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Mar 15, 2021Liked by Isaac T. Soon

Your post raises some interesting and valid points, but it is somewhat concerning to think how it might serve as fodder for proponents of the "cancel culture" who would like to see the Bible knocked off its pedestal as a key formative text for much of modern civilisation.

In view of that risk, might you have offered a more nuanced summary of NT positions on slavery? You simply say that "such texts" as the New Testament "endorsed the slavery of the time." Why not at least make reference to Gal. 3:28 and Col. 3:11? To Paul's frequent self-reference as a slave of Christ, to 1 Peter's likening of a mistreated slave's suffering to that of Christ himself? Perhaps most of all, that Christ himself had been executed via a method associated with the subjugation of slaves, and that rather than covering this up, the NT lifts it up as a taunt against the dominant culture of the day? To call this simply "endorsement" of slavery lacks nuance, IMHO. This lack of nuance then informs how the reader perceives the questions at the end of #1. (What is meant by scripture-borne-out-of-oppression, for instance? Does it refer to scripture produced in the context of an oppressive society? Or does it imply that the production of scripture was itself experienced as oppressive by enslaved persons who may have been involved in it?)

Nevertheless, the likelihood of involvement of enslaved persons in composition of the NT is a point worth pursuing, and I particularly like your questions 2) and 3). It is heartening to reflect that enslaved persons left a profound legacy in early Christianity, and I'm all for acknowledging their contributions. Thanks for the thought-provoking article.

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Mar 19, 2021Liked by Isaac T. Soon

Thanks for the insight and for sharing such an interesting topic. Sounds like something we will be talking more about in the near future. It may very well be the conversation that needs to be had.

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