Slavery and
the Bible
The African slave trade spanned 450 years. It involved the kidnapping of 11.5 million
Africans. Billions of people today still profit and suffer in the aftermath of it.
“Nothing is more susceptible to oblivion than
an argument, however ingenious, that has been
discredited by events; and such is the case with
the body of writing which was produced in the
antebellum South in defense of Negro
slavery.”
Eric McKitrick, Slavery Defended: The Views
of the Old South (1963).
From 1830 through the 1850’s, slavery was
defended in the Old South as just, Biblical,
and good.
Sources:
William S. Jenkins, Pro-Slavery Thought in the
Old South (1935)
Larry E. Tise, Proslavery: A History of the
Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840
(UGA Press: 1987)
Tise studied the writings of 275 leading proslavery ministers of the day.
1. They came from all over the United States,
not just the South.
2. They came from all denominations:
Presbyterian (almost 30 percent)
Episcopalian (20 percent)
Baptist (17 percent)
Plus Unitarian, Roman Catholic, and Jewish.
3. Old South and Northern proslavery
advocates echoed British and West Indian
proslavery writers from 1770-1830.
In addition to tracts and pamphlets, there were many nonfiction proslavery
books, such as …
An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery (1858) (reprinted by
the UGA Press in 1999), Thomas R. R. Cobb (lawyer
from Georgia). Cobb authored the Confederate
Constitution and the Georgia Constitution of 1861, and
was one of the founders of the UGA School of Law. In
1860, upon South Carolina’s secession from the Union, he
painted large letters on his house:
“RESISTANCE TO ABOLITION IS
OBEDIENCE TO GOD.”
Became a general in the Confederate army, died in 1862 at the Battle of
Fredericksburg defending slavery.
There were also many novels, counterpart to Uncle Tom’s
Cabin, such as:
Nellie Norton: or, Southern Slavery and the
Bible: A Scriptural Refutation of the
Principal Arguments Upon Which the
Abolitionists Rely: A Vindication of
Southern Slavery From the Old and New
Testaments, (1864)
by Ebenezer Willis Warren, an obscure 44-year old Protestant clergyman
from Macon, GA. Last major defense of slavery in the U.S.
Story begins in November 1859, ends in July 1860.
Nellie Norton, beautiful young New Englander, believes slavery is cruel.
Travels with mother to Savannah to visit relatives who own a
plantation with slaves. She becomes convinced, after long arguments,
that …
Slave-owners are victims of “malignant abuse” and “wicked
and malicious slander” by ignorant, arrogant Northerners.
“the world is wrong [on the issue of human slavery],
and the South must set it right;”
“the world is in error, and is dependent upon the South
for the truth;”
“the welfare of the negro is best promoted when he is
under the restraints of slavery;”
“slavery is the normal condition of the negro.”
As the novel ends, Nellie falls in love with a wonderful slaveowner,and
turns her home into a hospital for wounded confederate soldiers.
5 Arguments In Defense of
Slavery
1. The Biblical Argument
Probably ... the most elaborate and systematic
statement of any of the types of pro-slavery
argument.” (William S. Jenkins)
Leviticus 25:44-46 (relating to the buying,
keeping, and inheriting of slaves) was “the
rock of Gibraltar in the Old Testament”
justification of slavery. Proslavery
characters in Nellie Norton refer to it
repeatedly.
Leviticus 25:
Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou
shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round
about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and
bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the
strangers that do sojourn among you, of them
shall ye buy, and of their families that are with
you, which they begat in your land; and they shall
be your possession. And ye shall take them as an
inheritance for your children after you, to inherit
them for a possession; they shall be your
bondmen for ever.
Other passages in the Old Testament frequently cited by Old
South proslavers-Exodus 21:2-6 (relating to the slavery of poor Hebrews)
Deuteronomy 15:16-17 (also relating to the slavery of poor
Hebrews)-Genesis 9:26-27 (relating to the curse of Canaan to legitimize
racism)
“There is nothing, not one word, in the Old
Testament to condemn, but very much to
establish, enforce, and regulate slavery.”
(Proslaver to Nellie Norton)
Proslavers in Nellie Norton assert that the New
Testament confirms the Old Testament
witness. The Golden Rule is not
inconsistent with human slavery, they say.
In fact, slavery is a form of neighborliness
because it puts slaves in better conditions
than in Africa, and exposes them to
Christian influences, a theme known as
“the Ennoblement of the Heathen” which
was also used to justify treatment of the
Native Peoples.
New Testament Passages in Nellie Norton:
Ephesians 6:5-8 (exhorting servants to be obedient to their
masters)
Titus 2:9-10 (also exhorting servants to be obedient to their
masters)
Colossians 3:22-24 (requiring slaves to obey their masters)
“…in the catalogue of sins denounced by the Savior
and His Apostles, slavery is not once mentioned
… not one word is said by the prophets, apostles,
or the holy Redeemer against slavery … the
Apostles admitted slaveholders and their slaves to
church membership, without requiring a
dissolution of the relation.”
Additional quotes from Nellie Norton:
“…slavery is right, and its enforcement is according to the
Scripture,”
“…slavery is taught in the Bible, and instituted in Heaven,”
“…God has ordained slavery,”
“…slavery was made perpetual by the positive enactment of
heaven,”
“…there cannot be found ... in the Bible a single injunction to
slaveholders to liberate those held by them in bondage.”
To speak against slavery “is to abominate the law of God, and the
sentiments inculcated by his holy prophets and apostles.”
A slave “cannot sunder bonds which bind him to his earthly
master, without breaking those which unite him morally to
his Redeemer.”
Nellie Norton:
“… the Bible is a pro-slavery Bible,
and God is a pro-slavery God,”
“… the North must give up the Bible
and religion, or adopt our views of
slavery.”
John Saffin, another proslaver of the period, wrote:
Since Abraham owned slaves …
… our Imitation of him in this Moral Action is
as warrantable as that of [adopting] his
Faith. God set different Orders and Degrees
of Men in the World ... some to be High
and Honourable, some to be Low and
Despicable… Servants of sundry sorts and
degrees, bound to obey; yea, some to be
born Slave, and so to remain during their
lives.
2. The Inferiority Argument:
William S. Jenkins notes: “The entire pro-slavery
thought was imbued with the belief of Negro
inferiority.”
In Nellie Norton, blacks are said to be “exceptions to
the common brotherhood” of man, and are:
“sensual and stupid, lazy, improvident, and vicious
… an ignorant, degraded, indolent people …
[could] never ... be equal with the white man.”
Their inferiority was “designed by their creator [i.e.,
God].”
3. The Southern Paradise Argument
More from Nellie Norton:
“The slaves have many rights. The right of life and limb, the right to be fed
and clothed, to be nursed when sick, and cared for in old age when
they become helplessly infirm. They are rightfully entitled to
protection from ill treatment…”
Slave children are “fat and saucy, jolly and lively [and constantly enjoy]
cheerful songs and merry laughter”
Adult slaves are “happy Ethiopians” with “bright countenance[s], ...
smiling face[s], and ivory teeth” who “are fed bountifully, clothed
well, nursed when indisposed, and afforded [a] suitable diet.” They
“talk, and laugh, and sing, and pat, and dance,” and are constantly
“singing, dancing, laughing, chattering.”
Slavemasters are “highly cultivated ... men of superior general intelligence,
refined, polite, [and] genteel … I know of no case where the master
lives on his plantation with his slaves but what they are treated with
justice and moderation.”
4. Historical Realism Argument
“The truth is, the world never has, and never
can exist without slavery in some form…
Where is the country or the period of
history wherein slavery did not exist in
some shape or other? ... Slavery has always
existed, and will continue so long as there
is a disparity in the intellect or energy of
men.”
- from Nellie Norton
5. The Ad Hominem Argument
In Nellie Norton …
Abolitionists are “ruthless” and “fanatical.”
They take positions “which embody the worst forms
of infidelity ever known to the world.”
They are sounding “the funeral knell of a pure
Christianity.”
“I tell you, [Abolitionists] an offense against God, the
Bible, religion, the peace of the Christian world,
and against common sense, and the more
enlightened experience of the age.”
1. The Biblical Argument
2. The Inferiority Argument
3. The Southern Paradise
Argument
4. The Historical Realism
Argument
5. The Ad Hominem Argument
All five arguments …
…return to the Biblical Argument:
The Oracular Decisions of God have positively
declared that the Slave-Trade is
intrinsically good and licit, [and that the
holding of slaves] is perfectly consonant to
the principles of the Law of Nature, the
Mosaic Dispensation, and the Christian
Law … [Thus slavery has] the positive
sanction of God in its support."
Raymond Harris, Scriptural Researches on the
Licitness of the Slave-Trade.
Slavery and
the Bible
Howard Thurman, former dean of chapel at Howard University:
My regular chore was to do all of the reading for my
grandmother – she could neither read nor write…. With
a feeling of great temerity I asked her one day why it
was that she would not let me read any of the Pauline
letters. What she told me I shall never forget. “During
the days of slavery,” she said, “the master’s minister
would occasionally hold services for the slaves …
Always the white minister used as his text something
from Paul. At least three or four times a year he used
as a text: ‘Slaves be obedient to them that are your
masters as unto Christ.’ Then he would go on to show
how, if we were good and happy slaves, God would
bless us. I promised my Maker that if I ever learned to
read and if freedom ever came, I would not read that
part of the Bible.’” (Struggling with Scripture, p. 58)
In Liberty County [Georgia, in 1833] a
group of slaves were listening to a
white minister hold forth on a staple
topic – the escaped slave Onesimus,
and his return to his master. According
to the report from Georgia, half of the
Negro group walked out when the point
of the sermon became clear, and the
other half stayed mostly for the purpose
of telling the preacher that they were
sure there was no such passage in the
Bible. (59)
Slavery and
the Bible
Has the Bible been used for evil
purposes?
Is the Bible therefore evil?
Is the proslavery way of interpreting the
Bible evil?
Is our contemporary way of interpreting
the Bible any different?
How can we be sure we aren’t perpetuating
evil today in our use of the Bible?
Meanwhile … in France:
A song lyric was written in 1847 by Placide
Clappeau, a French wine merchant, mayor
of the French town Roquemaure.
Adolphe Adam wrote the music.
Later the song was translated into English by
John S. Dwight –
It is said to have been the first music ever
broadcast over radio.
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
Slavery and
the Bible