Read it again
By Professor E M Blaiklock MA DLitt
XLIII.
CHR/STIANITY AND SLAVERY.
Re-read 1. Corinthians 7.
Does the New Testament condone slavery?
No.
The New Testament killed slavery. And how it killed it is a vital lesson for all who interpret the Christian gospel socially. The New Testament contains no scheme of statecraft. It does not remotely resemble Plato's Republic. Nor is Christianity a code of ethics. The New Testament is a record of a revelation. It centres round the person of Jesus Christ and the centre of gravity of that story is at Calvary, not Bethlehem. Christ came to give new life to men, and He gave it in abundance by His sacrifice on the Cross ! That new life, growing to power in the life of man, fed by faith in a Risen Lord, and fed by the Spirit of God, is the dynamic of all ethics, the essential basis of all character. From its active expression will come zeal for social jus-tice. Indeed, consider history! From respect for the Lord's example and belief in the efficacy of His sacrifice, will flow a love for our fellow men which will chafe at ought which harms them And that is how Christianity killed slavery, without attempting the socially impossible method of immediate, frontal attack upon its entrenched abuses. That is how the Faith has destroyed many another social evil. It follows that our business is to show truly in our daily living the "power of His resurrection." All other good will follow.