35
Q.
Doesn’t the Bible condone slavery?
- Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle
Paul (Yale Univ. Press, 2006), especially chap. 9, “The Politics of Jesus” by
John Howard Yoder. - Mark A. Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (Univ. of North Carolina
Press, 2004). - E. Benjamin Skinner, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day
Slavery (Free Press, 2009). - Stop the Traffi k: http://www.stopthetraffi k.org.
- Willard M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women: Case Issues in
Biblical Interpretation (Herald Press, 1993). - David M. Whitford, The Curse of Ham in the Early Modern Era: The Bible and
the Justi cations for Slavery (Ashgate, 2009). - N. T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary
(IVP Academic, 2008).
Suggested Questions for Further Discussion/Thought
- Although slavery is illegal in many countries, there are more slaves today
than at any other time in history, according to Benjamin Skinner, author
of A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face with Modern-Day Slavery. How do we
defi ne modern-day slavery? What are its forms? Why does it persist, and
what can Christians do about it? - Do you think God cares about the equivalent amount of four jumbo jets
of people (predominately women and children) that are kidnapped and
“traffi cked” each day? - What can you do in your daily life to help reduce or eliminate the
oppression and enslavement of others? - Have you visited http://www.stopthetraffi k.org and signed up?
- What constitutes slavery? Which people in today’s world do you
understand to be enslaved?