Why didn't Paul seem to care more about slavery? Well, partially, because servanthood was always supposed to be a part of the Christian life, but for everyone.
Paul also very much understood the leveraging of personal rights (he reminds those persecuting him of his rights as a Roman citizen several times to get out of dire situations). What I do find confounding is that, as one so well versed in history and religious law, slavery in human culture must have appeared as a violent twisting of God’s power. The people of Israel experienced brutal slavery under tyrannical human rule in Egypt, and God led them to freedom. Surely, Paul understood THAT manner slavery is evil - but he did not explicitly address it in the way that he addressed so many other sinful structures in society. It remains a strange scriptural topic worth struggling with.
Yea, I think one other important dimension of the absence of condemnation of slavery in his writings is the recency of the slave revolts led by Spartacus in the Third Servile War.
If Paul had been perceived as attempting to challenge the institution of slavery in Rome yet again, with the slave revolts threatening the Roman Empire only a bit more than a century prior, he may very well have brought the full wrath of Rome upon the entirety of the Christian faith in its infancy. What persecution Christians did face would have likely paled in comparison.
I’ve always landed on both Peter’s and Paul’s strange treatment of slavery as some historically nuanced strategy. It’s unfortunate that this leaves so much ambiguity for future generations, but studying scripture relies on trusting in God’s faithfulness. We cannot read the entire Bible and land anywhere else on slavery than it being utterly wrong. Paul says plenty of other really bizarre things throughout his letters that require us to stay focused on Christ’s finished work and what that means for us, which is why the consistent reading and discussion of scripture is so nourishing.
Thank you for tackling this one—so many people avoid it and that is not helpful.
Excellent insights, I think about this often.
Paul also very much understood the leveraging of personal rights (he reminds those persecuting him of his rights as a Roman citizen several times to get out of dire situations). What I do find confounding is that, as one so well versed in history and religious law, slavery in human culture must have appeared as a violent twisting of God’s power. The people of Israel experienced brutal slavery under tyrannical human rule in Egypt, and God led them to freedom. Surely, Paul understood THAT manner slavery is evil - but he did not explicitly address it in the way that he addressed so many other sinful structures in society. It remains a strange scriptural topic worth struggling with.
Yea, I think one other important dimension of the absence of condemnation of slavery in his writings is the recency of the slave revolts led by Spartacus in the Third Servile War.
If Paul had been perceived as attempting to challenge the institution of slavery in Rome yet again, with the slave revolts threatening the Roman Empire only a bit more than a century prior, he may very well have brought the full wrath of Rome upon the entirety of the Christian faith in its infancy. What persecution Christians did face would have likely paled in comparison.
Absolutely.
I’ve always landed on both Peter’s and Paul’s strange treatment of slavery as some historically nuanced strategy. It’s unfortunate that this leaves so much ambiguity for future generations, but studying scripture relies on trusting in God’s faithfulness. We cannot read the entire Bible and land anywhere else on slavery than it being utterly wrong. Paul says plenty of other really bizarre things throughout his letters that require us to stay focused on Christ’s finished work and what that means for us, which is why the consistent reading and discussion of scripture is so nourishing.
Thank you for tackling this one—so many people avoid it and that is not helpful.
Shoot, I think I "pocket-reported" a comment and it was removed. It was unintentional, dear commenter! 😬