You can download the full book (high res scan) in Adobe PDF right here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1qkgnq2gywy
Overview of this book:
Slavery was widespread throughout the Mediterranean lands where Christianity was born and developed. Though Christians were both slaves and slaveholders, there has been surprisingly little study of what early Christians thought about the realities of slavery. How did they reconcile slavery with the Gospel teachings of brotherhood and charity? Slaves were considered the sexual property of their owners: what was the status within the Church of enslaved women and young male slaves who were their owners' sexual playthings? Is there any reason to believe that Christians shied away from the use of corporal punishments so common among ancient slave owners?
Jennifer A. Glancy brings a multilayered approach to these and many other issues, offering a comprehensive re-examination of the evidence pertaining to slavery in early Christianity. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Glancy situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. She argues that scholars have consistently underestimated the pervasive impact of slavery on the institutional structures, ideologies, and practices of the early churches and of individual Christians. The churches, she shows, grew to maturity with the assumption that slaveholding was the norm, and welcomed both slaves and slaveholders as members. Glancy draws attention to the importance of the body in the thought and practice of ancient slavery. To be a slave was to be a body subject to coercion and violation, with no rights to corporeal integrity or privacy. Even early Christians who held that true slavery was spiritual in nature relied, ultimately, on bodily metaphors to express this. Slavery, Glancy demonstrates, was an essential feature of both the physical and metaphysical worlds of early Christianity.
The first book devoted to the early Christian ideology and practice of slavery, this work sheds new light on the world of the ancient Mediterranean and on the development of the early Church.
Originally posted by stokerno, it was the education and hummies evolving from brutal beasts to less brutal beasts that destroyed slavery. the fact that no man should own another and that man should be in control of his own destiny.
twas the treatment of slaves that became its own distruction.
otherwise, by your argument, slavery would still exist if we treated the slaves nicely.
Originally posted by stokerI'm using USA and it's abolition as one example only. And the fact that the slave owners used the word of St Paul to defend their ownership of another human being.
twas not just in america that slavery was. all the world used it to ease there life at the expence of another. But what changed was its use of human slaves, more to the point yes we still would have slaves today if it had no been for its abuse.
The bible says it's okay if the slaves are treated right. So why abolish the use of slaves, why not use slaves today? They're good for economy, aren't they? And St Paul says it's okay, right?
Originally posted by FabianFnasif you want to bring back slaves, your choice but i think in the bible slaves work for someone for seven years then are freed, the master is duty bound to feed, and care for them in his service. Its not the slavery that we asume, tho our perseption of slavery is tainted by the whip and abuse of humans as portayed by hollywood.
The bible says it's okay if the slaves are treated right. So why abolish the use of slaves, why not use slaves today? They're good for economy, aren't they? And St Paul says it's okay, right?[/b]
Originally posted by stokerWill you, please, give me the reference in the bible of this claim of seven years of slavery? Never heard of a limit.
if you want to bring back slaves, your choice but i think in the bible slaves work for someone for seven years then are freed, the master is duty bound to feed, and care for them in his service. Its not the slavery that we asume, tho our perseption of slavery is tainted by the whip and abuse of humans as portayed by hollywood.
I don't want to have slavery back, because I am not a christian. If I were, and slavery has support in the holy bible, then, in the name of god, I would want it back. It's good for christian economy.
Again - why was slavery abolished if it is okay by the bible?
Originally posted by FabianFnasI think he is referring to this :
Will you, please, give me the reference in the bible of this claim of seven years of slavery? Never heard of a limit.
I don't want to have slavery back, because I am not a christian. If I were, and slavery has support in the holy bible, then, in the name of god, I would want it back. It's good for christian economy.
Again - why was slavery abolished if it is okay by the bible?
Jeremiah 34:12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
The OT is simply a history of the Jewish people. It does not really set moral standards for us here and now. Our (Christian) moral codes are defined by the letter and spirit of the teachings of Christ and Paul.
Originally posted by Rajk999And even Paul wrote that slavery is okay.
I think he is referring to this :
[i]Jeremiah 34:12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man hi ...[text shortened]... Christian) moral codes are defined by the letter and spirit of the teachings of Christ and Paul.
Then it is okay, I suppose?
Originally posted by FabianFnasUnless you twist what Paul wrote, you wont find any reference, direct or implied about slavery. You will find writings about masters and servants and I think you understand the difference. Even if you do twist what Paul wrote to make your point, which is a common practice among some atheists (not necessarily you), Christ taught that the second greatest commandment is love thy neighbour as thyself. The idea of slavery is in conflict with loving your neighbour.
And even Paul wrote that slavery is okay.
Then it is okay, I suppose?
Originally posted by stokerThe one you refer to is Isaac. But, he was just working for his uncle Laban...not a slave. Laban deceived him into marrying his eldest daughter, Leah.....she was veiled....and so Isaac said he would work another seven years for Rachel. He did not have to wait another seven years to marry her, however, as many people think. He worked the seven years to pay off the debt AFTER marrying her.
was the norm in earlier times before jesus, even jewish tradition had slaves, not sure who but a early one did 7 years to marry a daughter only to have to do another 7 as he wanted to marry the second daughter. [the name escapes me at moment] but the sin is the treatment of others