Slavery in the Church Orders: an ongoing dialogue (original) (raw)

Slavery and Manumission in the Pre-Constantine Church

Eleutheria, 2013

This paper looks at the church's handling of the issue of slavery in the period before Constantine and the official recognition of Christianity. The time period is important because Christians had no political authority to end slavery, assuming they wanted to do so. Thus, the aim of the paper is discover how the Church as an institution alleviated the conditions of the slaves and how slaves were treated in the church and examine the relationship of slave to master in the church. This will be accomplished by examining certain doctrines of the faith church leaders applied to these problems as well as ancient understandings of what Paul had written and how it fit into their world and social context, which was the social context of the Bible itself. More specifically, by examining Paul's letter to Philemon, Ignatius' Epistle to Polycarp, and the Didache, the paper argues that the early church, using a Scriptural model, worked within its circumstances to ameliorate slaves' material conditions, to bring all classes of people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to ensure that, within the church, all people were treated as equals.

Studying Modern Slavery to Impact the Church's Response

MA Dissertation, 2020

The Christian antislavery movement began in the eighteenth century and secured the abolition of slavery but now modern slavery has emerged and changed the context of the battle to abolish slavery again. This dissertation explores the nuances between the eighteenth century abolitionism and the twenty-first century antislavery movement, in light of current mission theology, and modern slavery studies, in order to understand how the Church can best respond to the issue. A biblical contextualisation and application of scripture is included.

A History of Slavery at St Peter's Church, Freehold

Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review, 2023

An address composed and delivered by Rev. Dirk Reinken on March 25, 2023 on the history of slavery at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Freehold for the "Stations of Reparations" Service held there that day. Text edited and based on research by Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski.