Mr. Barnes has referred to Vatalbus, Rabbi Solomon, Abenezra Joh. Casp.
Miégius, Constitutiones Servi Hebræi, Ugolin, Maimonides, Michaelis,
John’s Archæology, Selden de Uxore Hebraica, and some other books which
are not at hand, in support of his doctrine, and the points on which he
predicates it. We did not doubt the accuracy of these references and
quotations; but, page 149, we find the following in his book: “It would
appear from Josephus, that on the year of jubilee _all_ slaves were set
at liberty;” and he refers to “Antiquities,” vol. ii. chap. xii. sec. 3,
which, so far as it refers to slavery, reads thus: “Accordingly I enjoin
thee to make no more delays, but to make haste to Egypt, and to travel
night and day, and not to draw out the time, and to make the slavery of
the Hebrews and their sufferings to last the longer.”
We do not see how the passage warrants the assertion of Mr. Barnes, and
apprehended some mistake, such as a young lawyer, willing to appear very
learned, might make, by affixing to his brief a long list of
authorities, merely from an examination of his index.
But the sentence here quoted from Mr. Barnes, containing the proposition
that Josephus said, in his Antiquities, vol. ii. chap. xii sec. 3, that
all slaves were set at liberty in the year of jubilee, is consecutively
followed in his book, thus: “The fiftieth year is called by the Hebrews
the _jubilee_, wherein debtors are freed from their debts, and slaves
are set at liberty.” And this sentence is marked as quoted from
Josephus, and as though it was the exact passage to be found in the
place just before referred to. The fact is, this sentence is _nearly_ a
_part_ of what may be found in book iii. chap. xii. sec. 3 of
Antiquities, thus: “And that fiftieth year is called by the Hebrews the
jubilee wherein debtors are freed from their debts, and slaves are set
at liberty; which slaves became such, though they were of the same
stock, by transgressing some of those laws whose punishment was not
capital, but they were punished by this method of slavery.”
Suppose the mistake to be in the number of the book, still, does the
passage, as fully quoted, give any authority for the assertion of Mr.
Barnes? Thus the mind is led to inquire what credit is to be given to
these references?
But we hasten to give a few extracts illustrative of Mr. Barnes’s
thought and argument. He says, p. 126—
“Considering the universal prevalence of slavery when the gospel was
preached, it is not probable that any considerable number would be
found, who were masters and servants in the sense of a voluntary
servitude on the part of the latter.” He says—
Page 273: “The permanency of the institution (slavery) can derive no
support from what they (the apostles) said on the subject, and in no
manner depends on it.”
Page 300: “It is only the antagonistic fanaticism of a fragment of the
South, which maintains the doctrine that slavery is, in itself, a good
thing, and ought to be perpetuated. It cannot by possibility be
perpetuated.”
Page 301: “_The South, therefore, has to choose between emancipation, by
the silent and holy influence of the gospel, securing the elevation of
the slaves to the stature and character of freemen_, or to abide the
issue of a long continued conflict against the laws of God.”
Page 306: “And if a Christian master at the present time * * * should be
troubled in his conscience in regard to his right to hold slaves, there
is no part of the apostolic writings to which he could turn to allay his
feelings or calm his scruples.”
Page 311: “Now this undeniable fact, that the right of the master over
the person and services of the slave, is never recognised at all in the
New Testament.”
Page 312: “Whatever distinction of complexion there may be, it is the
doctrine of the Bible that all belong to one and the same great family,
and that, in the most important matters pertaining to their existence,
they are on a level.”
Page 315: “Up to the time when its truths (the gospel’s) were made
known, the great mass of mankind had no scruples about its propriety;
they regarded one portion of the race as inferior to the other, and as
born to be slaves. Christianity disclosed the great truth that all men
were on a level; that all were equal.”
Page 317: “If a man should in fact render to his slaves ‘that which is
just and equal;’ would he not restore them to freedom? Would any thing
short of this be _all_ that is just and equal?”
Page 322: “No man has a right to _assume_ that when the word δοῦλος,
_doulos_, occurs in the New Testament, it means a _slave_.”
Page 331: “No argument in favour of slavery can be derived from the
injunctions addressed by the apostles to the slaves themselves.”
Page 340: “From the arguments thus far presented in regard to the
relations of Christianity to slavery, it seems fair to draw the
conclusion, that the Christian religion lends no _sanction_ to slavery.”
Page 341: “The Saviour and his apostles inculcated such views of man as
_amount_ to a prohibition of slavery.” Page 345: “He (Jesus Christ) was
not a Jew, except by the accident of his birth, but he was a _man_; in
his human form there was as distinct a relation to the African * * * as
there was to the Caucasian.”
We have understood that one popular clergyman at the North (an
abolitionist) has gone so far as to say that Jesus Christ was a _negro_!
To what folly and extravagance will not wickedness subject its slaves!
Mr. Barnes says, page 375—“These considerations seem to me to be
conclusive proof that Christianity was _not_ designed to extend and
perpetuate slavery; but that the spirit of the Christian religion would
remove it from the world, _because it is an evil, and displeasing to
God_.”
To all of which, worthy of answer, it may be well to apply the sentiment
which he attributes to Dr. Fuller, that the New Testament is not silent
on the subject of slavery; that it recognises the relation; that it
commands slaves to obey their masters, and gives reasons why they should
do so. And it may be steadily affirmed, if slavery be a sin, that such
commands and counsels are not only a _suppressio veri_, but a _suggestio
falsi_; not only a suppression of the truth, but a suggestion of what is
false!
* * * * *
If it shall be said that God merely sanctioned or permitted slavery in
the time of the patriarchs, who will say that he did not enjoin it in
the time of Moses? A repeal of this injunction demanded a countervailing
revelation of no equivocal character, clear and decided, without the
admission of a doubt.
“And God spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, * * * But thy bond-men
and bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are
round about you; of them shall ye buy bond-men and bond-maids. Moreover,
of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them
shall ye buy and of their families, which they beget in your land; and
they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance,
for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession: they
shall be your bond-men for ever.” _Lev._ xxv. 1, 44, 45, 46.
Mr. Barnes has adduced no proof that this law was ever repealed; nor do
the holy books contain any evidence of such repeal; yet he has denied
the existence of slavery in Judea, at the time of the advent of the
Saviour. See pp. 228, 242, 244, and 249, before quoted, and, we trust,
sufficiently refuted. But we now add, that at the time Jesus Christ and
his apostles were on the earth, Judea was a province of Rome. Now, since
it was clear that slavery was inculcated by the Hebrew laws, unless it
was forbidden by the Roman, we could not come to the conclusion that
slavery did not exist in Judea at their time, even if Jesus Christ and
his apostles had never alluded to it.
But,—see _Matt._ xxvi. 51: “Behold, one of them which were with Jesus
stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant
(δοῦλον, _doulon_, _slave_) of the high-priest,” then some suitable but
different word would have been used, as in the following: “And the
servants (δοῦλοι, _douloi_, _slaves_) and officers (ἱπηρέται,
_hupēretai_, _attendants_, _persons who aid_, _assistants_) stood
there,” _John_ xviii. 18; proving the fact that both slaves and other
attendants were present, and that the _slave_ was named distinctly from
such other attendants. There can be no doubt about these facts; and in
proof that slavery was not forbidden by the Roman laws, we quote from
Mr. Barnes, page 251: “In Italy, it was computed that there were three
slaves to one freeman; and in this part of the empire alone, their
numbers amounted to more than twenty millions.”
Page 252: * * * “The number of slaves could not have been less than
sixty millions in the Roman Empire, at about the time the apostles went
forth to preach the gospel.”
Page 254: * * * “The following places are mentioned, either as _emporia_
for slaves or countries from which they were procured: Delos, Phrygia,
and Cappadocia, Panticapæum, Diascurias, and Phanagoria on the Euxine or
Black Sea; Alexandria and Cadiz; Corsica, Sardinia, and Britain; Africa
and Thrace.”
And does it astonish us that in these dark ages of human degradation,
Britain helped to supply Rome with slaves? It should be remembered that
conquest gave the right in ancient days to enslave all barbarous and
deeply degraded nations; and it might be inquired whether such principle
was not alluded to by the prophet: “Shall the prey be taken from the
mighty, or the lawful captive delivered.” _Isa._ xlix. 24. History will
inform us that all these nations were of the lowest order. St. Jerome,
in his writings against Jovinian, informs us what were the morals of
Britain. He says—“Why should I refer to other nations, when I myself,
when a youth in Gaul, have seen the Atticotti, a British tribe, eating
human flesh? Should they find shepherds tending their herds of swine or
cattle, and flocks of sheep in the woods, they are wont to cut off the
fleshy parts of the men, and the breasts of the women, which are
esteemed the most delicious food.”
Who then is to say that Britain is not now indebted for her high state
of intellectual improvement to the pike, bludgeon, and sword of the
Roman, Dane, Saxon, and Norman? And can we say that the hand of God was
not in this? The same providences and principles that have ever applied
to degraded Africa apply to all degraded nations, and even to individual
men. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (δοῦλος, _doulos_,
_slave_) of sin.”
And it may be said that nations and individuals thus enslave themselves.
“Behold, for your iniquities ye have sold yourselves.” _Isa._ l. 1.
These principles may be seen every day operating among the most degraded
of even the most enlightened nations. The history of the present day
informs us of the deep degradation of the African tribes; and that even
in their own country the great mass are slaves. Consistently with the
laws of God, they could not be otherwise; and even slavery among
themselves, subject to sacrifice and death as we have seen it, is yet
better for them than a state of freedom. We have seen how the free
hordes roam like the brutes, making that place home where night overtook
them. Suppose such to be cannibals, of which we have proof, it might so
happen, that, in one day, one half of their number would be destroyed by
themselves. Therefore, as distressing as slavery must be among them, yet
it is far preferable to their dejected condition of freedom.
We know of no one who pretends to believe that the masses of the African
tribes have increased in number since the commencement of our era;
whereas, a few scattering individuals, brought into slavery, within the
last few generations, in these States, have increased to near four
millions; nearly one-twelfth of the number of the entire population of
Africa. However wicked may be the Christian master, how much more is
slavery to be desired by the negro than any condition among these pagan
hordes! We, therefore, do not deem it presumptuous to say, that so
degraded is the condition of the African in his own land, that it has
been elevated in proportion as it has been affected by the slave-trade,
and more especially with Christian nations. The first tendencies towards
civilization, and whatever dawning of mental development there may be
now noticed among the African tribes, are traceable alone to that
source. And the Christian philosopher might well inquire whether, in the
providence of God, its existence, from the time of Noah to the present,
has not been the saving principle which has alone preserved the tribes
of Ham from the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other nations long
since wasted away.
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