Slavery

Sermons by Bob Vincent and Others

As we look at the issue of slavery, several things stand out.--While slavery was permitted in both the Old and New Testaments, it was very different from the kind of slavery that existed in the United States of America from 1619 until 1865.--Under Old Testament law, slaves who ran away were protected and not to be returned to their masters -Deuteronomy 23-15-16-, and man-stealing was a death penalty offense -Exodus 21-16-.--When people became Christians, they were not commanded to release their slaves, as 1 Timothy 6-1-2 makes clear. But the seeds for the complete destruction of slavery are sown in Paul's letter to Onesimus' owner in Philemon 1-16-17.--Under both Israel's slavery and that of the Romans, slaves were taught to read and write, and they could marry.--Under Southern slavery those things were illegal, and we live with the terrible consequences of that wicked system to this day.--What are things that we can do to remedy that--