Church Response To Slavery Essay

Supporters of slavery often pointed to the bible as an advocate for slavery. Nowhere did Jesus say that slavery was inhumane, cruel, or otherwise immoral. In fact the bible even mentions that it is a slave’s duty to serve their master. Those in favor of slavery interpreted this as favoring their cause. For those who were religious, Christianity gave strong reasoning for why

Any knowledgeable man of the bible realizes that it does indeed refer to slavery and the justification of it numerous times. Jacobs writes that the “[plantation owners] seem to satisfy their consciences with the doctrine that God created the Africans to be slaves” (44). She continues by quoting the Bible, stating “What a libel upon the heavenly Father, who ‘made of one blood all nations of men!’” (44). This statement says that all men are equal, although other verses directly contest it.

This leads to a major issue within the slave community. Slaves possess little knowledge of life outside the plantation or house in which they are working at. This means they have no idea how humans are supposed to be treated, and rather that a “god” would never allow for another to be beaten in such severity. This is an advantage that the slave owners held over the actual slaves. If the slaves were to gain an understanding of the world around them, the “religious” quotes recited by slave owners would quickly lose their worth and soon mean nothing as well as hold no influence over the slaves. Frederick Douglas was fortunate enough to understand this, and even addressed the issue in his life story, “What I have said respecting and against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible reference to Christianity proper; for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference- so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked(71).” Douglas understands that the Christianity practiced by the slave owners was far different from the Christianity intended by Jesus Christ. As Douglas referred to it, the “Slaveholding religion” was prominent throughout the slavery era, not only was this damaging for the slaves,

Many people believe that Christians played a great role in abolishing slavery. However, Douglass’ ideas about religion and its connection to slavery shine a light on the dark side of Christianity. Douglass’ account of his own life is a very eloquent first hand retelling of the suffering and cruelty that many slaves were going through. His account gives a detail of the ills that were committed against the slaves. The atrocities committed by the various different masters varied in intensity depending on the masters’ individual personality (Glancy 42). This first hand narrative gives us a glimpse in to the connection between religion (Christianity) and slavery.

Religion was another factor in creating and solidifying the abolitionist movement. The first religious group to reject slavery was the Quakers, “standing almost alone in professing that slaveholding was incompatible with Christian piety” (McKivigan). Not long after the Quakers stand against slavery, did the northern states and the federal government take a stand, “federal government prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory and banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade.” (McKivigan). Out of all the states, “Virginia was the first territory to ban slavery within their borders,” and not long after that, “Pennsylvania followed suit” ("American Experience”). As the churches from the North and the South began to preach differently upon slavery, the churches started to reject and despise each other, “abolitionist ideas became increasingly prominent in Northern churches, which contributed to the regional animosity between the North and South” ("Abolitionist Movement"). Therefore, religion was an integral component to instigating the start of the Civil War. When the churches started believing that slavery was inhumane and that emancipation was greatly needed, the abolitionist cause became

Slave owners used Christianity as an excuse for the awful ways they treated their slaves. Christianity played a major role on the increase of brutality and violence that spirited the slave owners. The scriptures in the Bible were twisted in the eyes of slave owners to how they wanted to interpret them. Douglass had a powerful experience with one of his masters, Thomas Auld. Mr. Auld was not a religious person and treated the slaves very poorly. In August 1832, Auld attended a Methodist camp meeting and that marked the day when he became religious, and suddenly even more cruel. “Prior to his conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.” After becoming religious, Auld uses scripture to justify his cruelty. Douglass thought that with discovering religion and using it, Auld would become more polite as how Douglass viewed Christianity. Unfortunately that was not the case. Auld justifies that being affiliated with religion would not change a person for the better. Being a slave, Douglass found that slave owners found religious sanction for their cruelty. “He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.", was what a slave owner had said to justify why he beat

Christian defense of slavery was the justification of enslaving the blacks. A lot of these defenses based their arguments on the idea of caring for childlike and inferior slaves as part of a Christian duty. In the bible, Slaves belonged to the same

It can be assumed that Christianity shaped slave culture in several ways such as developing a common bond among slaves. At the some time, it could also be argued that slavery altered Christianity in various ways including the formation of Methodist and Baptist denominations. However, these were not the only manners in which both cultures had an effect on each other. Black converts dramatically increased the number of Christians in the New World. The ideas instilled in slaves by Christianity gave some slaves thoughts of rebellion and influenced African-American music and dance. Not to mention the church was a major supporter of the proslavery argument which conveyed slavery as a positive thing during the

It is a known fact that African Americans came to America forcibly. Before they became Americans, however, they suffered through mistreatment and abuse of all kinds. The horrible beatings, raping, and separation of families is something no human being should go through. White Christians in the nineteenth century believed that they felt the need to justify their desire for slaves, so they used one story in Genesis for their justification: Noah's Curse. Thomas Bacon, a minister and slave oppressor, used Christianity as a ruling force during slavery with his three main points to manipulate the slaves of Maryland: why the slaves serve God, what God expects from them, and rewards from God. Some slaveholders introduced their own slaves to the religion of Christianity, while some did not in fear of the slaves uniting and plotting against them. Be that as it may,

The belief in some higher presence, other than our own, has existed since man can recollect. Religion was established from this belief, and it can survive and flourish because of this belief. Christianity, one of several forms of religion that exist today, began sometime during the middle of the first century. Christians believe in a higher presence that they call "God." This belief in God is based on faith, not fact; faith is "unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence." (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 1996, p. 487). The belief in God exists primarily for two reasons: It answers the question of why we exist, and it is used to exert moral control over society

In twenty-first century America, when reading the Bible, the term “slavery” carries horrific connotations as a result of the seemingly lingering history of African-American slavery in the United States, however; slavery in New Testament Rome, though by no means ethical, is incomparable to that of American history.

The slaves put their faith in God because they believed there was a better life for them outside of slavery in heaven. Also, God almost seemed like their strength or something that kept them going in hope they will someday be free. There are other slaves who believe that God is the reason they are in slavery and have no faith or trust. Despite the injustice of slavery, African Americans still seemed to think that whites are superior to other races, maybe because how they are trained to think in that way. Slavery was a sin for most slaves, and Tom throughout the book spreads the word of God in hopes to make a change in people’s behavior. Christianity seemed to be big at that time, but why is it okay to for slavery to continue if God loves all his children? God doesn’t approve of the torture of others in fact Christianity encourages loving thy neighbor. Slavery had such a huge impact on religion that even some were willing to risk their place in heaven. For instance, in chapter 18 when Prue answers Tom about going to heaven she says, “I looks like gwine to heaven,” said the woman; “an’t thar where white folks is gwine? S’pose they’d have me thar? I’d rather go to torment, and get away from Mas’r and Missis” (page 140). Its heartbreaking to see that Heaven is such a happy place, but slaves have been through so many traumatic events, that they rather go to hell than be in the same place as their owners. The effects

He details the affirmation of the institution of African slavery as a fulfillment of the curse pronounced by Noah in Genesis 9:20-27. According to Jablonski, “This potent biblical justification for slavery received a second life once the medieval Muslims and early-modern Christians began enslaving black Africans in significant numbers” (pg. 179). Further, because many see the black Africans as the descendants of Ham, they maintain that, “blacks were fated to be servants of servants” (pg.

There aren’t many verses if at all that condemn slavery. Most verses that mention it, actually justify it for example, in lecture we learned two curses that justify the act. The first curse was the Curse of Cain. Due to Cain killing his brother, he was cursed/marked by God. The mark that some people believe Cain received was a change of skin color. Since he was marked and told his descendants would be cursed to rule the land, people deduce that all darker skin people can justifiably be used for slave labor. The second curse we looked at was the the Curse of Canaan – Son of Ham. Due to Ham looking at his father naked in a drunken stupor and telling his other brothers, Noah cursed his descendants and said that Canaan would be a slave to his brothers. There are many scriptures that condone the act. “Slaves obey your masters”, “a disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master (Matt 10: 24)” So it’s easy to see why slavery is ok. Jesus also never condemns slavery. “When supporters of the US bondage system turned their attention to the New Testament, they underlined Jesus’s silence on the topic to conclude that the founder of Christianity himself recognized the lawfulness of the institution in its Greco-Roman form (Flannery and Werline 2016). However, it is important to note that last few words of the quote provided when looking at slavery; “the institution in its Greco-Roman form”. Slavery back then was not the same as it was when colonizers first came to America. Slavery back then wasn’t institutionalized by racism. Slaves weren’t decided on the color of their skin. So, when people reread the bible and those scriptures now, the interpretation is not the same. Due to slavery meaning a completely different thing to us now, most people do not try to advocate for slavery anymore. It is tied with racism and discrimination in our society today. This demonstrates easily how social

Christianity and slave trade could never be more contradictory. The Bible, in its true nature, promotes utmost equality and love. Slave trade, however, is flooded with hate and utter brutality. It is both heartbreaking and astonishing to discover that these two terms were connected throughout history until the 1807 in England. The famous autobiography of the African American convert, Oladah Equiano, was the true voice that the Christianity called for in his narrative, The Life of Olaudah Equiano. Everyone during this time, including Christians, were under a cloud of deception through culture and the human nature to conform. Could this have been the true Christian belief that over 2.18 billion people today define as the love and prosperity of God Almighty?