Ephesians 6:1-24 NIV
1Children, obey your parents In The LORD, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first Commandment with a promise— 3“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children;
instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of The LORD.
instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of The LORD.
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey CHRIST. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of CHRIST, doing The Will of GOD from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving The LORD, not people, 8because you know that The LORD Will Reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that HE Who Is both their Master and yours Is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.
The Armor of GOD
10Finally, be strong in The LORD and in HIS Mighty Power. 11Put on the full Armor of GOD, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13Therefore put on the full Armor of GOD, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and The SWORD of The SPIRIT, Which Is The WORD of GOD.
18And pray in The SPIRIT on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all The Lord’s people. 19Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the Mystery of the Gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Final Greetings
21Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in The LORD, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
23Peace to the brothers and sisters,c and love with faith from GOD The FATHER and The LORD JESUS CHRIST.24Grace to all who love our LORD JESUS CHRIST with an undying love.
We've seen that the New Testament writers, most notably Paul, did not directly attack the institution of slavery. Paul advised slaves to obey their masters, to work conscientiously even when unsupervised (Eph. 6:5-8; Col. 3:22-23), to be trustworthy and not steal the master's property (Tit. 2:9), and to think of and emulate Christ when suffering unjustly (1 Pet. 2:18-23).
Masters were admonished to treat their slaves justly and not to threaten them, but to recognize that in GOD's Eyes the slave was as valuable as his master (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1; Col. 3:11; Gal. 3:28). We've also seen how this advice was applied in the case of Onesimus, a slave in what is now Turkey, who stole money from his master, ran away to Rome, was converted to Christianity, and became a helper to Paul. Paul sent Onesimus back to his master, Philemon (who was also a Christian whom Paul had converted), bearing a letter telling Philemon to treat Onesimus just as he would treat a son of Paul. Philemon was to think of Onesimus not as having run away but as having gone on a Christian mission in Philemon’s stead, to treat him not as a slave but as a brother, and not even to mention the money he had stolen when he ran away. In effect, Paul had replaced Roman law and custom relating to slavery with a new standard of Christian behavior.
Masters were admonished to treat their slaves justly and not to threaten them, but to recognize that in GOD's Eyes the slave was as valuable as his master (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1; Col. 3:11; Gal. 3:28). We've also seen how this advice was applied in the case of Onesimus, a slave in what is now Turkey, who stole money from his master, ran away to Rome, was converted to Christianity, and became a helper to Paul. Paul sent Onesimus back to his master, Philemon (who was also a Christian whom Paul had converted), bearing a letter telling Philemon to treat Onesimus just as he would treat a son of Paul. Philemon was to think of Onesimus not as having run away but as having gone on a Christian mission in Philemon’s stead, to treat him not as a slave but as a brother, and not even to mention the money he had stolen when he ran away. In effect, Paul had replaced Roman law and custom relating to slavery with a new standard of Christian behavior.
We have little extra-biblical, historical evidence for how Christians related to slavery, but what there is is interesting and instructive.
Paul tells free Christians that although they are Christ's slaves, they were bought with a price and are not to become slaves of other men. (1 Cor. 7:21-23) But Paul's advice was early ignored, albeit for good causes; Clement of Rome writes (c. 96 AD) that, “We know many among ourselves who have given themselves up to slavery, in order that they could ransom others.
Many others have surrendered themselves to slavery, so that with the price that they received for themselves, they might provide food for others.” Some Christians were selling themselves into slavery in order to free others or provide for the needs of others.
Many others have surrendered themselves to slavery, so that with the price that they received for themselves, they might provide food for others.” Some Christians were selling themselves into slavery in order to free others or provide for the needs of others.
We also have evidence that the church sometimes used its funds to purchase freedom for slaves. This is hinted at in an early Second Century letter from Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It is stated more clearly, some centuries later, in the Apostolic Constitutions (c. 390 AD) which provide that, “As for such sums of money as are collected from them in the aforesaid manner, designate them to be used for the redemption of the saints and the deliverance of slaves and captives.”
It had become common by the early 4th century for Christian masters to free their slaves. These religiously motivated manumissions were performed in church in the presence of a bishop. An early ruling of Constantine, made in response to petitions from bishops, refers to slave owners freeing their slaves because of their religious convictions (“religiose mente”). That this was an accepted practice in Constantine's time suggests that it probably began long before then. There was no requirement that Christian masters free their slaves---and certainly not all did---but it is significant that a custom developed pursuant to which (1) Christian masters (2) freed their slaves (3) in a church ceremony (4) before a bishop (5) ultimately with the bishop-requested authority of the emperor.
We also have reports that when extremely wealthy Romans were converted to Christianity, they freed their slaves en masse. When the prefect Hermas was converted by Bishop Alexander during the reign of Trajan (r. 98-117), he was baptized at an Easter festival along with wife, children, and twelve hundred and fifty slaves, to all of whom (the slaves, that is) he gave their freedom plus monetary compensation. In the time of Diocletian (r. 284-305) the prefect Chromatius was baptized with his fourteen hundred slaves whom he also emancipated at the same time, proclaiming that their sonship to GOD had put an end to their servitude to man. Church historian Phillip Schaff states that, “these legendary traditions may indeed be doubted as to the exact facts in the case, and probably are greatly exaggerated; but they are nevertheless conclusive as the exponents of the spirit which animated the church at that time concerning the duty of Christian masters."
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine why, if the early Christian Church endorsed slavery, it should have (1) used church funds to free slaves, (2) developed a bishop-led church ceremony in which slaves were freed, and (3) encouraged wealthy converts to manumit their slaves en masse. The logical conclusion is that slavery was a pagan institution that the Christian Church did not view as GOD's ideal form of social organization. But re-organizing society has never been the primary function of Christianity. Christianity changes hearts, and enough changed hearts will eventually lead to a changed society.
After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, its legal forms and customs, including slavery, gradually fell into disuse and were replaced by what has become known as feudalism, a decentralized system of reciprocal legal and military obligations. By the late Middle Ages slavery had disappeared in Western Europe (although it persisted until much later in parts of Eastern Europe). The slave's feudal counterpart was the peasant who was bound to work specific land and could not move or change his occupation. The peasant's plight bore some similarities to slavery (especially in Russia, where serfs could be bought and sold) but was really a very different kind of institution.
Slavery was unambiguously legitimate in Islam; Muhammad owned slaves, and Muslims consider him the perfect example to emulate. Non-Muslims captured in raiding, piracy, and Jihad warfare were booty; and volumes of Islamic jurisprudence are devoted to regulating the distribution of booty. Although Muslims enslaved millions of black Africans—one common Arabic term for slave, abd or abeed, is also a slang term for a black person---they were equal opportunity slavers and frequently enslaved Europeans, especially from southeastern Europe. Slavery in Muslim lands was typically ended only when they were colonized by the Western powers.