Slavery in the Bible, Aristotle, Stoic Philosophers, and the Early Church Fathers

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Teachings about Slavery in the Bible and by the Early
Church Fathers
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We also mentioned the late James Boice’s
sermons on Ephesians, some of his
sermons are available on the internet at
the time we recorded this video, these are
well worth listening to, and the Atlantic
Magazine website for My Family’s Slave
(see other video on slavery).

Today we will learn and reflect on slavery in the ancient world,
and the evolving attitudes and teachings on slavery in the Old
Testament and New Testament, among the Stoic Philosophers,
and the early Church Fathers.
Though slaves were the employees of the ancient world, slavery
was less brutal in ancient Israel and Judah than in Greece and
Rome. In the Old Testament, there is not a clear distinction
between servants and slaves.

You may ask, how can we benefit when we ponder this evolving attitude towards
slavery in the ancient world?
Although the Bible and stoicism tolerated slavery as a labor system for the lower
classes, they both encouraged society to view both slave and free men as equal
before God, and taught that all men should be treated with dignity and respect.
After Roman Empire became a Christian Empire, the teachings of the Church Fathers
became more critical of slavery.
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this video, and my blogs
that also cover this topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments, sometimes these will generate short videos of their own. Let us learn
and reflect together!

Throughout the Torah and the Old Testament, Yahweh time and time
again reminds his people, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Our paintings and
thumbnail show how God delivered the Jews from slavery to the Pharaoh,
how Yahweh parted the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelis could cross,
how his servants Moses and Charlton Heston led the Israelites through
the Red Sea to safety from the chariots of the Pharaoh.

Jews crossing the Red Sea, Hans III Jordaens, 1600's
“I am the LORD your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery.” Exodus 20:2

Scriptures recognize how slavery can kill the spirit and soul of the slave.
The implication is clear, just as slavery harmed the Israelites enslaved in
Egypt, so it harms those enslaved by the Israelites. Yahweh in Exodus
exhorts,
“I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be
their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you
walk erect.”
Throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh constantly reminds his people
Israel, “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen
among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” REPEATED

The Israelites Resting after Crossing the Red Sea, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1815
I am the LORD your God
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, to
be their slaves no
more; I have broken
the bars of your yoke
and made you walk
erect. Leviticus 26:13
The alien who
resides with you
shall be to you as the
citizen among you;
you shall love the
alien as yourself, for
you were aliens in
the land of Egypt: I
am the LORD your
God. Leviticus 19:34

Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites are constantly reminded
how they are obligated to love and help and be kind to the slave, the
sojourner, the alien, the immigrant, the widows, the orphans, the poor,
the sick, for once they were slaves and aliens in the land of Egypt. Every
year the Jews are reminded of the Covenant they formed with Yahweh,
exhortation that they are to Love God and love their neighbor as
themselves, for the angel of death passed over their houses on the first
night of Passover, bringing death to the firstborn of those who do not
Love the Lord.

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt, Arthur Hacker, 1897

Slavery in the ancient world was not based solely on race like in the
Confederate South. When a city was defeated the women and children
were often enslaved, the men were often slaughtered, though sometimes
they were enslaved to work in the mines. In this respect, warfare might
not have been quite as brutal in the Near East as it was for the Greek and
Roman cultures. However, after the establishment of the monarchy by
King David, some scholars believe that the Jewish armies also enslaved
women and children when they defeated neighboring cities as was
customary in ancient warfare in general.

Scriptures suggest that when Babylon conquered Judah, the prosperous
Jews were forced into exile into Babylon. Although they were enslaved as
a people, the Jews of Babylon lived in communities of their own and
were permitted to worship Yahweh, perhaps few if any Jews were
enslaved to individual Babylonians. Likewise, Scriptures hint that the
Assyrians allowed the Jews to be exiled in Assyria as a community when
they were defeated in war, but history is mostly silent about these “ten
lost tribes,” maybe many were enslaved to individual Assyrians since they
were assimilated and culturally disappeared.

The Flight of the
Prisoners (from
Babylon), Jewish
Museum, New
York, NY, Jacques
Joseph Tissot,
painted 1900 or so

In our first video on Slavery in the Ancient World, we reflected on this
history of slavery in ancient Greece and Rome. There are many
similarities plus many more differences in how slavery developed in
Greece and Rome, and in ancient Israel and Judah.
Let us look first at the broad categories of slaves:

Slave Market in Ancient Rome,
Jean-Léon Gérôme, painted 1884
These were the general categories of slaves in all slave
societies, both ancient and modern :
• Household servants, and small farm hand slaves. This
was often a milder form of slavery, sometimes servants
were treated like a part of the family.
• Concubines, both consenting and unwilling, often
captured in war.
• Least numerous: Independent city slaves who were
tradesmen. Often, they were allowed to retain some of
proceeds from their trade and buy their freedom. This
type of slave was less common in the Deep South, more
common in ancient Greece and Rome.
• Slaves who worked for the city or state, or in factories.
• Most numerous: Field hands for large plantations,
worked under overseer’s whip. Since the slaveowner
had minimal contact with these slaves, their lives could
be quite harsh. McGuckin mentions that many POWs
were enslaved to work the large ancient Roman
plantations.
• Often a death sentence: Slaves who worked in mines.

Although the Bible does not specifically condemn slavery, the Bible does
encourage us to treat all of our fellow men with dignity and respect,
whether they are slave or free. Due to the geography and culture of
ancient Israel and Judah slavery, slaves were not as numerous as they
were in Greece and Rome.
• Household servants, and small farm hand slaves. This was often a
milder form of slavery, sometimes servants were treated like a part of
the family.
Most of the slaves or servants of ancient Israel and Judah, and it is
difficult to distinguish between them, were household slaves who
assisted with any farm work.

Household servants in the Old Testament were often seen as part of the
family, and often had a higher status than the household slaves of
Greece and Rome.
For example, Abraham trusts his oldest servant, Eliezer, with a camel
loaded with dowry goods to cross the desert to the tent of his cousin
Laban, and trusts his servant to return with Laban’s virtuous daughter
Rebekah to wed his son Isaac. The servant Eliezer was heir to the house
of Abraham before he was supplanted by the birth of Isaac.
Another example is Jacob, who bore his twelve children through both
his wives, and through their handmaidens, who were servants. This was
a common practice among the patriarchs.

Rebecca and Eliezer
by Bartolomé
Esteban Murillo,
17th century

• Concubines, both consenting and unwilling, often captured in war.
Concubines acquired as slaves was common in ancient Israel and Judah.
In Exodus, near the end of his life Jacob withholds his blessing from his
son Reuben because he disrespected his father by sleeping with his main
concubine. How many concubines did Jacob have? The Scriptures are
silent on this question. In a more positive note, Reuben had sought to
coax his brothers not to sell Joseph into slavery, though he was not
blameless.
The Torah and Old Testament have laws regarding the proper treatment of
concubines captured during war by Jewish soldiers. As we discussed in
our video on Concubines in the Iliad and the Torah, these concubines
were to be treated with the respect due to any other Jewish wife, as much
as was possible.

Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph by Rembrandt, 1656
Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
because you went up onto your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you went up onto my couch!
Genesis 49:3-4
Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the first fruits of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power.

We also have some passages from Hosea that shed light on concubines
and slavery in ancient Israel and Judah.
The Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and
have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by
forsaking the Lord.” He married Gomer, and the Lord instructed that he
name their three children Hebrew names that translate as, God Sows,
Not Pitied, and Not My People.
But Gomer, like Israel, is unfaithful, Gomer has many lovers, and Israel
worships many gods. (recite verses)

We also have some illuminating passages from the
Book of Hosea:
The Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife
of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for
the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the
Lord.” Hosea 1:2
So, Hosea married Gomer.
Infidelity of both Gomer and Israel:
“She shall pursue her lovers,
but not overtake them;
and she shall seek them,
but shall not find them.
Then she shall say, ‘I will go
and return to my first husband,
for it was better with me then than now.’ ”
Hosea 2:7

His wife Gomer then leaves Hosea to move in with her lovers, but all
does not go well for her. Like the Prodigal Son, she squanders what little
money she has, and she is compelled to sell herself into slavery to pay
her debts.
But Yahweh instructs Hosea that he must redeem his unfaithful wife
Gomer, just as Yahweh redeems his unfaithful bride, Israel:

Hosea Redeems Gomer from slavery, after
she sold herself into slavery to repay her
debts:
“The LORD said to me again, ‘Go, love a
woman who has a lover and is an
adulteress, just as the LORD loves the
people of Israel, though they turn to other
gods and love raisin cakes.’ So I bought her
for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of
barley and a measure of wine. And I said to
her, ‘You must remain as mine for many
days; you shall not play the whore, you
shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I
with you.’ ” Hosea 3:1-3

Hosea indeed teaches us many moral lessons, but it also reveals that in
ancient Israel there were organized slave markets, and that they sold
young women who could be forced to become concubines to their
masters, and that debt slavery was common.
We also sense that Hosea is more than a little bit upset at Gomer, he
wishes that the family would have been spared the shame of his buying
his wife as a debt slave, and he just refuses to treat her like she was a
concubine, or even a wife after her infidelity.

But Hosea ends in a note of hope for Israel, and
perhaps also Gomer in time.
“Come, let us return to the LORD;
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:1-3

In ancient Israel and Judah, there were very few, in any, slaves in the
harsher categories. There were few large cities that employed slaves,
there were likely few if any mines, and since Israel and Judah were
mountainous, there weren’t any large plantations as there were near
Rome. There is no mention of slaves working as skilled craftsmen in the
Bible, but we know even less of the lives of ordinary people in ancient
Israel than we do for ancient Greece and Rome.
We reflected on the Book of Ruth in our video on St Augustine, the Stoic
Rufus, and Concupiscence. During the harvest, Ruth gleaned wheat
from the fields of her future husband, Boaz. At least in this community,
there were no large plantations and no mention of chain-gangs of slaves,
we can surmise that servants helped harvest the fields, along with
laborers hired for the harvest.

Landscape with Ruth and Boaz, Joseph Anton Koch, painted 1823-1825

The Laws in the Torah Regulating Slavery
▪ Jews were reminded they were once
slaves in Egypt, which helped ensure
that they respected the dignity of
slaves, servants, aliens, and exiles.
▪ Jubilee System: Jewish slaves had to be
freed in the seventh year of captivity.
▪ If a master significantly injured a slave,
then the slave would be set free.
▪ Masters were forbidden to murder
their slaves.
▪ Cities of refuge were established for
runaway slaves from surrounding
countries.
▪ Slavery was abolished by the prophets
after the destruction of the Temple of
Solomon, per the Jewish Encyclopedia.
The First Passover Feast, Huybrecht Beuckeleer, painted 1563

Now we will shift our focus to the Roman Empire and the evolving
attitude of both Christians and the Stoic philosophers towards slavery.
Early Christians were a small minority in the Roman Empire, and were
not in a position to challenge the institution of slavery, and Christians,
like the Old Testament prophets, sought instead to improve the
conditions of slaves and encourage Christians to regard slaves and
freemen as equal before Jesus. Likewise, the stoic philosophers were
also not eager to challenge the social order, but did encourage better
treatment of slaves.

St Paul may have been concerned that
Christians might face official resistance if they
even hinted that slavery was contrary to
Christian values, cautions he raised with
Timothy, “Let all who are under the yoke of
slavery regard their masters as worthy of all
honor, so that the name of God and the
teaching may not be blasphemed.”
St Paul exhorts us in Galatians: “There is no
longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or
free, there is no longer male and female; for all
of you are one in Christ Jesus.” “And because
you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his
Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So
you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a
child then also an heir, through God.”
Captives in Rome, a nineteenth-century painting
by Charles W. Bartlett

In 1 Corinthians St Paul says all are free
before Christ: “Were you a slave when
called? Do not be concerned about it.
Even if you can gain your freedom,
make use of your present condition
now more than ever. For whoever was
called in the Lord as a slave is a freed
person belonging to the Lord, just as
whoever was free when called is a
slave of Christ. You were bought with a
price; do not become slaves of human
masters. In whatever condition you
were called, brothers and sisters, there
remain with God.”
Roman mosaic, Dougga, Tunisia (2nd century AD): the two slaves carrying wine jars wear typical slave clothing

We are arguing that slavery in the ancient world was merely the labor
system under which the lower classes of society labored, and that the
ancient slaves were the employees of the ancient world.
This interpretation can assist us with applying the advice of the New
Testament to our daily lives. Anyone who has work experience knows
that if you ignore your boss’ instructions you will likely be terminated.
Perhaps the only real difference between slaves and employees is that
employees can choose their masters, quitting jobs they feel are
intolerable.
In his lectures on Ephesians, Dr James Boice suggest that the section on
slaves on masters does apply to employees and employers today. How
does this work? In Ephesians, let us simply replace the word “slave” with
“employee” and “master” with “manager” and see what St Paul in
Ephesians can teach us:

Substituting Slaves and Masters with
Employees and Managers in Ephesians:
“Employees, obey your earthly managers
with fear and trembling, in singleness of
heart, as you obey Christ; not only while
being watched, and in order to please
them, but as employees of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart. Render
service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord
and not to men and women, knowing
that whatever good we do, we will
receive the same again from the Lord,
whether we are employees or
managers. And, managers, do the same
to them. Stop threatening them, for you
know that both of you have the same
Master in heaven, and with him there is
no partiality.”
Roman mosaic depicting slaves performing agricultural tasks

Included in the New Testament is the Book of
Philemon, where a slave who escaped from an
acquaintance of St Paul visits him in prison.
Perhaps he had been mistreated, in this short
epistle St Paul sends him back to his master with
instructions to treat him as a brother in Christ:
“Perhaps this is the reason he was separated
from you for a while, so that you might have him
back forever, no longer as a slave but more than
a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but
how much more to you, both in the flesh and in
the Lord. So if you consider me your partner,
welcome him as you would welcome me. If he
has wronged you in any way, or owes you
anything, charge that to my account.”
St. Paul in Prison by Rembrandt

Many people assert that the slavery in the Deep South was unique
because it was race based, especially when compared to Greek
slaves, but this distinction should be overdrawn as the Greeks
definitely saw slaves as belonging to an inferior social class and
possessing an inferior character, as can be seen by the writings of
Aristotle in the opening chapters of his work on Politics:

Aristotle, in his Politics, asserts that “the slave is a
piece of property which is animate,” that slaves
born into slavery, as opposed to slaves captured in
war or by pirates, “are by nature slaves, and
natural slaves are similar in nature to tame
animals.” But even for slaves captured in war,
Aristotle asserts that “no one would assert that a
slave is unworthy to be a slave.”
Aristotle does not have a high opinion of slaves, or
women, or children. “The slave has no
deliberative faculty at all; the woman has, but it is
without authority; and the child has, but it is
immature.”
“A slave is useful for the wants of life, but only
requires as much virtue as will prevent him from
failing in his duty (to his master) through
cowardice or lack of self-control.”
Aristotle with a Bust of Homer by Rembrandt. 1653

In contrast, the Roman Stoic philosophers agreed more with the
Christians, they objected to masters mistreating or abusing their
slaves. Once when Emperor Marcus Aurelius observed a nobleman
abusing his slave, he forced him to sell his slave to him. Did Marcus
Aurelius then free this aggrieved slave? Well, no, but he did resell the
slave to a somewhat kinder master.
The Stoic Philosopher Epictetus, who himself was a former slave of a
former slave, once noted that a tyrant could never completely
enslave you, for even if the tyrant seized all you own, he can never
steal your free will, he can never prevent you from choosing to live a
godly life.

Stoic Philosopher
Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Philosopher Epictetus,
former slave of a former slave

We also have the curious example of the Cynic Philosopher, Diogenes
of Sinope. In many ways, Cynics were the predecessors of the Stoics.
While he was travelling, Diogenese was captured by pirates and sold
into slavery in Corinth, he told the slave-master to announce that
anyone who purchased him would be purchasing someone skilled at
leadings, and that in his case the slave would be leading the master
for anyone who purchased him.
He was purchases by Xenaides to assist him in raising and tutoring his
sons.

Diogenese taught the sons of Xenaides how to
“live on plain food and water, wear their hair short
and unadorned, to go barefoot without a tunic,
and to be silent and keep their eyes lowered
when walking in the streets.” Xenaides was so
grateful for his services that he told his neighbors,
“A kindly deity has entered my house.”
When his friends offered to ransom him from his
servitude to Xenaides, Diogenes refused, saying
that “lions are not the slaves of those who feed
them; it is the feeders, rather, who are the lions’
slaves. For fear is the mark of a slave, and wild
beasts make men fearful.”
DIOGENES OF SINOPE AND XENAIDES

So, we see that both Epictetus and Diogenes, although they were slaves themselves,
do not oppose slavery, but seek to demonstrate how we can live godly lives with
purpose regardless of our circumstances. These two philosophers are living
examples of the slaves who labor as if Christ were their master in St Paul’s Epistle of
the Ephesians.
In contrast, the wealthy Seneca, who owned many slaves, urges us to treat slaves as
our equals rather than our inferiors. He penned a letter to Masters and Slaves,
where he counseled that masters should treat their slaves more like acquaintances
than as inferiors. His comments in this letter are echoed by later Church Fathers
whose teachings we will examine shortly.
We will quote from Seneca’s letter at length, for it is valuable advice on how we
should treat anyone who may not be our social equals according to our cultural
norms, Seneca reminds us that we should love all men as ourselves, for all men are
our equals, all men are our neighbors.

Diogenes of Sinope, born 412 BC, died 323 BC.
Zeno of Citium, born 334 BC, died 262 BC.
Epicurus, born 341BC, died 270 BC.
Cicero, born 106 BC, died 34 BC.
Seneca, born 4 BC, died 65 AD.
St Paul, born 5 AD, died 64-67 AD.
Musonius Rufus, born 20-30 AD, died 101 AD.
Epictetus, born 50 AD, died 135 AD.
Marcus Aurelius, born 121 AD, died 180 AD.
LIFE SPANS, ST PAUL AND PHILOSOPHERS

Letter XLVII – On Master and Slave
Seneca tells his friend, “I am glad to learn that you live on
friendly terms with your slaves. ‘They are slaves,’ people
say. No, they are unpretentious friends, they are our
fellow slaves, if we reflect that Fortune affects both slaves
and free alike.”
“That is why I smile at those who think it degrading for a
man to dine with his slave. Why is that? Only because a
purse-proud etiquette surrounds a housekeeper at his
dinner with a mob of attending slaves.”
“I shall pass over other cruel and inhuman conduct
towards our slaves, not as if they were men, but as if they
were beasts of burden.” Then Seneca mentions how
slaves are often forced to clean up after their masters who
spend nights of too much food and booze and vomit and
debauchery, degrading themselves more than their slaves.

Seneca continues, “Kindly remember that he who you call
your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the
same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives,
and dies. It is just as possible for you to see in him a free-
born man as for him to see in you a slave.”
Seneca proposes a golden rule for masters. “Treat your
inferiors as you would wish to be treated by your betters,”
reminding his reader how many were sold into slavery by
misfortune, including Croesus (see Herodotus), or the
mother of Darius when Alexander the Great conquered
Persia, or Diogenes of Sinope.
“Associate with your slave on kindly, eve on affable, terms;
let him talk with you, plan with you, live with you. I know
that many will cry out, ‘There is nothing more debasing,
more disgraceful, than this.’ “

Seneca continues, “ ‘Do you mean to say,’ comes the retort, ‘that I
must seat all my slaves at my table?’ No, not any more than you
should invite all free men to it. You are mistaken if you think I would
bar from my table certain slaves whose duties are humbler, like
muleteers or herdsmen. I propose to value them according to their
character, and not according to their duties. Each man acquires his
character for himself, but accident assigns his duties. Invite some to
your table because they deserve the honor, and others that they may
come to deserve it.”
“But you say, ‘He is a slave.’ His soul, however, may be that of a
freeman.” “Show me a man who is not a slave; one is a slave to lust,
another to greed, another to ambition, and all men are slaves to fear.”
You should respect your slaves, “respect means love, and love and
fear cannot be mingled.” “Only dumb animals need the thong.”

In succeeding centuries, as Christianity grew in numbers, and eventually
became the state religion for Emperor Constantine and his heirs, several
early Church Fathers either condemned the institution of slavery or tried
to weaken its grasp.
Didache teaches us to “never speak sharply
when giving orders to domestic servants
whose trust is in the same God as yours;
otherwise, they may cease to fear Him who
is over you both.”

The Church Fathers, like the Stoic Philosophers,
became more sympathetic to plight of slaves in
the culture as time passed. St Gregory of Nyssa
reaffirms this passage, teaching us further that
“God creates humanity for no other reason than
his innate goodness,” and all men “equally bear
in themselves the divine image.” Also, the
Apostolic Constitutions do not regard slavery as
a natural condition, the freeing of slaves is
encouraged, and when a slave owner free his
slaves, this was seen as a type of forgiveness of
sins.
St. Gregory of Nyssa

St Gregory of Nyssa teaches us, “Among the vanities
listed in Ecclesiastes are an expensive home, many
vineyards, lovely gardens, pools and orchards. Here we
also find the man who regards himself as lord over his
fellow man, for he writes, ‘I obtained servants, maidens,
slaves born to me in my house.’ Can you see here that
pride that originates false pretensions?” This kind of
person gives “himself power over the human race as if he
were its lord.” “Like a sinner and a rebel against the
divine commandment, you have put man himself under
the yoke of servitude, when he was created as lord over
the earth. You have forgotten the limits of your authority,
which consists in dominion only over the brutish
animals.” How can you say that you “have servants and
maidens as if they were goats or cattle?”

St Gregory’s mentor, Bishop Eustathius, encouraged a monasticism of
simple living that renounced degrees of rank and privilege, and this
radical teaching led to a synod being called that expressed concern
monasteries might tempt monastics to abandon their worldly
responsibilities as husbands or slaves. Likewise, the writings of St
Ephrem also suggest that slaves should be freed when they join a
monastery. This issue was addressed in the Council of Chalcedon in
451 AD, whose canons permitted a slave to become a monk with
permission of his master, and if a runaway slave became a monk and
was not detected for a year, then he would be free. This
demonstrates the evolution of the teaching of the church regarding
slavery.

St Kattarina Monastery in the Sinai Desert

St John Chrysostom was known for scolding the rich for
their oppression of those who are poor. He asks the
rich, “Why do you keep so many slaves?” We should
dress and eat only according to our need, what is our
need for slaves? “We have no need at all. One master
should only employ one servant.” “For God made
everyone well capable of attending to themselves and to
their neighbor as well.” “That is why God gave us hands
and feet in the first place, so that we might not stand in
need of servants. You see, the class of slave was not
introduced out of any perceived need, otherwise when
Adam was made, slaves too would have been formed.
No: It is the penalty of sin and disobedience that
accounts for the introduction of slaves.”
John Chrysostom with Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus on a late 15th-century
icon of the Three Holy Hierarchs from the Cathedral of St Sophia, Novgorod

St John Chrysostom teaches us that we
should care for the welfare of our slaves.
“If you have any care for your slaves, do
not employ them in serving your own
needs; rather, when you have purchased
them, then teach them trades so they
can support themselves, then set them
free.”
Modern day employers should likewise
be sure their employees have the
training they need so they are always
employable.
St John Chrysostom continues, “but if
you scourge your slaves or put them in
chains, this is not humane.”
Mosaic in Hagia Sophia of Saint John Chrysostom

McGuckin states that St Augustine had a practical
philosophy regarding slavery. St Augustine teaches
us that “abolishing slavery, although it is a sinful
alienation form the standards of love, would cause
too much social unrest. In the present state of the
world, it ought to be endured.” This opinion was
influential throughout the Middle Ages. But by his
actions St Augustine showed that slavery should be
resisted. Since many slaves were captured by
pirates, St Augustine once encouraged his
congregants to free the slaves on a transport ship
that mistakenly docked in the local harbor. But St
Augustine did not condone his enemies, the
Donatists, when they torched slave-owning
plantations, freeing the slaves.
Saint Augustine, painting by Carlo
Cignani, 1628-1719, Warsaw

In the City of God, St Augustine restates the instructions of St Paul
in Ephesians, “This is the origin of domestic peace, and the well-
arranged concord between those in the family who rule and those
who obey. For it is the ones who care for the rest who rule: the
husband over the wife, the parents over the children, the masters
over the servants. And those who are cared for should obey:
women over husbands, children their parents, servants their
masters. Even so, in the family of a just man who lives by faith,”
“even those who rule are servant to those whom they seem to
command.”
But then St Augustine specifically condemns slavery, he teaches
us that “the condition of slavery is the result of sin. That is why
we do not find the word slave in any part of Scripture until Noah
branded the sin of his son with this name. Slavery, therefore, is
introduced to the world by sin and not by nature.” In Latin, the
word for slave stands for POW’s who “were afterward called
servants. But these circumstances could never have arisen except
as a result of sin.”
St. Augustine by Peter Paul Rubens, painted 1636 - 1638

Kenneth Harl, a professor of many Great Courses lecture series, states that after the
decline of the Roman Empire the supply of new male slaves was cut off from the
great plantations that employed vast slave gangs, and that over the course of many
centuries in Europe the Roman system of slavery evolved into the system of serfdom
in Medieval Europe, although history is silent on exactly how this transition occurred.
McGuckin speculates that the evolving teaching of the church on the evils of slavery
helped the evolution of serfdom by the seventh century. Serfdom was like slavey in
that the serfs were bound to the landed estate in which they were born, but since
they were permitted to have a home life with stable families, they were no longer
chattel property, and could not be bought and sold.

Medieval illustration
of men harvesting
wheat with reaping-
hooks. Queen
Mary's Psalter

SOURCES: Most of the excellent material on slavery in the Bible and the writings of
the Church Fathers is from John Anthony McGuckin in the Path of Christianity, The
First Thousand Years. He has several chapters on how the Bible and the Church
Fathers responded to various social issues they encountered in the ancient world
which are useful today.
We have also consulted the Social World of Ancient Israel and Life in Biblical Israel.
They do not have a detailed discussion of slavery as it was not as well developer in
ancient Israel and Judah as it was in ancient Greece and Rome.
We also mentioned the late James Boice’s sermons on Ephesians, some of his
sermons are available on the internet at the time we recorded this video, these are
well worth listening to, and the Atlantic Magazine website for My Family’s Slave.

PLEASE click on the link for our blogs on Slavery in the ancient world
below.
And please click on the links for interesting videos that will broaden
your knowledge and improve your soul.

Slavery in the Bible, Aristotle, Stoic Philosophers, and the Early Church Fathers

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Slavery in the Bible, Aristotle, Stoic Philosophers, and the Early Church Fathers