Chistianity Slavery Labour Paperback

So far as Jesus is concerned, he nowhere sets his face against slavery. He accepted slavery as he accepted all the other institutions and superstitions around him. Nothing was further from his mind than a social revolution, or even social reform. Slaves or serfs in revolt never looked to Jesus for inspiration, but slave-owner and feudal lord have invariably held him up as an ideal for those under them. And in addition to giving a teaching of non-resistance and passive obedience fatal to real freedom and independence, we have in Luke 17 vs 7-10 a peculiarly revolting exposition of the relation of master and slave.

So far as Jesus is concerned, he nowhere sets his face against slavery. He accepted slavery as he accepted all the other institutions and superstitions around him. Nothing was further from his mind than a social revolution, or even social reform. Slaves or serfs in revolt never looked to Jesus for inspiration, but slave-owner and feudal lord have invariably held him up as an ideal for those under them. And in addition to giving a teaching of non-resistance and passive obedience fatal to real freedom and independence, we have in Luke 17 vs 7-10 a peculiarly revolting exposition of the relation of master and slave.

A classic work that exposed the centrality of enslaved people and slaveholders in early Christian circles. In this expanded edition, the distinguished scholar Jennifer A. Glancy reflects upon recent discoveries and future trajectories related to the study of ancient slavery's impact on Christianity's development. What if the stories traditionally told about slavery, as something peripheral or contradictory to Christianity's emergence, are wrong? This book contends that some of the most cherished Christian texts from Jesus and the apostle Paul prioritized the perspectives of slaveholders. Jennifer A. Glancy highlights how the strong metaphorical uses of slavery in early Christian discourse can't be disconnected from the reality of enslaved people and their bodies. Deftly maneuvering among biblical texts, material evidence, and the literary and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world, she situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. Glancy's penetrating study into slavery's impact on early Christianity, from the pages of the New Testament to the branded collars used by Christians who held people in bondage, will be of interest to those asking questions about slavery, power, and freedom in the long arc of history.

First published in 1988. Bringing together normally self-contained areas of research, this book presents penetrating analyses of the nature and perpetuation of slavery through the ages.