of white minds and neither is religion and especially not Christianity. Just as the white civilization came out of the "Dark Ages" with the knowledge learned from foreign lands, Christianity was a Middle-Eastern religion that grew strong from Roman persecution. With knowledge and wisdom, my character is a superior quality and I know exactly who and what I am.
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