The Biblical Argument over Slavery
Koshy K. George
Bible in the Western Culture
RELS2310
November 20, 2008
paper ID: 80539221
The Biblical Argument over Slavery
Culture is neither standardized nor static; rather, it has evolved and changed through the ages. The same can be said about the customs of Western civilization. It has adopted and developed numerous traditions through the twisting and molding of various components. One such creative force is the Bible, which is tightly infused with the Western world. Our society rests on the fundamentals of biblical ideas and principals. The bible has shaped not only religious thoughts, but politics, law, literature, and furthermore, its stories and parables are rendered ingeniously through the arts; for instance, Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”.
Throughout history of Western culture, the use of the Bible in order to define or maintain the order of political and social attitudes can be seen; such as the biblical prohibitions of homosexuality which directly influenced Roman law and Western sodomy statutes until recently (Brooten, 1993). Such biblical influences are seen through out our everyday culture and affect our everyday proceedings. Such influences can even be seen in the 1526 – 1877, when white Americans were involved in the slave trade (Schneider & Schneider, 2007). Biblical passages, such as Ephesians 6.5: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ.” were used to defend and justify slavery throughout this time period. In the following pages, I will examine how the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, contributed to shape the ideas behind one of the greatest controversies of modern times: slavery, and how it was portrayed and dealt with in the Hebrew Bible.
At first, the colonists did not argue too much about slavery, but by and large, most accepted slavery as a way of life and saw it...