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Why Doesn't Paul Condemn Slavery?
1 Timothy 6:1-2
In 1 Timothy 6:1–2, Paul seems to almost approve of slavery. What's going on here? To better understand Paul's statements, it's important to know four things about the context in which they were written.
- At that time, "slavery" in the Roman Empire was not always the equivalent of a cruel or oppressive situation. Included in the category of "bondservants" were all kinds of hired and indentured help, including domestic servants, estate managers, teachers, tutors, and even physicians.
- Slavery was an economic option for the poor. That is, if a person owed someone money and had no way to repay it, he could offer himself as an indentured servant to pay off his debt. When Paul wrote this, as much as one-third of those living in the Roman Empire found themselves in such circumstances. If all Christians just walked off the job, the whole economy would have collapsed, making a bad situation even worse.
- Leaving one's position as a slave would have been illegal. Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul exhorts believers to honor those in authority (Romans 13:1–3). This command is to be observed up until the point at which those in authority dishonor God. Is Paul now going to say it's okay to rebel against authorities?
- Paul deals with the issue of authority in a sequence of other relationships (Eph. 5:21–6:9). In such cases, he anchors his instructions in either creation ordinances (Gen. 1–2) or the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17). In his letter to Timothy, he provides no additional scriptural anchor for his instructions to slaves and masters, leading scholars to believe that Paul knew the institution of slavery would, and should, pass away.
