It is pivotal for us to understand that slaves received quite a different view of religion from their masters. Yes, the Bible does sanction slavery in the Old and New Testaments. Out of the Old Testament, Black people were told they were the cursed children of Ham. This is found in Genesis 9:22. Europeans believed and taught that the blackness of African skin was a physical manifestation of their sinful natures. Once enslaved, slaves were taught rigorously from the New Testament Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22. These were the things they heard in church with their masters. But at night, the slaves would steal away deep into the woods and have their own service. For just as the masters found justification in the Bible for enslavement, the slaves found examples of God freeing people from enslavement and the argument for freedom in a Pauline letter, Philemon. In this spirit of Christian defiance, the "invisible institution" was formed.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:57:17 +0000
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