The document discusses using ancient scripture as a tool for modern dispute resolution. It presents a thought experiment where the issue of slavery in 1860 was submitted to arbitration using quotes from the Bible as evidence, rather than resulting in the Civil War. Each side would select an arbitrator and argue their case solely based on interpretations of passages from the King James Bible. The document suggests this approach may have compelled the South to undertake justifying the specific wording of slave codes, and their failure to do so could have led to lower troop morale and a quicker end to the war.

1. Objective Study of Scripture as a
Tool for Dispute Resolution
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017
In today's world, is moral and political debate useful without a
mutually credible source of facts and authority?
In a “fact free” world, is there a core or common foundational
document useful for dispute resolution?
Thought experiment: Suppose the slavery question of
1860 was submitted for Arbitration, rather than war. Suppose
further that quotations from the Bible were accepted as
evidence in the Arbitration.

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© William Luther Martin, 2017
● What is required for conflict resolution?
 Defining the Issues
 Process of Persuasion
 Use of Agreed Facts and Authorities
● How far back do we go to find mutually
acceptable sources of facts and authorities?
 When did we first notice that “modern” social
cohesion was evaporating?
 When was the golden age of reason?
Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution

3. Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017
● What is our common heritage as Americans?
 Who owns the relevant past?
 Europeans, Arabs, Asians, Africans, Latinos, Na-
tive Americans, etc.?
 What was the most relevant past?
 Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Hebrew, Roman, Arab,
Western European, etc.?
 What is the origin of our modern understand-
ings at the most basic level?
 Socrates, Aristotle, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad,
Calvin, Rousseau, Jefferson, Lincoln?
Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution

4. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● When did the contentiousness become
pathological in modern America?
 Slavery Abolition Movement circa 1840?
 Reconstruction Era in the South after 1865?
 American Imperialism after 1898?
 Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1920's?
 Civil Rights Movements of the 1950's and 60's?
 Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 on Abortion?
 Reaganomics of the 1980's?
 Obamacare of 2010?
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

5. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● After all this bitterness and recrimination, who/what do we
mostly still respect? How far back must we go?
 What about documents from Elizabethan England, includ-
ing the King James Bible?
 How many are experts in Elizabethan English?
 How many plays of Shakespeare can you name?
 When was the last time you read Hamlet?
 What about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle? Do you read
Greek?
 What about the Hebrew Masoretic Text of ancient scrip-
ture? Do you read Hebrew?
 What about the “Dead Sea Scrolls?”
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

6. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● A thought experiment: Imagine that in 1860, the
Abolitionists and the Slave Owners agreed to
put the question of slavery into binding
arbitration. How might that have turned out?
 Issue to be decided: Can American Slavery as
set forth in the Virginia Slave Code of 1705 be
justified under ancient scriptures as set forth in
the King James version of the Bible?
 Three members of the arbitration panel are to be
selected in accordance with the rules of the
American Arbitration Association.
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

7. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● Each side selects one arbitration panel member.
The two resulting members then must agree on
a third (neutral) panel member. Each panel
member must swear to be impartial.
● Since each side rejects facts relied upon by the
other concerning slavery, the debate is based
solely on Bible passages.
● To determine whether the Virginia Slave Code
is justified in view of the King James Version of
the Bible, it is the words that must be judged.
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

8. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● The Virginia Slave Code of 1705:
 “Slaves are the Negroes, and their Posterity
[children], following the condition of the Mother,
according to the Maxim, partus sequitur ven-
trem. They are call'd Slaves, in Respect of the
Time of their Servitude, because it is for Life.”
 Partus sequitur ventrem: Literally, “Birth follows
the belly.” Guess what partus sequitur patrem
means! Gee, which maxim to choose?
 Link to source material:
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbe
gin/power/text8/BeverlyServSlaves.pdf
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

9. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● Governor James Henry Hammond of South
Carolina presents the case for slavery without
justifying the unique twists of Slave Codes such
as that of Virginia:
 “Letter to an English Abolitionist” January 28,
1845
 Link to Source Material:
https://archive.org/stream/lettersonsouther00ha
mm/lettersonsouther00hamm_djvu.txt
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

10. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● Frederick Douglass, a former slave become
international statesman, presents the case for
Abolition of Slavery, without addressing the
uniqueness of the Virginia Slave Code:
 My Bondage and My Freedom. By Frederick
Douglass.
 Link to Douglass source material:
http://web.archive.org/web/20081007231345/ht
tp://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Do
uMybo.html
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

11. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● Bible verses:
 Pro-Slavery:
 Leviticus, Chapter 25:44-46 make slaves of hea-
then who are round about you (saw-beeb').
 Philemon, verses 10 to 18.
 Anti-Slavery:
 Exodus, Chapters 2-12, 23:6
 Deuteronomy 15:4-11 open your hands wide to the
poor (eb-yone'); 24:14
 Psalm 35:10 from him who tears away (gaw-zal')
 Psalm 72:13, 82:4
 Proverbs 31:9
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

12. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017
The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose
Lectures in by Mark A. Noll, page 39:

13. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
● The Virginia Slave Code rejected English Law -
instead reaching back 1,700 years to Rome, but
not back 2,500 years to the ancient scriptures,
which never condoned perpetual inherited
slavery of children based on the captivity of the
mother.
 Source link with cited references:
https://wigwags.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/on-
slavery-9-partus-sequitur-ventrem/
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017

14. Objective Study of Ancient Scripture as a
Tool for Modern Dispute Resolution
Because Abolitionists appeared to abandon the
Bible out of frustration at pedantic Southern
interpretations, fanatic war and the deaths of
620,000 men was inevitable. But, what if
Southerners had been compelled to undertake
the burden of justifying the specific wording of
the Slave Codes? Would Southern failure to
carry that burden of persuasion have resulted in
low morale among their troops and an early end
to the hostilities?
Light Into Darkness, KOOP Broadcast, 20170102
© William Luther Martin, 2017