Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions

Front Cover
Fortress Press - 322 pages
In this exciting new analysis of slaves and slavery in the New Testament, Harrill breaks new ground with his extensive use of Greco-Roman evidence, discussion of hermeneutics, and treatment of the use of the New Testament in antebellum U.S. slavery debates. He examines in detail Philemon, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Luke-Acts, and the household codes.
 

Contents

The Slave Self
17
SpeechinCharacter and the Slave Persona
18
The Slave as Automaton and the Art of Authority
21
Romans 7 and the Slave Self
26
Conclusion
30
The Slave Body
35
The Physiognomies of the Naturally Slavish Body
37
Invective and the Greek and Roman Rhetoric of Manhood
45
Slave Dealers and Sexual Immorality
129
Slave Dealers and Violation of Holiness
133
Slave Dealers and Violation of Jewish Law
136
10 and the Vice of Slave Dealers
139
The Domestic Enemy
145
A Case of Mastercide
147
Slave Autopsy in Early Christian Apology
153
The Slave Body as Spectacle in Early Christian Martyrdom
157

CynicSocratic Apologia and Paul at War
53
Conclusion
56
The Comedy of Slavery in Story and Parable
59
18
66
Conclusion
83
Subordinate to Another
85
Colossians and Ephesians the Epistle of Barnabas the Didache and the Doctrina Apostolorum
87
The Ancient Handbook Tradition
97
Justice Accountability and Piety
103
Early Christian Household Codes as Handbooks
113
Conclusion
116
The Vice of the Slave Trader
119
Lawlessness of Slave Dealers in Acquiring Merchandise
124
Untrustworthiness of Slave Dealers in Selling Merchandise
125
Conclusion
162
The Use of the New Testament in the American Slave Controversy
165
AntislaveryAbolitionist Theology and Exegesis
166
The Voices of African Americans
177
Proslavery Theology and Exegesis
180
Conclusion
191
Epilogue
193
Abbriviation
197
Notes
201
Works Cited
271
Index of Names and Subjects
313
Index of Biblical and Other Ancient Sources
316
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 19 - For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
Page 28 - We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
Page 14 - Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Page 25 - Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

About the author

J. Albert Harrill is Professor of History and Classics at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Paul the Apostle: His Life and Legacy in Their Roman Context (Cambridge, 2012), Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions (Fortress Press, 2006) and The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity (Tübingen, 1995). He has also contributed to numerous reference works on the Bible and Christianity, and his articles have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Early Christian Studies, Journal of Biblical Literature, New Testament Studies, Novum Testamentum, and Religion and American Culture.

Bibliographic information