Biblical Slavery: 

It seems to us now that slavery is completely and unequivocally reprehensible. However, at the time slavery was prevalent, the mostly Christian slaveholders used the Bible to justify the practice of slavery. 

According to Time magazine, one story from the book of Genesis served as the basis for slaveholder arguments. The “Curse of Canaan”  follows Noah and his sons as they leave the ark. Noah became drunk and naked, and his youngest son Ham happened upon him and told his other two brothers, who covered him up without seeing his nakedness.

 Due to Ham’s shamefulness, his son Canaan was cursed and destined to be “a servant of servants.” Although this seems a far reach, the popularized version of this verse was taken and used to further the slaveholder argument, with Canaan being portrayed as African American, and his descendants destined to be slaves. 

Old Testament language was more slavery driven, mentioning laborers in the fields and harvests, with verses such as Leviticus 25:44 and Exodus 23:16. 

A lot of scripture mentions slavery. It isn’t a question of whether or not slavery exists in the Bible, it is more a question of what slavery meant in the Bible, versus what slavery was in practice. Biblical slavery is more about servitude in the Lord, while modern slavery became a brutal practice able to be justified through simple scriptural mention. 

Biblical verses that simply mention the words slavery, servitude, servant, or master  offhand are: Luke 7:3 and Matthew 18:25-31. These simple mentions of slavery in the Bible were enough for the slaveholders in early America to justify their actions. 

The way the slaveholders twisted the Biblical words is what helped to further their agenda. The verses were taken out of context of the larger Biblical timeline and used to support an evil practice. One such instance is Ephesians 6:5-7. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” 

This excerpt is taken from the apostle Paul’s exhortation when he was a prisoner himself. Paul uses the comparison of servant and master to highlight that no matter what earthly position one holds, they are all subject to Christ in the same way: in “sincerity of heart” Neither can hold true power over the other because the Lord is still the most High. The slaveholders took the verses and made them fit with what they wanted. 

 A lot of verses like 1 Timothy 6:1 and Titus 2:9  have language regarding the level of servitude slaves must exhibit to their master: “Those who are under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of full respect, so that the name of God and our teaching may not suffer abuse”. 

What the slaveholders tended to ignore about scripture, was the language directed towards how masters should treat their servants. Verses like 1 Timothy 6:2 and Colossians 4:1 undoubtedly claim that masters should treat their servants with equal respect: “Those whose masters are believers must not take advantage of them because they are brothers but must give better service because those who will profit from their work are believers and are beloved.” The Bible without a doubt condones the ill treatment of slaves, saying: “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, realizing that you too have a Master in heaven”. 

The slaveholders were in no way deemed superior by the Bible and slaves in no way inferior, and yet the issue was twisted so far that the words of the Lord became unrecognizable. 

The American slaves were deeply religious people themselves, thus it is hard to understand how two groups of people could follow the same God, yet have two distinct understandings of the same scripture. This is the question that confounded the public throughout early America and beyond, and what makes race relations in America such a complex, nuanced issue.