Ephesians 5-6 applies the way God’s love poured out to us is reflected in our love for each other in four relational examples Encouraging one another in the church Marriage Parents and children Slaves and Masters Here is some background reading relating to the 4th example with a look at church history and the movement… Continue reading Slaves and Masters
Tag: the slave trade
Slave Trade whataboutery ethics
As someone with a particular interest in the history of the slave trade and abolition, I was intrigued by this tweet about a different aspect to the story. We focus primarily on the trans-Atlantic Slave trade which saw black Africans trafficked to the Americas, Caribbean and Britian. However, there was a history of Europeans being… Continue reading Slave Trade whataboutery ethics
What does 1 Corinthians 7 actually say about slavery?
In amongst what Paul has to say about singleness, celibacy, abstinence, non-Christian partners and divorce in 1 Corinthians 7, he talks about the situation that slaves find themselves in. Whilst our focus has been understanding the issue of sexual ethics, I want to pause on this particular example because the question of Paul’s attitude to… Continue reading What does 1 Corinthians 7 actually say about slavery?
Princeton, slaveowners and statues again
Once again, there’s a debate rumbling about what to do with a statue of someone from the past. Once again, the issue is that the person concerned had been a slave owner. This time, we’re talking about John Witherspoon, the former president of Princeton. Students at Princeton have been campaigning for Witherspoon’s statue to be… Continue reading Princeton, slaveowners and statues again
Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and slavery
One of the most shocking things that evangelicals today discover is that some of the great heroes of the 18th Century Evangelical Awakening owned slaves, in particular George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards. This is shocking because we associate the Evangelical Awakening with the campaign to abolish slavery with John Newton, John Wesley and of course… Continue reading Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and slavery
What more do we need?
This is a bit of a follow up to my article regarding the abolition of slavery and “a better ethic than the Bible” earlier this week. A lot of the argument concerning the redemptive-movement-hermeneutic boils down to two questions which Michael Bird helpfully crystalised in a twitter discussion. Is it better for something to be… Continue reading What more do we need?
A better ethic than the Bible?
In this article, Michael Bird picks up on some disturbing comments that John MacArthur made about slavery back in 2012. I agree with Bird, that the comments were troubling. MacArthur’s suggestion that benign slavery was possible is utterly wrong headed. There is of course a fundamental difference between sticking with a good institution like marriage… Continue reading A better ethic than the Bible?
Wesley and the slave trade (5) conclusions
In summary, we may conclude that our investigation supports our preliminary thesis. First, that Wesley’s hermeneutic does not fit the template of the so-called Wesleyan Quadrilateral and thus secondly, that his argument does not support a Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic. Before we develop our conclusions further, we need to spell out some limitations which constrain what… Continue reading Wesley and the slave trade (5) conclusions
Wesley and the slave trade (4) What does Wesley actually do with Scripture?
In the previous section, we noted three assertions that might be made about Wesley’s use of Scripture in support of a redemptive-movement position. First, that Wesley would be willing to ignore texts if they didn’t fit his overall scheme. Secondly, that he could change his view of Scripture based on experience. Thirdly, that he was… Continue reading Wesley and the slave trade (4) What does Wesley actually do with Scripture?
More on slaves and the slave trade
Earlier this week in our #TheDailyDose talks I looked at what Paul had to say to Timothy about slaves and masters (1 Timothy 6:1-2). You can listen back here. As I explain in the talk, the Bible’s handling of ethical questions around keeping and trading slaves has wider implications. If the Bible permits slavery but… Continue reading More on slaves and the slave trade
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