The New Testament and Slavery

649 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Slavery in world history

There was no mention of how slavery started in the New Testament. Before the first century, the most common way that people became slaves was by being captured in war or kidnapped by pirates. Later, breeding became a common source for getting slaves. If a slave gave birth to a child, that child would become a slave. This kept the slave population large. Also many people sold themselves into slavery because it was easier than being poor. Some people, who owed debts, sold themselves into slavery so that when they bought their freedom they would be debt free. Many of these slaves resumed normal lives after they bought their freedom. Some people threw away their babies if they didn't want them, and if a baby was found it could be made a slave. Also some parents sold their children into slavery. Most slaves, except for those who sold themselves into slavery, couldn't do anything about it (Bartchy 543).
The law said that slaves were objects to be bought, owned, and sold by their owners. Slaves had no rights such as becoming married, inheriting objects or representing themselves in court. Slaves were punished harsher that free men for breaking the law. The law does allow slaves to own property and do with it what they want. Slaves were not considered to have any family and they were expected to die working as a slave (Bartchy 544).
The social status depended mostly on the status of their owner. There appeared to be no difference between slaves and free men based on dress and race, and they mingled together, making it hard to determine who was a slave and who was free. Slaves had many jobs including household jobs like cooking and cleaning, but some were tutors, doctors, and managers of the house. Slaves also worked as janitors, salesmen...

... middle of paper ...

...away. I have come to the conclusion through reading the ISBE article and Philemon, that Onesimus was seeking some sort of guidance from Paul about Christianity, instead of looking for a way to escape his owner. Paul doesn’t scold Onesimus for coming to him, but he sends him back with a letter to Philemon telling him that Onesimus has been with himself, and that Philemon should accept him back as a fellow Christian. Paul also tells Philemon that he would keep Onesimus with him, but he didn’t want to do anything without Philemon’s word. This clearly displays that this is a non-hostile letter, regarding the faith of Onesimus, and not just instructions about what to do with him.

Works Cited

Bartchy, S.S. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 4. Edetid by Geoffery W.
Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979.

Show More
Related

  • Relationship Between Christianity and Slavery in America

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    It can be assumed that Christianity shaped slave culture in several ways such as developing a common bond among slaves. At the some time, it could also be argued that slavery altered Christianity in various ways including the formation of Methodist and Baptist denominations. However, these were not the only manners in which both cultures had an effect on each other. Black converts dramatically increased the number of Christians in the New World. The ideas instilled in slaves by Christianity gave some slaves thoughts of rebellion and influenced African-American music and dance. Not to mention the church was a major supporter of the proslavery argument which conveyed slavery as a positive thing during the antebellum period of the United States.

    Read More

  • The Cross And The Lynching Tree By James Cone

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery in various forms was a common social aspect in the Christianity religion, based on the bible. Slavery started in the time of Genesis where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brother in Egypt. In the

    Read More

  • The U.S. Constitution and Slavery

    408 Words  | 1 Pages

    The US constitution was written with great vision to create strong nation. The bill of right were written, it provide all humans with rights. The writers of the constitution we hypocrites, they didn’t abide by what they preached. Thomas Jefferson wrote himself “ all men are created equal” but he owned slaves. The founding father didn’t look or even think about slavery when they wrote the constitution. They were pre-occupied in getting the southern state to join the union and sign the new constitution. They southern states believed that the federal government shouldn’t mess with the issue on slavery because slavery was a state issue.

    Read More

  • Antebellum Era Essay

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    It abolished all slavery, but slaves still faced many challenges. To help alleviate some of their problems, the Congress created a temporary agency that provided food, clothing, and medical care to newly free slaves. This was known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Slaves were made citizens of the United State which gave them constitutional and legal rights. Slaves were also given “equal protection” and education, right to vote, legalize their marriages, and could hold a position in a political office. However, it was still difficult for slaves to find a place in society because they were not given an alternative way to earn a living. They had to start of fresh with no homes or no money. The only jobs they could get were sharecropping and tenant farming. In both, slaves would have to work out in the fields and give the crops back to their owners, so they were basically tied back to

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Slaves And Convicts

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the laws being minimal to none, so if the owners would find their slaves doing anything against their word they really had the choice to do whatever they really wanted. Being the big difference between the both of them is the fact the owners could almost do whatever they liked to their ‘property’, with some stories of the slaves even being branded.

    Read More

  • Slavery In Colonial America Essay

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery as it existed in America was a practice founded on the chattel principle. Slaves were treated as human chattel to be traded, sold, used, and ranked not among beings, but among things, as an article of property to the owner or possessor.

    Read More

  • Paul's Letter To Philemon: Slavery Debates From The Bible

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    They concluded that Onesimus was Philemon’s debtor, rather than his slave, since verse eighteen of Philemon implies that Onesimus owed Philemon a debt. Based on the lack of clarity concerning the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus and the evidence that suggested Onesimus was a debtor, abolitionists concluded that Paul’s letter to Philemon was not relevant to the fugitive slave law debate. In effect, southerners were using a letter which did not detail the return of a fugitive slave to his master to sanction a law which called for the return of a fugitive slave to his master. Paul’s letter to Philemon and the Fugitive Slave Law were

    Read More

  • Subverting Slavery: Philemon, And Paul's Analysis

    89 Words  | 1 Pages

    We suspect Onesimus did get him in trouble were Onesimus had left due to a personal conflict with Philemon in order to heg for Paul's intercession. To this, "the slave, having been threatened hy Philemon, went after Paul's protection. Paul's issue on slavery in the Roman Empire led many scholars to regard the apostles to social disengaged religious figures. The basis was on the technical definition of the runaway slave (Cho, 2014).

    Read More

  • Slavery In Colonial America

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    Slavery was created in pre-revolutionary America at the start of the seventeenth century. By the time of the Revolution, slavery had undergone drastic changes and was nothing at all what it was like when it was started. In fact the beginning of slavery did not even start with the enslavement of African Americans. Not only did the people who were enslaved change, but the treatment of slaves and the culture that each generation lived in, changed as well.

    Read More

  • the development of slavery in America

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were very few vague laws on slavery, but it was always a permanent servitude. At first slaves had limited rights, and were allowed to own land, after their period of slavery was over. They were allowed to marry and have children. The slave kids that were born while they were enslaved were not considered to be slaves, but to be free under the law. Indentured Servants helped the colonies increase their population.

    Read More

  • Slavery In The United States

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout this course we learned about slavery and it's effects on our country and on African Americans. Slavery and racism is prevalent throughout the Americas before during and after Thomas Jefferson's presidency. Some people say that Jefferson did not really help stop any of the slavery in the United States. I feel very differently and I will explain why throughout this essay. Throughout this essay I will be explaining how views of race were changed in the United States after the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and how the events of the Jeffersonian Era set the stage for race relations for the nineteenth century.

    Read More

  • City and Rural Slaves

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    By 1860, nearly 3,950,528 slaves resided in the United States (1860 census). Contrary to popular belief, not all slaves worked in hot and humid fields. Some slaves worked as skilled laborers in cities or towns. The slaves belonged to different social or slave classes depending on their location. The treatment of the slaves was also a variable that changed greatly, depending on the following locations: city, town or rural. Although all slaves were products of racial views, their living conditions, education, and exposure to ideas differed greatly depending on their social classes and if they lived in a rural or urban setting.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass’s Life in the City and Country

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most slaves in the country, as people well know, worked as field hands and jobs involving the crops and livestock, with the exception of the house slaves. In the city however, slaves worked different types of jobs. “City slaves were typically artisans and craftsmen, stevedors and draymen, barbers and common laborers, and house and hotel servants.” (Starobin 9). Frederick Douglass worked as a house servant and as ...

    Read More

  • Summary Of Paul's View On Slavery

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, biblical scholars do agree that slaves were able to complete the same types of jobs that other freemen could do as well. They were able to be a part of any economic group, and they could have any job from physician to shopkeepers

    Read More

  • Slavery in Ancient Greece and Rome

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery was the practice of taking a human being and making them do the work of another by force. This was practiced through out the ancient world and especially in Rome and Greece. Slaves were nothing more than just property to the ancient peoples. They didn't have the rights of citizens nor were they able to do what they want in most cases. Slaves had many tasks that they had to do, many of which included taking care of the masters house and kids, cooking and cleaning that house, herding the cattle for the farming families, being guards for some prisons, fighting for entertainment of the masses, and more common was sexual activities with the slaves.

    Read More

More about The New Testament and Slavery

Open Document