June 17, 2001
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Based on the book The Bible Tells Me So ~ Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture
By Jim Hill and Rand Cheadle
There was a bumper sticker that appeared a couple of years ago. "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." That is a pretty clear statement. The problem is, what God said is not always clear. While this bumper sticker refers to the Bible, there is always disagreement about what the Bible says. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, in the midst of the civil rights effort, that, "The greatest blasphemy of the whole ugly process was that the white man ended up making God his partner in his exploitation of the Negro." What King was referring to in particular was one of the favorite passages of the slave holders in the south. The story of Noah in the Old Testament. Not the story of Noah and the Ark, but the story of Noah afterward. In the ninth chapter, remember, Noah got drunk. After a celebration he fell asleep in a drunken stupor, naked. One of his younger sons, Hamm, watched his father. Saw him sleeping naked. Showing disrespect, he went and told his brothers all about it. When the brothers came they showed more restraint. They hid their eyes and they covered up their father with a cloak. When Noah finally awoke and the brothers told him what Hamm had done, Noah was outraged. Instead of punishing Hamm, he punished his grandson, the fourth son of Hamm, Canaan, declaring him to be a servant of servants. A slave for the other two brothers. Now that is all the story there is in these seven short verses. But it developed from there. Even those who you might expect to have a different spin on the story ended up accepting that this curse on Canaan was a curse that was handed down to generation upon generation of black people. Here is an is an interpretation of the story shared by Gus "Jabbo" Rogers, a former slave:
"God gave religion to Adam. Took it away from Adam. Gave it to Noah. Noah had three sons. Noah got drunk on wine. One of his sons laughed at him, and the other two took a sheet, walked backwards and threw it over Noah. Noah told the one who laughed, 'Your children will be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the other two children, and they will be known by their hair, and their skin being dark.' There we are. That is the way God meant for us to be. We always have to follow the white folks and do what we saw them do, and that is all there is to it. You can't get away from what the Lord said."
There were many Christians who were involved in supporting the institution of slavery. The first ship bearing slaves bound for America landed in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 beginning what was to be called, "The Peculiar Institution of Slavery." In the late 18th Century, Rev. William Graham, rector and principal instructor at the Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia), annually lectured the senior class using the Bible as a critical defense of slavery. Graham said that the purpose of Christianity was not to change social institutions but instead to convert everyone, to provide salvation. Slavery was just another vehicle, another arena, in which you had the opportunity to save a soul.
Religious leaders used the Bible, not to challenge the masters, but instead to control the slaves, to forbid the slaves to revolt against their masters. In keeping with all of that, it was forbidden for the slaves to learn how to read, so they had no access to the rest of the scripture. No way to put this understanding of slavery into a larger context. Instead, they only heard the things their masters wanted to share with them about the appropriate Christian relationship between master and slave.
Christianity became not only a way to control the slaves, but a way to even increase the value of the slaves because it affirmed the right of masters to own slaves. In 1856, Rev. Thorton Stringfellow, a Baptist minister in Culpeper County, Virginia, made a very tight summation of the positions. He said, "Jesus Christ recognized this institution as one that was lawful among men, and also regulated its relative duties ... I affirm. then, first, (and no man denies), that Jesus Christ has not abolished slavery by a prohibitory command; and second, I affirm, he has introduced no new moral principles which can work its destruction..." He considered that to be an airtight argument. Supporting the morality, the legality of slavery.
It was during this period of time, coming up to the Civil War, that the Southern Baptist Convention, now the largest Protestant denomination in the county, grew out of the debate about slavery. In 1844, the Baptist General Convention resolved to allow its members and congregations to come to their own conclusions about slavery. Shortly after, there was a conflicting statement from the executive board: "If any missionary, having slaves, should insist on retaining them as his property, we could not appoint him. One thing is certain, we can never be a party to an arrangement which would imply approval of slavery." There were Baptists in the South which disagreed vehemently. In May 1845, 310 delegates from the Southern churches met in Augusta, Georgia, and organized the separate Southern Baptist Convention.
Frederick Douglass, spoke some words that sound like precursors to Martin Luther King's, when he said, "For all slave holders with whom I have ever met, religious slave holders are the worst. I have found them to be the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others. It was my unhappy lot to belong to a religious slave holder. He always managed to have one or more of his slaves to whipevery Monday morning." Worship on Sunday and bring the slaves into line on Monday.
It was not until 1995, 1995, that the Southern Baptist Convention formally apologized for its support of slavery, referring to it as an original sin; and for its opposition to the Civil Rights initiative of the 1950's and 1960's. Even at that, there are those who said the apologies were offered only because the Southern Baptists now wanted to recruit African Americans into the Baptist Church in the South.
What are these passages in the Jewish Testament that support slavery? From the Book of Exodus, Chapter 21:
21:1 "These are the ordinances that you shall set before them: 2 When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave declares, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person, 6 then his master shall bring him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life."
A little later in the Book of Exodus:
21:20 When a slave owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner's property.
From the Mosaic Law, the Jewish Testament, we have words over and again that affirmation of the right of an owner to own slaves. You might say, "That is the Hebrew Testament - the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? What about Jesus and his ministry. Surely there is more to say."
From Paul's Letter to the Colossians:
3:22 "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, 24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality."
Paul's words about, "Be a good slave so you can go to heaven" is a theme that is played out over and over again in spiritual hymns. Many of them are familiar ones that talk about the Jordan River.
Jordan's stream is wide and deep
Jesus stand on t'oder side
I Looked Over Jordan and what did I see
Coming for to carry me home.
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.
Oh. Jordan's riber am chilly an' cold
One more riber to cross,
But I got de glory in my soul.
One more riber to cross.
Deep River, my home is over Jordan
Deep River, I want to cross over into campground.
Swing low sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home
Swing low sweet chariot
Comin' for to carry me home
Now it is true that some of these spirituals also took on "this worldly" significance, becoming code for the Underground Railroad. A pathway north, away from slavery. A pathway to freedom.
But Paul had more to say:
2:18 "Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. 19 For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 20 If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his footsteps.
Now you know there is more to be said. From our history come the abolitionists, many of them rooted in Congregational Churches. They were active, not only in protesting slavery, but active also in that Underground Railroad helping escaped slaves to move north to Canada and freedom. We would like to lift up that part of our history and rejoice that we were on the right side of Justice. But it's not that clear-cut. While there were Congregationalists speaking out against slavery, therewere others who were silent on the issue, or who even supported the right of the southern slave holders. Lyman Beecher, who was one of our important Congregational ministers, spoke out eloquently against slavery when he was in a small congregation in Litchfield, Connecticut. But when he was called to a larger church in Boston he suddenly found it more comfortable to talk about temperance - the abolition of alcohol - instead of the abolition of slavery.
It was like that for many of the abolitionists. Some of them preferring to avoid controversy. Some of them choosing to focus on other ills in society. Sometimes working against each other, sometimes having energies were pulled in too many different directions.
Lyman's children, sons and a daughter, all were active in the cause. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, probably had the most impact when she wrote her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The book took what was an abstract issue of slavery for those who lived in the north and made it a real live issue, with real live people. When Uncle Tom's Cabin was published, there was suddenly a human face on slavery and the Congregationalists could no longer turn their backs on the sufferings of these fellow humans. They began to work to bring an end to slavery. They turned to scripture, again, for support.
From the Book of Exodus, 21st Chapter, in the same one that provided support for slave holders, are the words,
21:16 Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall be put to death," a strong implication that it was illegal to take and hold slaves.
From the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 23:
23:15 "Slaves who have escaped to you from their owners shall not be given back to them. 23:16 They shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose, in any one of your towns, wherever they please, and you shall not oppress them.
There were more statements that were general statement about how people were to treat one another. In the Book of Matthew, Chapter 7:
7:12 In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the law and the prophets.
In the Book of Romans, Chapter 13, Paul again refers to the words of Jesus:
13:9 These are the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet".- and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Later on in the Book of Galatians, Chapter 3, Paul spoke the words that are used as the basis of one of our hymns:
3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
The debates continued on. Frequently Christian claiming to be on the side of God when they supported slavery or segregation. A religious leader in South Carolina, James Tornwell, talked about the conflict in this way:
"The parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders - they are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans, Jacobins on the one side, and the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other. In one word, the world is the battleground - Christianity and atheism the combatants; and the progress of humanity at stake."
If it's not clear from his descriptions, it was the abolitionists who are the atheists, the socialists, the communists, and the slaveholders who are the true Christians.
When we look at this controversy and the support that has been found in the scriptures for the oppression of black people, it's not surprising that we find that we still have racism today. Many people will still turn to arguments like these in scripture to defend a view that would make white people superior and black people inferior. It is a challenge for us as people of faith to search the scriptures. To consider them prayerfully, so that we might understand what God is indeed saying to us in the scriptures.
"Jesus loves, me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." If Jesus loves us, if God loves us, how can we do anything but to love all other human beings. Thanks be to God. Amen