✪ See Ref-0958, p. 141, for a powerful speech given in 1852 by ex-slave Frederick Douglass. "Why did Paul not condemn slavery? First, had Paul condemned slavery, then Rome would have taken away his freedom thus inhibiting his ability to evangelize. Second, Paul’s ministry involved the salvation of souls rather than social reform. Third, perhaps Paul knew that the gospel, with emphasis upon human rights, would one day lead to the abolition of slavery. Fourth, Paul did speak out against masters mistreating their slaves (Col. 4:1; 1Pe. 2:18-20). Fifth, Paul supported emancipation whenever possible (1Cor. 7:21; Phm. 1:21)." Andy Woods, Ref-1217, pp. 41-42. "what to us constitutes the most obvious case of Christian dereliction in the early centuries of the Constantinian church: the persistence of slavery." Ref-1290, p. 176. "it is still entirely reasonable to wonder at the ability of so many ancient Christians to believe simultaneously that all men and women should be their brothers and sisters in Christ and also that certain men and women should be their legal property. The greater marvel, however, in purely historical terms, is that there were even a few who recognized the contradiction" Ref-1290, p. 176. "in a society composed of baptized men and women Christian principles could not help but be, if not catastrophic, at least corrosive in their effects upon a slave economy, and indeed upon all forms of forced servitude." Ref-1290, p. 181. "it was no longer possible to believe with perfect innocence that divine justice recognized the power of one person to own another; for, in coming to believe in the resurrection of Christ-much to their consternation, maybe, but also perhaps for their salvation-they found that the form of God and the form of the human person had been revealed to them all at once, completely, then and thenceforth always, in the form of a slave." Ref-1290, p. 182. "Think you, your children are in any way better by nature than the poor negroes? No! In no wise! blacks are just as much, and no more, conceived and born in sin, as white men are; and both, if born and bred up here, I am persuaded, are naturally capable of the same improvement. And as for the grown negroes, I am apt to think, that whenever the Gospel is preached with power among them, many will be brought effectually home to God. [Whitefield, 1740, A Letter to the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Concerning their Negroes]" Ref-1305, p. 495. "Is it not the highest ingratitude, as well as cruelty, not to let your poor slaves enjoy some fruits of their labour? Whilst I have viewed your plantations cleared and cultivated, and have seen many spacious houses, and the owners of them faring sumptuously every day, my blood has almost run cold within me, when I have considered how many of your slaves have neither convenient food to eat, nor proper raiment to put on, notwithstanding most of the comforts you enjoy were solely owing to their indefatigable labours . . . ‘Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you!’ Behold the provision of the poor negroes, which have reaped down your fields, which is by you denied them, ‘crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped have come into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth!’" Ref-1305, p. 496. "Captives, when not sacrificed, were adopted into the families, given Iroquoian wives, and regarded as citizens of full standing." Ref-1396, p. 139 "In British Columbia the abolition of slavery destroyed one of the main pillars in the social and political life, and the new standard of wealth enabled commoners and even ex-slaves to hold lavish potlatches and to usurp titles and privileges that traditionally could belong only to nobles. Every one then became a chief, as an old nobleman mourned; there were no longer commoners or slaves." Ref-1396, p. 258 "About one-third of the population consisted of slaves, some of them members of neighbouring tribes kidnapped or taken prisoners by the Tlinkit themselves, the majority captive Salish Indians (or their slave descendants) from the south of British Columbia, who had passed in barter from one tribe to another. However exalted had been the rank of these slaves in their own land their lot among the Tlinkit was generally wretched in the extreme. They hunted and fished for their masters, manned (with some commoners) the war and travelling canoes, and performed nearly all the drudgery around the villages. The erection of a new house, the launching of a new canoe, the funeral of a nobleman, or an insult offered to a chief might at an time demand their brutal sacrifice, for in the eyes of their masters they were only a form of property that could be destroyed like any other property at a mere whim." Ref-1396, p. 328 "Their superstitious awe of wolves found expression in the wolf ritual . . . During its performance the Nootka often killed a slave, practised self-torture, and ate doges, just as the Kwakiutl did in their winter dances; . . ." Ref-1396, p. 347 "Families of high rank [among the Tahltan], at the decease of one of their members, sometimes killed a slave and threw the corpse into the river, following a custom of the Tlinkit; at other times, on the contrary, they freed a favourite slave." Ref-1396, p. 374 "Some 6 million people, plus the huge number who died in the process, were shipped from Africa in one of history’s worst crimes against humanity. The British were by far the largest shippers, carrying over 3 million people between 1660 and 1807, when Parliament banned the trade; the French, and the Portuguese in Brazil, were their biggest customers. African rulers were eager suppliers. The trade expanded, reaching an all-time peak in the 1780s, when British slavers were transporting about 120 Africans per day." Ref-1509, p. 339. "The abolition of slavery in the empire in practice applied to slave ownership by whites. Greatly affected was the Cape Colony, one of the most rigid and oppressive slave societies in history. The “Boers” (Dutch-speaking settlers) responded by trekking out of British territory, outraged that black people were “placed on an equal footing with Christians, contrary to the laws of God.”" Ref-1509, p. 550.
✪ Israel violated this law (Jer. 34:14-17).
✪ Questionable: Job 4:12-17 (?); Luke 9:32 (?);