The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity

The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity

Author: James Albert Harrill

Publisher: J.C.B. Mohr (P. Siebeck)

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity by : James Albert Harrill

Download or read book The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity written by James Albert Harrill and published by J.C.B. Mohr (P. Siebeck). This book was released on 1995 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Slavery in Early Christianity

Slavery in Early Christianity

Author: Jennifer A. Glancy

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2002-03-14

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0198031130

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Slavery was widespread throughout the Mediterranean lands where Christianity was born and developed. Though Christians were both slaves and slaveholders, there has been surprisingly little study of what early Christians thought about the realities of slavery. How did they reconcile slavery with the Gospel teachings of brotherhood and charity? Slaves were considered the sexual property of their owners: what was the status within the Church of enslaved women and young male slaves who were their owners' sexual playthings? Is there any reason to believe that Christians shied away from the use of corporal punishments so common among ancient slave owners? Jennifer A. Glancy brings a multilayered approach to these and many other issues, offering a comprehensive re-examination of the evidence pertaining to slavery in early Christianity. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Glancy situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. She argues that scholars have consistently underestimated the pervasive impact of slavery on the institutional structures, ideologies, and practices of the early churches and of individual Christians. The churches, she shows, grew to maturity with the assumption that slaveholding was the norm, and welcomed both slaves and slaveholders as members. Glancy draws attention to the importance of the body in the thought and practice of ancient slavery. To be a slave was to be a body subject to coercion and violation, with no rights to corporeal integrity or privacy. Even early Christians who held that true slavery was spiritual in nature relied, ultimately, on bodily metaphors to express this. Slavery, Glancy demonstrates, was an essential feature of both the physical and metaphysical worlds of early Christianity. The first book devoted to the early Christian ideology and practice of slavery, this work sheds new light on the world of the ancient Mediterranean and on the development of the early Church.


Book Synopsis Slavery in Early Christianity by : Jennifer A. Glancy

Download or read book Slavery in Early Christianity written by Jennifer A. Glancy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-03-14 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Slavery was widespread throughout the Mediterranean lands where Christianity was born and developed. Though Christians were both slaves and slaveholders, there has been surprisingly little study of what early Christians thought about the realities of slavery. How did they reconcile slavery with the Gospel teachings of brotherhood and charity? Slaves were considered the sexual property of their owners: what was the status within the Church of enslaved women and young male slaves who were their owners' sexual playthings? Is there any reason to believe that Christians shied away from the use of corporal punishments so common among ancient slave owners? Jennifer A. Glancy brings a multilayered approach to these and many other issues, offering a comprehensive re-examination of the evidence pertaining to slavery in early Christianity. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Glancy situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. She argues that scholars have consistently underestimated the pervasive impact of slavery on the institutional structures, ideologies, and practices of the early churches and of individual Christians. The churches, she shows, grew to maturity with the assumption that slaveholding was the norm, and welcomed both slaves and slaveholders as members. Glancy draws attention to the importance of the body in the thought and practice of ancient slavery. To be a slave was to be a body subject to coercion and violation, with no rights to corporeal integrity or privacy. Even early Christians who held that true slavery was spiritual in nature relied, ultimately, on bodily metaphors to express this. Slavery, Glancy demonstrates, was an essential feature of both the physical and metaphysical worlds of early Christianity. The first book devoted to the early Christian ideology and practice of slavery, this work sheds new light on the world of the ancient Mediterranean and on the development of the early Church.


Slavery in Early Christianity

Slavery in Early Christianity

Author: Jennifer A Glancy

Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers

Published: 2024-03-12

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13:

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A classic work that exposed the centrality of enslaved people and slaveholders in early Christian circles. In this expanded edition, the distinguished scholar Jennifer A. Glancy reflects upon recent discoveries and future trajectories related to the study of ancient slavery's impact on Christianity's development. What if the stories traditionally told about slavery, as something peripheral or contradictory to Christianity's emergence, are wrong? This book contends that some of the most cherished Christian texts from Jesus and the apostle Paul prioritized the perspectives of slaveholders. Jennifer A. Glancy highlights how the strong metaphorical uses of slavery in early Christian discourse can't be disconnected from the reality of enslaved people and their bodies. Deftly maneuvering among biblical texts, material evidence, and the literary and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world, she situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. Glancy's penetrating study into slavery's impact on early Christianity, from the pages of the New Testament to the branded collars used by Christians who held people in bondage, will be of interest to those asking questions about slavery, power, and freedom in the long arc of history.


Book Synopsis Slavery in Early Christianity by : Jennifer A Glancy

Download or read book Slavery in Early Christianity written by Jennifer A Glancy and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. This book was released on 2024-03-12 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic work that exposed the centrality of enslaved people and slaveholders in early Christian circles. In this expanded edition, the distinguished scholar Jennifer A. Glancy reflects upon recent discoveries and future trajectories related to the study of ancient slavery's impact on Christianity's development. What if the stories traditionally told about slavery, as something peripheral or contradictory to Christianity's emergence, are wrong? This book contends that some of the most cherished Christian texts from Jesus and the apostle Paul prioritized the perspectives of slaveholders. Jennifer A. Glancy highlights how the strong metaphorical uses of slavery in early Christian discourse can't be disconnected from the reality of enslaved people and their bodies. Deftly maneuvering among biblical texts, material evidence, and the literary and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world, she situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. Glancy's penetrating study into slavery's impact on early Christianity, from the pages of the New Testament to the branded collars used by Christians who held people in bondage, will be of interest to those asking questions about slavery, power, and freedom in the long arc of history.


Slavery as Moral Problem

Slavery as Moral Problem

Author: Jennifer A. Glancy

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published:

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 145141093X

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The fact that some early Christians were slaves does not present a moral problem for Christians today. The fact that some early Christians were slaveholders does. Jennifer Glancy tackles questions that continue to haunt contemporary men and women, inside and outside of the churches: Why didn't Jesus speak out forcefully against slavery? Why didn't the early church see slavery as fundamentally incompatible with the gospel? Were there any bright moments when some Christians in fact drew that conclusion, and why don't we know more about them? Why didn't Christianity have more of an impact on slaveholding in the Roman Empire? And what lessons can we learn as we face moral catastrophes in our own day?


Book Synopsis Slavery as Moral Problem by : Jennifer A. Glancy

Download or read book Slavery as Moral Problem written by Jennifer A. Glancy and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fact that some early Christians were slaves does not present a moral problem for Christians today. The fact that some early Christians were slaveholders does. Jennifer Glancy tackles questions that continue to haunt contemporary men and women, inside and outside of the churches: Why didn't Jesus speak out forcefully against slavery? Why didn't the early church see slavery as fundamentally incompatible with the gospel? Were there any bright moments when some Christians in fact drew that conclusion, and why don't we know more about them? Why didn't Christianity have more of an impact on slaveholding in the Roman Empire? And what lessons can we learn as we face moral catastrophes in our own day?


The Slaves of the Churches

The Slaves of the Churches

Author: Mary E. Sommar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-08-26

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0190073284

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In recent years, stories of religious universities and institutions grappling with their slave-owning past have made headlines in the news. People find it shocking that the Church itself could have been involved in such a sordid business. This timely book, the result of many years of research, is a study of the origins of this problem. Mary E. Sommar examines how the church sought to establish norms for slave ownership on the part of ecclesiastical institutions and personnel, and for others' behavior towards such slaves. The story begins in the New Testament era, when the earliest Christian norms were established, and continues up to thirteenth-century establishment of a body of canon law that would persist into the twentieth century. Along with her analysis of the various policies and statutes, Sommar draws on chronicles, letters, and other documents from each of the various historical periods to provide insight into the situations of unfree ecclesiastical dependents. She finds that unfree dependents of the Church actually had less chance of achieving freedom than did the slaves of other masters. The church authorities' duty to preserve the Church's patrimony for the needs of future generations led them to hold on tightly to their unfree human resources. This accessibly written book does not present an apology for the behavior of past Christian leaders, but attempts to learn what they did and to arrive at some understanding of why they made those choices.


Book Synopsis The Slaves of the Churches by : Mary E. Sommar

Download or read book The Slaves of the Churches written by Mary E. Sommar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-26 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, stories of religious universities and institutions grappling with their slave-owning past have made headlines in the news. People find it shocking that the Church itself could have been involved in such a sordid business. This timely book, the result of many years of research, is a study of the origins of this problem. Mary E. Sommar examines how the church sought to establish norms for slave ownership on the part of ecclesiastical institutions and personnel, and for others' behavior towards such slaves. The story begins in the New Testament era, when the earliest Christian norms were established, and continues up to thirteenth-century establishment of a body of canon law that would persist into the twentieth century. Along with her analysis of the various policies and statutes, Sommar draws on chronicles, letters, and other documents from each of the various historical periods to provide insight into the situations of unfree ecclesiastical dependents. She finds that unfree dependents of the Church actually had less chance of achieving freedom than did the slaves of other masters. The church authorities' duty to preserve the Church's patrimony for the needs of future generations led them to hold on tightly to their unfree human resources. This accessibly written book does not present an apology for the behavior of past Christian leaders, but attempts to learn what they did and to arrive at some understanding of why they made those choices.


Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity

Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity

Author: Katherine Ann Shaner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0190275065

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Slaves were ubiquitous in the first- and second-century CE Roman Empire, and early Christian texts reflect this fact. This book argues that enslaved persons engaged in leadership roles in civic and religious activities. Such roles created tension within religious groups, including second-century communities connected with Paul's legacy. -


Book Synopsis Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity by : Katherine Ann Shaner

Download or read book Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity written by Katherine Ann Shaner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Slaves were ubiquitous in the first- and second-century CE Roman Empire, and early Christian texts reflect this fact. This book argues that enslaved persons engaged in leadership roles in civic and religious activities. Such roles created tension within religious groups, including second-century communities connected with Paul's legacy. -


Christian Slavery

Christian Slavery

Author: Katharine Gerbner

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2018-02-07

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0812294904

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Could slaves become Christian? If so, did their conversion lead to freedom? If not, then how could perpetual enslavement be justified? In Christian Slavery, Katharine Gerbner contends that religion was fundamental to the development of both slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world. Slave owners in the Caribbean and elsewhere established governments and legal codes based on an ideology of "Protestant Supremacy," which excluded the majority of enslaved men and women from Christian communities. For slaveholders, Christianity was a sign of freedom, and most believed that slaves should not be eligible for conversion. When Protestant missionaries arrived in the plantation colonies intending to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity in the 1670s, they were appalled that most slave owners rejected the prospect of slave conversion. Slaveholders regularly attacked missionaries, both verbally and physically, and blamed the evangelizing newcomers for slave rebellions. In response, Quaker, Anglican, and Moravian missionaries articulated a vision of "Christian Slavery," arguing that Christianity would make slaves hardworking and loyal. Over time, missionaries increasingly used the language of race to support their arguments for slave conversion. Enslaved Christians, meanwhile, developed an alternate vision of Protestantism that linked religious conversion to literacy and freedom. Christian Slavery shows how the contentions between slave owners, enslaved people, and missionaries transformed the practice of Protestantism and the language of race in the early modern Atlantic world.


Book Synopsis Christian Slavery by : Katharine Gerbner

Download or read book Christian Slavery written by Katharine Gerbner and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2018-02-07 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could slaves become Christian? If so, did their conversion lead to freedom? If not, then how could perpetual enslavement be justified? In Christian Slavery, Katharine Gerbner contends that religion was fundamental to the development of both slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world. Slave owners in the Caribbean and elsewhere established governments and legal codes based on an ideology of "Protestant Supremacy," which excluded the majority of enslaved men and women from Christian communities. For slaveholders, Christianity was a sign of freedom, and most believed that slaves should not be eligible for conversion. When Protestant missionaries arrived in the plantation colonies intending to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity in the 1670s, they were appalled that most slave owners rejected the prospect of slave conversion. Slaveholders regularly attacked missionaries, both verbally and physically, and blamed the evangelizing newcomers for slave rebellions. In response, Quaker, Anglican, and Moravian missionaries articulated a vision of "Christian Slavery," arguing that Christianity would make slaves hardworking and loyal. Over time, missionaries increasingly used the language of race to support their arguments for slave conversion. Enslaved Christians, meanwhile, developed an alternate vision of Protestantism that linked religious conversion to literacy and freedom. Christian Slavery shows how the contentions between slave owners, enslaved people, and missionaries transformed the practice of Protestantism and the language of race in the early modern Atlantic world.


The Jewish Manumission Inscriptions of the Bosporus Kingdom

The Jewish Manumission Inscriptions of the Bosporus Kingdom

Author: Elizabeth Leigh Gibson

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9783161470417

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E. Leigh Gibson analyses a little-known group of Greek inscriptions that record the manumission of slaves in synagogues located on the hellenized north shore of the Black Sea in the first three centuries of the common era. Through a comparison of this corpus with manumission inscriptions from elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world and an analysis of Greco-Roman Judaism's own interaction with slavery, she assesses the degree to which the Black Sea Jewish community adopted classical traditions of manumissions. In so doing, she tests the often-repeated assumption that these Jewish communities developed idiosyncratic slave practices under the influence of biblical injunctions regarding Israelite ownership of slaves. More generally, she reconsiders the extent of Jewish isolation from or interaction with Greco-Roman culture.Against the backdrop of Greek manumission inscriptions, the Jewish manumissions of the Bosporan Kingdom are unremarkable; they follow the basic outlines of Greek manumission formulae. A review of Greco-Roman Jewish sources demonstrates that biblical precepts on slaveholding were not implemented, even if they were still admired. One element of the manumissions, the ongoing obligation required of the slaves, is somewhat enigmatic and possibly indicates that the Bosporan Jewish community indeed had distinctive manumission practices. These obligations have been commonly interpreted as requiring the slave to participate in the religious life of the community as a condition of his manumission and possibly his concurrent conversion. A close analysis of the clause reveals a more straightforward interpretation: the obligation was a kind of paramone clause, a common feature of Greek manumission inscriptions.E. Leigh Gibson demonstrates that the Jews of this region incorporated Greek manumission practices into their communal life. The execution of private legal contract with the community of Jews as witness in turn suggests that the wider Bosporan community extended respect and recognition to its local Jewish community.


Book Synopsis The Jewish Manumission Inscriptions of the Bosporus Kingdom by : Elizabeth Leigh Gibson

Download or read book The Jewish Manumission Inscriptions of the Bosporus Kingdom written by Elizabeth Leigh Gibson and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 1999 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: E. Leigh Gibson analyses a little-known group of Greek inscriptions that record the manumission of slaves in synagogues located on the hellenized north shore of the Black Sea in the first three centuries of the common era. Through a comparison of this corpus with manumission inscriptions from elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world and an analysis of Greco-Roman Judaism's own interaction with slavery, she assesses the degree to which the Black Sea Jewish community adopted classical traditions of manumissions. In so doing, she tests the often-repeated assumption that these Jewish communities developed idiosyncratic slave practices under the influence of biblical injunctions regarding Israelite ownership of slaves. More generally, she reconsiders the extent of Jewish isolation from or interaction with Greco-Roman culture.Against the backdrop of Greek manumission inscriptions, the Jewish manumissions of the Bosporan Kingdom are unremarkable; they follow the basic outlines of Greek manumission formulae. A review of Greco-Roman Jewish sources demonstrates that biblical precepts on slaveholding were not implemented, even if they were still admired. One element of the manumissions, the ongoing obligation required of the slaves, is somewhat enigmatic and possibly indicates that the Bosporan Jewish community indeed had distinctive manumission practices. These obligations have been commonly interpreted as requiring the slave to participate in the religious life of the community as a condition of his manumission and possibly his concurrent conversion. A close analysis of the clause reveals a more straightforward interpretation: the obligation was a kind of paramone clause, a common feature of Greek manumission inscriptions.E. Leigh Gibson demonstrates that the Jews of this region incorporated Greek manumission practices into their communal life. The execution of private legal contract with the community of Jews as witness in turn suggests that the wider Bosporan community extended respect and recognition to its local Jewish community.


Slavery in Early Christianity

Slavery in Early Christianity

Author: Jennifer A. Glancy

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2024-03-12

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13:

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A classic work that exposed the centrality of enslaved people and slaveholders in early Christian circles. In this expanded edition, the distinguished scholar Jennifer A. Glancy reflects upon recent discoveries and future trajectories related to the study of ancient slavery's impact on Christianity's development. What if the stories traditionally told about slavery, as something peripheral or contradictory to Christianity's emergence, are wrong? This book contends that some of the most cherished Christian texts from Jesus and the apostle Paul prioritized the perspectives of slaveholders. Jennifer A. Glancy highlights how the strong metaphorical uses of slavery in early Christian discourse can't be disconnected from the reality of enslaved people and their bodies. Deftly maneuvering among biblical texts, material evidence, and the literary and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world, she situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. Glancy's penetrating study into slavery's impact on early Christianity, from the pages of the New Testament to the branded collars used by Christians who held people in bondage, will be of interest to those asking questions about slavery, power, and freedom in the long arc of history.


Book Synopsis Slavery in Early Christianity by : Jennifer A. Glancy

Download or read book Slavery in Early Christianity written by Jennifer A. Glancy and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2024-03-12 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic work that exposed the centrality of enslaved people and slaveholders in early Christian circles. In this expanded edition, the distinguished scholar Jennifer A. Glancy reflects upon recent discoveries and future trajectories related to the study of ancient slavery's impact on Christianity's development. What if the stories traditionally told about slavery, as something peripheral or contradictory to Christianity's emergence, are wrong? This book contends that some of the most cherished Christian texts from Jesus and the apostle Paul prioritized the perspectives of slaveholders. Jennifer A. Glancy highlights how the strong metaphorical uses of slavery in early Christian discourse can't be disconnected from the reality of enslaved people and their bodies. Deftly maneuvering among biblical texts, material evidence, and the literary and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world, she situates early Christian slavery in its broader cultural setting. Glancy's penetrating study into slavery's impact on early Christianity, from the pages of the New Testament to the branded collars used by Christians who held people in bondage, will be of interest to those asking questions about slavery, power, and freedom in the long arc of history.


Paul's Declaration of Freedom from a Freed Slave's Perspective

Paul's Declaration of Freedom from a Freed Slave's Perspective

Author: Robin G. Thompson

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-03-27

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 9004532617

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This project attempts to listen to voices that have seldom been heard. While others have explored Paul’s theology of Christian freedom, they have not considered how Paul’s declaration of freedom would have been received by those who most desired and valued freedom: the slaves and freedpersons in the Galatian churches. In this study, Robin Thompson explores both Greek and Roman manumission, considers how the ancient Mediterranean world conceived of freedom, and then examines the freedom declared in Galatians from a freed slaves’s perspective. She proposes that these freedpersons would likely have perceived this freedom to be not only spiritual freedom, but—at least in the Christian communities—individual freedom as well.


Book Synopsis Paul's Declaration of Freedom from a Freed Slave's Perspective by : Robin G. Thompson

Download or read book Paul's Declaration of Freedom from a Freed Slave's Perspective written by Robin G. Thompson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-03-27 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project attempts to listen to voices that have seldom been heard. While others have explored Paul’s theology of Christian freedom, they have not considered how Paul’s declaration of freedom would have been received by those who most desired and valued freedom: the slaves and freedpersons in the Galatian churches. In this study, Robin Thompson explores both Greek and Roman manumission, considers how the ancient Mediterranean world conceived of freedom, and then examines the freedom declared in Galatians from a freed slaves’s perspective. She proposes that these freedpersons would likely have perceived this freedom to be not only spiritual freedom, but—at least in the Christian communities—individual freedom as well.