Abolition of Slavery/Voluntary Release of Slaves/ Philemon

Slavery. Jeremiah 34:17.

In the Post-Enlightenment West, liberty means agency or self-determination, even when you use your liberty to bind yourself. Let me explain: liberty means a landowner can do anything with his real estate. The owner is free to sell, to buy, to lease, to rent, to sell the underground minerals while retaining the surface, to leaseContinue reading “Slavery. Jeremiah 34:17.”

What Can You Say About Slavery? What Can You Say About Politics? Ephesians 6:5-9.

The Apostle Paul took on one of the most controversial topics in history: slavery. Did he argue for the abolition of slavery? Or did he argue—as some American preachers once did—that certain people are better off slaves? Let’s look: “Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, asContinue reading “What Can You Say About Slavery? What Can You Say About Politics? Ephesians 6:5-9.”

Philemon: the Book About Slavery. Philemon 8.

For centuries abolitionists searched the Bible hoping to prove that slavery was wrong. But many topics in the Bible are not addressed in neat little essays the way we might have hoped. Nevertheless, one book that does address slavery is Philemon. Philemon is a private letter to a close friend. This letter is not theContinue reading “Philemon: the Book About Slavery. Philemon 8.”