Slavery and religion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The issue of religion and slavery is an area of historical and theological research into the relationship between the world's major religions and the practice of slavery.
| Slavery | |
| Period and context | |
|
Slavery in antiquity |
|
| Related | |
|
List of slaves |
|
| Other | |
|
Category:Slavery |
Contents |
[edit] Slavery in the Bible
According to historian Bernard Lewis, both the Old and the New Testaments recognize and accept the institution of slavery, and insist on humane treatment and the basic humanity of the slave. [1]
[edit] Judaism
 |
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
The Bible, by and large, does not address the issue of the morality of the institution of slavery. It several times sets rules concerning slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46; Exodus 21:7-11), while at the same time forbidding one to return a runaway slave (Deuteronomy 23:16-17). There are many other limits to slavery. For example, Hebrew slaves must be freed after six years of servitude (Exodus 21:2). Masters also do not have complete control over the lives of their slaves. If a master beat his slave so severely that the slave is killed immediately, the master is to be punished (contrary to widespread practice elsewhere and even much later that masters have complete control over the lives of their slaves). If the master had beat the slave but had no intent on killing him/her, the master can go unpunished (Exodus 21:21). Ancient Israel during the time of the Old Testament was certainly not as slave-dominated as later societies such as Ancient Rome.
[edit] Christianity
The New Testament admonishes slaves to obey their masters (1 Peter 2:18; Ephesians 6:5-8; Titus 2:9-10; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1), and the prophets and apostles urged kindness to slaves, mainly because Christianity did not aim to stir a social revolution. Modern Protestant churches have differently interpreted these passages to be either anti- or pro-slavery, with some regarding these passages to consist of the Bible reporting existing social customs and laws, rather than a moral endorsement of the institution of slavery.
In regards to the Catholic Church, the early Church partially tolerated slavery. In The City of God, Book XIX, chapter 15, St. Augustine affirmed that "for it is with justice, we believe, that the condition of slavery is the result of sin." [2] Slavery was integrated into the official Corpus Iuris Canonici, upon the Decretum Gratiani. This became official Church law since Pope Gregory IX who reigned as Pope from 1227 to 1241. In 1454, Pope Nicholas V authorized the King of Portugal to enslave all the Saracen and pagan people his armies could capture. The position of the Church became more firmly anti-slavery in later years. In 1462 Pope Pius II declared slavery to be "a great crime" (magnum scelus). In 1537, Pope Paul III forbade the enslavement of the Indians, while Pope Urban VIII forbade it in 1639, and Pope Benedict XIV in 1741. Pope Pius VII in 1815 demanded that the Congress of Vienna suppress the slave trade, and Pope Gregory XVI condemned it in 1839. In the Bull of Canonization of the St. Peter Claver, Pope Pius IX branded the "supreme villainy" (summum nefas) of the slave traders. Pope Leo XIII, in 1888, addressed an encyclical to the Brazilian bishops, In Plurimism [3] (On the Abolition of Slavery), exhorting them to banish the remnants of slavery from their country.
[edit] Islam
In certain circumstances, Islam allows for slavery. Such slaves may be able to purchase or acquire their freedom in various ways. The slavery endorsed by the Qur'an limited the source of slaves to those captured in war and those born of a slave.
The Qur'an provides for emancipation of a slave as a means (or in one case, a requirement of) demonstrating remorse for the commission of certain sins. Proclamations of emancipation and repudiations of participation in slave trafficking did not occur in Muslim lands until after the Christian-European Colonial era - as late as 1962 in Saudi Arabia, 1970 in Oman and Yemen, and 1981 in Mauritania.
Islamic slavery in the fashion of recrudescent jihad slavery (in Sudan) and multigenerational hereditary slavery (in Mauritania) is still evident today. In Chad, child enslavement with the aspect of forced conversion to Islam has been documented.
[edit] Hinduism
In Hinduism, the caste system is analogous to apartheid rather than slavery. Nevertheless, in Hinduism the conditions of the lower castes is comparable to slaves in some ways as in low inherited status, exploitation for labour, while distinct in others as in ownership - low castes were still free human beings. Hindus and scholars debate whether the caste system is an integral part of Hinduism sanctioned by the scriptures or an outdated social custom.[4][5] The most ancient scriptures place little importance on caste and indicate social mobility (Rig Veda 9.112.3), while later scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita and Manusmriti state that the four varnas are created by God, implying immutability. Manusmriti, (dated between 200 BCE and 100 CE), contains laws that codified the caste system, reducing the flexibility of social mobility and excluding the untouchables from society, yet this system was originally non-heritable (Manu Smriti X:65). It is uncertain when the caste system become heritable and akin to slavery. Discrimination based on caste, including untouchability against the so-called low castes, was criminalized in India upon independence by the Indian Constitution.
[edit] Buddhism
[edit] References
- ^ Lewis 1994, Ch.1
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120119.htm
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_le13ip.htm
- ^ Alex Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present 188-97 (Princeton 2004) ISBN 0-691-08953-1
- ^ Caste System View of Scholars
