Did Paul Endorse Slavery? (1 Timothy 6)

By Denny Burk

Photo by Giulio Gabrieli on Unsplash

The Bible and Slavery

1. Telling someone to submit to an authority does not imply that the authority is morally approved.

God condemns any exercise of authority that is contrary to his holy will. Treating persons as property without recognizing their dignity as image-bearers of Almighty God is sinful and is condemned everywhere in the Bible. So telling someone to submit to an authority cannot automatically be an endorsement of the one wielding that authority.

2. The Bible often condemns the means by which slaves were taken as slaves.

The issue of kidnapping persons in order to enslave them was always prevalent. In 1 Timothy 1:10, the apostle Paul says that kidnapping or manstealing is against God’s law. The background for Paul’s command is the OT law. (Ex. 21:16). Who is to be put to death? The one who takes the man and the one who holds him.

Exodus 21:16 says that both the kidnapping and the enslavement are punishable by death. This is the background for Paul’s own thinking about the matter in 1 Timothy.

3. The New Testament forbids Christians from using coercive violence against slaves.

Ephesians 6:9, confirms that there were Christian slave owners in NT times. Yet Paul says that the slave owners were not allowed to threaten their slaves with violence.

4. The New Testament commands Christians to treat slaves like brothers.

Paul writes to the slave owner Philemon about his runaway slave Onesimus, telling him to receive Onesimus “no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother. . . .” (Philem. 16–17).

5. The Bible encourages slaves to get out of slavery if they can. (1 Corinthians 7:21)

If the Bible were endorsing slavery, it would not tell slaves to take opportunities to become free. Yet that is exactly what Paul does.

6. The Bible forbids Christians from voluntarily entering into slavery. (1 Corinthians 7:23)

This command could not be clearer. If the Bible were endorsing slavery, it would not forbid Christians from becoming slaves.

7. The Bible condemns racism.

The Bible forbids treating others as less than human because of their race. Because of that, every person—not just some people—has inherent dignity and worth as an image-bearer of Almighty God.

In conclusion, the Bible does not endorse slavery nor the evils inherent in slavery. On the contrary, it abolishes them in the name of Jesus.

Taken from Did Paul Endorse Slavery? (1 Timothy 6) By Denny Burk Copyright © July 23, 2024. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org