Liberation of slaves was frequent in the early church, and
especially on Easter.
Christianity was born in a world that was overwhelmed with
slavery. Rome, the dominant world power,
was utterly dependent on slave labor.
The message of Jesus and the New Testament, while not forbidding slavery
nor organizing any campaign to abolish it, struck at the very roots of slavery,
to dry up its power much as popular herbicides works to kill stubborn weeds
from the roots up.
Slavery thrived because the elite classes despised manual
labor, but Jesus dignified labor by working as a carpenter. Slavery thrived on the distinction of
privileged masters and powerless servants.
Jesus chose to take the form of a servant, washing His disciples’
feet. Slavery thrived with loving
oneself and looking down on enemies, especially those captured in warfare;
Jesus taught us to love, pray for, and serve even our enemies. Slavery thrived on deep-rooted traditions
based in the sinful nature of man; Jesus had a habit of calling people back to
God’s original intention in the beginning of things. He reminded us that God created people free
and gave them the dignity of choice. The
exercise of choice is possible only in liberty and not in slavery. Christianity promoted the equality of its
members, accepting slave and slavemaster as equal brothers and sisters serving
side by side in the church (see Galatians 3:28).
Because of the Christian emphasis on love and mercy to all,
slavery was soon rid of most of its extreme features of cruelty. For instance, a popular Christian writing
said a master just love his servant:
“Let him consider wherein they are equal even as he is a man…he should
love his slave as a brother” (Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book IV,
xii). The same book instructed masters
not to command their slaves “with bitterness of soul, let they groan against
thee and wrath be upon thee from God” (Constitutions, Book VII, xiii). It further taught Christians that the slaves
ought to work only five days a week and be permitted to go to church for
instruction on Sunday and other special days of the church (Constitutions, Book
VII, xxxiii). Christians who had taken
concubine slaves before conversion were required to marry them legally before
baptism (Constitutions, Book VII, xxxii).
This does not mean Christians approved of slavery. The admonitions of early Christian writers
for believing slaves to serve their masters wholeheartedly may be compared with
admonitions of pro-lifers to avoid bombing abortion clinics and executing
abortionists. The act of abortion is
abhorrent and inherently immoral, but since it is now legal and Christians have
thus far been unable to change that, Christian leaders urge their followers to
keep within the limits of the law.
What we find in early Christian writers (popularly called
the Church Fathers) is an emphasis on being free in spirit to serve Christ,
regardless on one’s status in life.
Abrose wrote that the slave might be superior in character to his master
and might be more truly free (Kenneth Scott Latourette, The Expansion of the
Christian Church, p. 622). He encouraged
Christians to free slaves, writing, “the highest kind of liberality is to
redeem captives, to save them from the hands of their enemies.” In 378 A.D., Trace and Illyria were
devastated by the Goths and a multitude were carried away into slavery. At that time, Ambrose redeemed all he could.
Indded, one of the most exciting things to me, has been to
learn that in the second and third centuries after Christ, tens of thousands of
slaves were freed by people who converted the Christ, and who then understood
the inherent wrongness of the slave condition.
Melania is said to have freed 8,000 slaves, Ovidus 5,000, Chromatius
1400, and Hermes 1200 (Schmidt, p. 274, from W.E.H. Lecky, History of European
Morals, 1911). One popular Christian
book said that Christians should not attend heathen gatherings “unless to
purchase a slave and save a soul” (by teaching the slave of Christ and then
freeing him or her) (Constitutions, Book ii, Section VII). Church law in the early fifth century allowed
for liberation (called manumission) of slaves during church services (Canon
LIIIV, The African Code Canons, also called the Canons of the Fathers assembled
at Carthage, 419.A.D.)
This happened because
many Christian converts at that time were people of considerable wealth. Converted out of a decadent, totally
self-centered society, many Christians sold their goods and lands and used the
proceeds to help the poor, support hospitals, take in orphans, free prisoners,
and liberate slaves. Liberation was
frequent, and freedmen soon became a prominent feature of society.
Augustine led many clergy under his authority at Hippo to
free their slaves “as an act of piety.”
(Of the work of Monks, p. 25, Vol. 3, Nicene & Post-Nicene
Fathers). He boldly wrote a letter
urging the emperor to set up a new law against slave traders and was very much
concerned about the sale of children.
Christian emperors of his time for 25 years had permitted sale of
children, not because they approved of it, but as a way of preventing
infanticide when parents were unable to care for a child (The Saints, p. 72). In his famous book, “The City of God,” the
development of slavery is seen as a product of sin and contrary to God’s divine
plan” (The City of God, Ch. 15, p. 411, Vol II, Nicene & Post Nicene
Fathers).
Freeing slaves in those days took great conviction and
courage, since the Roman emperors issued edicts unfavorable to it, and keeping
on the good side of the emperor was essential to survival. Not until Justinian (527-565 A.D.) did
Christians find an emperor who was sympathetic to what they had been doing (Schmidt,
p. 274).
The practice of freeing slaves began quite early, for
Clement of Alexandria, who was probably a contemporary of the Apostle Paul,
said in his Epistle to the Corinthians no. 55, “Some Christians surrendered
their own freedom to liberate others or even money to provide food for others.” He talks as if it is common knowledge of
which he is reminding them. He also says
it was a church custom in his time to redeem prisoners of war from servitude. He wrote that Christians should not have too
many domestic slaves. He said men did this
because they disliked working with their own hands and serving themselves (The
Instructor, Book II, Chapter IV).
Ignatius, in his epistle to Herodustus, urges believers to
“despise not servants, for we possess the same nature in common with them” (I, p.
114). Basil (330-379) wrote of slaves
and masters as all being fellow slaves of our Creator and spoke of “our mutual
equality of rank” (On the Spirit, Ch. xx).
Lactantius in the fourth century wrote that in God’s eyes there were no
slaves (Divine Institues, mentioned in Schmidt, p. 274).
In the fourth century, Chrysostom wrote that Christ annulled
slavery and admonished Christian to buy slaves, teach them a marketable skill,
and set them free. The freeing of slaves
by Christians was so common in his time that some people complained
Christianity had been introduced just for that purpose. In the fifth century, Patrick, Celtic
Christian missionary to Ireland, actually condemned slavery. (Schmidt, p. 275).
In fact, due to the influence of Christianity, slavery was
rapidly declining and had all but disappeared from much of Europe when the
advent and subsequent conquests of Islam brought a rebirth of the slave
trade. That is a subject for another
post. It is enough on this Easter Sunday
to recognize all those early Christians who spent their own resources to free
others from bondage. Thank you. I have tried to follow in your footsteps.
(Information from my original research in the Church Fathers)
