Why bring up the issue of slavery?

CBE Workshop — Craig Keener

There are instructions in Ephesians 5:21-6:9 for both husbands and wives and slaves and masters. Craig Keener began his workshop with a presentation about how the church has viewed slavery over its history. Slavery was justified for many years within the Christian community by a so-called “plain reading” of the Scriptures. But many (perhaps most) of the early abolitionist leaders were Bible-reading Christians who argued for a different interpretation of the Scriptures. These included William Wilberforce, Charles Finney, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglas.

There are parallels here with the issue of gender equality. A number of texts in Scripture have been used to justify limiting women from leadership. But there are others in the Christian community who argue that this may be a misinterpretation of the Biblical material.

I was reminded that discussing the issue of slavery is a great introduction to discussing the women-in-leadership issue. In other words, when speaking with persons holding the male leadership position, it might be helpful to ask how they can justify their anti-slavery views from the Bible. This might be a point of connection for discussing the whole issue of interpreting the Bible. Ephesians 5-6 and Galatians 3:28 are helpful texts for the egalitarian viewpoint because they both implicitly compare the issue of slavery to gender equality.

– Andy