Slavery

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.

I Peter 2:18.

This is one of the more maligned verses in the Bible. Slavery is evil. The Bible purports to be good. Why doesn’t the Bible condemn slavery? In fact, not only does the Bible fail to condemn this evil, but it seems to justify it and perpetuate it by telling slaves to submit to their masters. Would it not have been better if Peter had instead told masters to free their slaves or the emperor to end slavery? There are five things which help explain this oft misunderstood verse.

First, Peter is writing to a small group of believers with absolutely no political power. Christianity at this time was scorned by the upper classes and received primarily by the lower classes. He does not tell masters to free their slaves simply because there are not many in his intended audience. Peter is not writing to everyone. He prefaces his book by saying that he writes to the church. Moreover he writes to a specific group of believers in a specific time in history. These believers were powerless at this time to end the institution of slavery. But indeed it was their quiet witness as believing slaves that converted their masters and spread Christianity to every strata of society.

Second, he is writing to people living in the Roman Empire. These are not people who elect their leaders. There is an emperor over whom the people have no say. The only way one could change policy in the empire was to assassinate the emperor. At a time when Christianity was being accused of being a subversive political movement, Peter did not want to get caught up in such affairs. Yes things of this earth are important, but they pail in comparison of the life to come. Peter did not want people getting involved in political movements that would hinder the spreading of the gospel.

Third, slavery was not as brutal as the modern American form we associate with the word. Yes slavery was harsh, but the slavery of American south was of far greater horror. There slaves were locked into slavery for successive generations, unable to ever free themselves or their offspring. They had no rights and were given the worst jobs. In the Roman Empire most slaves had been captured during war. According to the global understanding of warfare of that time, the losing side forfeited their lives. The Romans believed they were being gracious by sparing captured enemies and allowing them to work toward their freedom. And indeed many did. Many slaves were able to win their freedom in a matter of three years. Though slaves had fewer rights than citizens, they did have some rights and many people in high levels of society were slaves (doctors, philosophers, professors, etc). Furthermore slaves had permanent employment and lifelong care. This put them in a far better position than free workers of their day and even free workers today in many parts of the worlds. Many were viewed as part of the family. During civil wars and rebellion, many died on behalf of their masters rather than join ranks against them. Though slavery was harsh, it was of an entirely different nature than we conceive of it due to our own different experience.

Fourth, slavery constituted so large a part of the economy, that if it were to end abruptly so many fields would go unsown that there would be widespread famine. Death and suffering would be far greater for master and slave alike than under the other system. Often times when we face a corrupt system our reaction against it produces unforeseen results of a magnitude far worse than the evils we had sought to remedy.

Finally, and I think this is the most important point, Peter was not trying to tell the church how to create the ideal, perfect world, he was telling them how to live in the real, imperfect world. Man is fallen. That is a fact. There will always be exploitation and oppression. We want to minimize these, but sometimes we can’t. Peter writes to those who are being exploited and can’t end it. He tells them to submit.

There were slave uprisings; all of them failed. Peter could have told the church to rise up and so doomed it to obscurity. Instead he told them to suffer as Christ did. They did. And their witness converted their masters, and in a few generations, the world. As men came to Christ slavery changed and died of its own accord.