Letter to an Atheist by Michael Patrick Leahy

False Statement # 7

While the abolitionists of the eighteenth century were morally right, they were on the losing side of a theological argument (Page 17)

While the abolitionists of the eighteenth century were morally right, they were on the losing side of a theological argument (Page 17) The Christian theological argument condemning slavery was well known throughout the 19th Century world. The abolitionists and 95% of the rest of the Christian world accepted the theological argument. The “losing” argument was the “slavery is a positive good” theological argument advanced by some heretical Christian Clergy in the American South from 1835 to 1865.

In arguing that the Bible unequivocally supports the institution of slavery Harris is merely echoing a series of demonstrably flawed arguments made by members of the Southern Christian clergy during the three decade period (1835-1865) surrounding the American Civil War. These arguments were rhetorical exercises made by men who sought vainly to reconcile the irreconcilable truths of their own lives. As wealthy slaveowners and willing participants in the slaveholding society of the South, these fallible members of the Christian clergy developed a justification for their own conduct. In light of a Christian Gospel whose spirit they themselves conceded condemned slavery, they were in need of a theological argument that supported the life choices they had made for themselves. When moral objectivists such as David Hume and John Calhoun pointed the way with a political theory that spelled out “slavery as a positive good” permanently, they were only too eager to concoct elaborate analyses of Biblical passages that supported this theory. And it is upon these flawed arguments that Harris relies to create a false and misleading impression of Christian faith.. Numerous passages of the Old Testament, and some in the New Testament refer to the institution of slavery. When these passages are analyzed in the social and historical context in which they were written, a very different conclusion is reached than the one proclaimed by Harris. These writings consist of advice on how to conduct oneself in a world in which slavery is a given, rather than Divine endorsement of the institution of slavery itself.

Harris would have us interpret the Bible using the same type of literalism that was displayed in the self-serving arguments advanced by the very members of the antebellum clergy he disdains. But in doing so he ignores several centuries of Christian thought and practice, as well as the overwhelming record of vigorous, active Christian championing of abolition within the political arenas of Great Britain and the United States. Christians believe that the words of the Bible were inspired by God, but that it was written in the language of the day by fallible human beings, who recorded God’s word through the lens and understanding of their own day and time. The period during which the Old Testament was written (1500 BC to 500 BC) was a time in the world when slavery was commonplace. Indeed, the Hebrews, for whom and by whom the Old Testament was written, were enslaved in Egypt, a situation aptly described in the Book of Exodus. Centuries later, many Hebrews were once again enslaved during the period of Babylonian captivity. By the time of Jesus, as many as 30 per cent of the residents of the Roman Empire were slaves. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising at all that both the Old Testament and New Testament comment on the relationship between slave and master But an exegetical analysis of specific Old Testament passages is really a side show to the main question. What is the central theme of the New Testament on slavery ? The words of Jesus, as described in the Gospel of Matthew, provide every intellectually honest Christian with all the Biblical evidence necessary to condemn the institution of slavery:

Look at Matthew Chapter 22 Verses 35 to 40:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law ? Jesus said unto him Thou Shalt Love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Most readers will recognize this passage as The Golden Rule. And this Golden Rule can be said to summarize all the wisdom of the Bible. And anyone who reads the Golden Rule can come to but one conclusion: The Bible condemns slavery. The “Bible supports slavery” arguments set forth first by Smylie, and later by South Carolina’s James Henley Thornwell, and Richard Fuller received support within the American South, but nowhere else in the Christian world of the day. European Christian views of American pro-slavery arguments are represented by this typical comment from the editors of Scotland’s United Presbyterian, who in 1862 wrote the following:

Our sympathies cannot go with the Southern States, who, in the second half of the nineteenth century, are proclaiming a doctrine, the foulest and most revolting that has ever been enunciated since our blessed Redeemer hung upon the cross of shame, and bore away the sins of the world. Sympathy with the Southern States ! We have as much sympathy with them as with a gang of robbers or a crew of pirates. Quoted in Noll p 401

Historian Mark Noll, the most recognized expert on the history of Christianity and theology in America summarized the domestic situation in this way:

Powerful as the orthodox defense of slavery seemed in the United States, however, its force came from the specific conditions of American culture. It had virtually no influence outside the country, even among those who shared the conservative theology of slavery’s defenders. Noll page 400

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