Back when we were studying Exodus 21 in May 2017, I spent a little bit of time addressing the fact that the slavery of Old Testament times should not be conflated with the slavery of early American history. Likewise, we shouldn’t read American slavery into the Greco-Roman slavery of the New Testament era. Greco-Roman slavery was not based upon race and slaves could purchase their own freedom.
This is of little consolation to many of us, who find the concept abominable no matter how little it may resemble early American slavery. Many modern Christians, when reading the New Testament, wonder why the apostles didn’t denounce it? All we ever read in the New Testament regarding slavery is that Christian masters should be godly toward their servants and servants are to be submissive to their masters. Why didn't Peter or Paul or anyone else criticize it or advocate rising up against it? By not criticizing it, should they be understood to endorse it?
In my preparation for last week’s message on 1 Peter 2:18-25, I found this helpful excerpt from Tom Schreiner’s commentary: “[The] New Testament writers were not social revolutionaries (1 Cor 7:17-24). They did not believe that overhauling social structures would transform culture. Their concern was the relationship of individuals to God, and they focused on the sin and rebellion of individuals against their Creator. …if enough individuals are transformed, of course, society as a whole benefits and the Christian faith begins to function as a leavening influence.”1
In other words, the New Testament authors were about changing society one person at a time through conversion by the preaching of the gospel, not by challenging existing social structures themselves. Gospel conversion is the New Testament’s prescription for societal evil. Additionally, as we saw in 1 Peter 2:18-25 last Sunday, there are times when the veracity of the gospel is most prominently displayed when believers endure sorrow while suffering unjustly under ungodly authority.
We must be careful not to read the apostles’ silence on the institution of slavery itself as a tacit endorsement. Likewise, by giving instructions to masters and slaves, they did not commend or endorse slavery. They were simply giving instructions for the gospel mission to people where they were.
1 Schreiner. The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude. 136.
Comments