In the book of Joel, iii. 8, the _slave trade_ is recognized as of Divine authority:
"And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the land of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off; FOR THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT!"
"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Art thou called, being _a servant_? Care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being _a servant_, is the Lord"s freeman; likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ"s servant."--1 Cor. vii. 20-22.
"_Servants_, be obedient to them that are your _masters according to the flesh_, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of G.o.d from the heart. With good-will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, _ye masters_, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven: neither is there respect of persons with him."--Eph.
vi. 5-9.
"_Servants_, obey in all things your _masters according to the flesh_: not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing G.o.d. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men: knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ."--Col. iii. 22-25.
"_Masters_, give unto _your servants_ that which is just and equal: knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven."--Col. iv.
1.
"Let as many _servants as are under the yoke_ count their _own masters_ worthy of all honor, that the name of G.o.d and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have _believing masters_, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort."--1 Tim. vi. 1, 2.
"Exhort _servants_ to be obedient unto their _own masters_, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of G.o.d our Saviour in all things."--t.i.tus ii. 9, 10.
"_Servants_, be subject to _your masters_ with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward G.o.d endure grief, suffering wrongfully."--1 Peter ii. 18, 19.
We have but a single word of comment to offer upon these pa.s.sages of Scripture. The original words used by the Greek writers, both sacred and profane, to express slave; the most abject condition of slavery; to express the absolute owner of a slave, and the absolute control of a slave, are the strongest that the language affords, and are used in the pa.s.sages here quoted. If the apostles understood the common use of words, and desired to convey these ideas, and to recognize the relations of master and servant, they would, naturally enough, employ the very words used. To say that they did not know the primary meaning and _usus loquendi_ of the original words, is paying them a compliment we wish not to partic.i.p.ate in! And to show that we are not singular in our views of the meaning expressed in the pa.s.sages quoted, showing that they express in the one case slaves, and in the other masters or owners, actually holding them as property, under the sanction of the laws of the State, we quote from the following authorities:
That great commentator, Dr. ADAM CLARKE, on 1 Cor. vii. 21, says:
"Art thou converted to Christ while thou art a slave--the property of another person, and bought with his money? _Care not for it._"
The learned Dr. Neander, in his work ent.i.tled "Planting and Training of the Church," in referring to _Onesimus_, mentioned in the epistle to Philemon, says of him:
"It does not appear to be surprising that a _runaway slave_ should betake himself at once to Rome."
To the foregoing might be added other authorities of equal weight and importance.
It is a well-known historical fact, that slaveholders were admitted into the APOSTOLIC CHURCHES; nor would this a.s.sumed position of the advocates of slavery be at all denied by any intelligent and well-read men at the North, but for the fact that they think such an admission would decide the question against abolitionists. We have given much attention to this subject within ten years past, and we feel no sort of delicacy in expressing our views and convictions, as revolting as they may be to Northern men and Free-soilers, even among us. We believe that the primitive Christians held slaves in bondage, and that the apostles favored slavery, by admitting slaveholders into the Church, and by promoting them to official stations in the Church. And why do we believe all this? Because we are sustained in these positions by uninterrupted historical testimony!
Well, for the information of abolitionists and other anti-slavery men dispersed throughout the South, we a.s.sume that the fact of the apostles admitting into Church fellowship slaveholders, and promoting them to positions of honor and trust, shows that the simple relation of master and slave was no bar to Church-membership. Masters and slaves, in the days of the apostles, were admitted into the Church as brethren: they partook in common of the benefits of the Church: they held to the same religious principles: they squared their lives by the same rule of conduct: acknowledged the same obligations one to another; and worshipped at the same altar. This was true of the first and succeeding centuries, when the relations of master and slave, and the practice of the Church in reference thereto, were very much like they are in the Southern States of our Union at present. But to the proof that slaveholders were admitted into the apostolic Churches:
1. Historians all agree that slavery existed, and was general throughout the Roman empire, at the time the apostolic Churches were inst.i.tuted. We have at our command the authorities to prove this, but to quote from them would swell this discourse beyond what we have intended. We will cite the authorities only; and anti-slavery men who deny our position can examine our authorities. See Gibbon"s "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. i. See "Inquiry into Roman Slavery, by Wm. Blair,"
Edinburgh edition of 1833. See vol. iv. of "Lardner"s Works," page 213.
See vol. i. of "Dr. Robertson"s Works," London edition. Other authorities might be given, but these are sufficient, as they show that slavery was a civil inst.i.tution of the State; that the Roman laws regarded slaves as _property_, at the disposal of their masters; that these slaves, whether white or colored, had no civil existence or rights, and contended for none; and that there were _three slaves to one citizen_--showing something of a similarity between the Roman empire and our Southern States! Gibbon says that slavery existed in "every province and every family," and that they were bought and sold according to their capacities for usefulness, and the demand for laborers--selling at hundreds of dollars, and from that down to the price of a beast of burden! Now, it is notorious that the gospel made considerable progress among the citizens of the Roman empire; and, as nearly every family owned slaves, it is certain that slaveholders were converted and admitted into the Church. It will not do to say that the poor, including the slaves, were alone converted to G.o.d, because the apostles make frequent allusions to the receiving into the Church of intelligent, learned, and opulent persons. The learned DR. MOSHEIM, in his Church History, vol. i., relating to the _first three centuries_, settles this question most effectually. He says:
"The apostles, in their writings, prescribe rules for the conduct of the rich as well as the poor, for _masters_ as well as _servants_--a convincing proof that among the members of the Church planted by them were to be found persons of opulence and masters of families. St. Paul and St. Peter admonished Christian women not to study the adorning of themselves with pearls, with gold and silver, or costly array. 1 Tim. ii. 9: 1 Peter iii. 3. It is, therefore, plain that there must have been women possessed of wealth adequate to the purchase of bodily ornaments of great price. From 1 Tim. vi. 20, and Col. ii. 8, it is manifest that among the first converts to Christianity there were men of learning and philosophers; for, if the wise and the learned had unanimously rejected the Christian religion, what occasion could there have been for this caution?
1 Cor. i. 26 unquestionably carries with it the plainest intimation that persons of rank or power were not wholly wanting in that a.s.sembly. Indeed, lists of the names of various ill.u.s.trious persons who embraced Christianity, in its weak and infantile state, are given by Blondel, p. 235 de Episcopis et Presbyteris: also by Wetstein, in his Preface to Origen"s Dia.
Con. Mar., p. 13."
A few reflections, by way of concluding, and we are through with our discourse, already extended beyond the limits we had prescribed:
_First._--There is not a single pa.s.sage in the New Testament, nor a single act in the records of the Church, during her early history, for even centuries, containing any direct, professed, or intended denunciation of slavery. But the apostles found the inst.i.tution existing, under the authority and sanction of law; and, in their labors among the people, masters and slaves bowed at the same altar, communed at the some table, and were taken into the Church together; while they exhorted the one to treat the other as became the gospel, and the other to obedience and honesty, that their religious professions might not be evil spoken of!
_Secondly._--The early Church not only admitted the existence of slavery, but in various ways, by her teachings and discipline, expressed her approbation of it, enforcing the observance of certain Fugitive Slave Laws which had been enacted by the State. And, in the various acts of the Church, from the times of the apostles downward through several centuries, she enacted laws and adopted regulations touching the duties of masters and slaves, _as such_. This, in our humble judgment, amounts to a justification and defence of the inst.i.tution of slavery.
_Thirdly._--Our investigations of this subject have led us regularly, gradually, certainly, to the conclusion that G.o.d intended the relation of master and slave to exist. Hence, when G.o.d opened the way for the organization of the Church, the apostles and first teachers of Christianity found slavery _incorporated with every department of society_; and, in the adoption of rules for the government of the members of the Church, they provided for the rights of owners, and the wants of slaves.
_Fourthly._--Slavery, in the age of the apostles, had so penetrated society, and was so intimately interwoven with it, that a religion preaching freedom to the slave would have arrayed against it the civil authorities, armed against itself the whole power of the State, and destroyed the usefulness of its preachers. St. Paul knew this, and did not a.s.sail the inst.i.tution of slavery, but labored to get both masters and slaves to heaven, as all ministers should do in our day.
_Fifthly._--Slavery having existed ever since the first organization of the Church, the Scriptures clearly teach that it will exist even to the end of time. Rev. vi. 12-17 points to "The Day of Judgment," "The Last Day," "The Great Day," and the condition of the human race at that time, as well as the cla.s.ses of persons to be judged, rewarded, and punished!
A portion of this text reads, "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every BONDMAN, and every FREEMAN," etc., will be there; evidently implying that slavery will exist, and that the relations of master and slave will be recognized, to the end of time!