CHRISTIANITY AND SLAVERY.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 28, 24 September 1920, Page 6

CHRISTIANITY AND SLAVERY.

JOHN.

Groper. — You are a funny old fish. You talk of your disinclination to take me seriously and then write nearly two columns in reply to me. You make a number of unverifiable assertions, and are quite evidently trying to squelch me with a woight- of words. I thank you for heading it all Hotch Potch! No! my dear Groper, I am not in the least chagrined, only amused. I am enjoying it immensely. You have had your fly} but now, I must bring you back to earth. It is not a question of whether 1 swallow McCabe or McCabe swallows me, or whether antiChristian literature blinds a man to the beautiful, or whether our best men have been Christians, all of which questions I will be ready to debate with you in good time. The question at present is whether unbelief or Christianity was the more pott£nt factor in'the abolition of slavery. 1 have already quoted a text, Leviticus 25th, Verves 45 and 46: "Moreover, of the children that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families. . and ye shall take them for an inheritanee and your children after you. They shall he your bondsmen for ever." For ever is a long time, Groper. I have challenged you to quote a text from the Bible which annuls that. It is no use to teil me that fche Bible tells us to "Love one another." If the Bible is inconsistent that is Christians' lookout, not mine. You have not explained why, if the spirit of the Bible condemns slavery, it was such an extraordinary long time having effect, and why the Christians dealt in human flesh and blood all through the centuries for over a thousand years. I am not in the least annoyed, Groper, that you should diffex from me, but my idea is that wr have progxessed, not only with regard to the abolition of slavery, but in other ways, In proportion to our unbelief and it was only when the nations had advanced lar enough to question the infallibility of the whole of the Bible that we began to work towards a higher humanity by the abolition of persecution, trial for witchcraft, slavery, etc. Free thought and unbelief are of various grades, there are many unbelievers In the churches. The Bible, until very recently, was regarded as inspired and no one dared to question. The ministerg you quote (and I take off my hat to

them) dared to question at W quoted. They were unbelief T * extent, they were more human A ^ creed. Even Luther unwittindJ T thelt the thin end of the rationlftic^ 1* when he rejected the epistle of t ^ ' IL. Bible i. inspired, It " through. Once admit the 5t f ^ ^ vidual judgment and you are in u m t° rationalism. The qnotation y0l! ^ from the "Encyclopedia Brittanica" 8? , says Christianity "still . onlJ the condition of the slaves." But 2 : says in his "History of European l\mjl \ page 27, Yol. 11, "For ahout i ared years after the conversion oi stantine, the progress was extrJ^j slight. The Christian emperors in A? ' 3i9 and 326, adverted in two elaborafe ? laws to the murder of slaves, but beyond reiterating in very emphatic ternis' th previous enactments it is not easy ^ * in what way they improved the ccmdiZ = of their class "One of the enactments pro vided that Tf a slave died under : ment not intended to kill him, the masu should b.e blameless. How about the spiril of the Bihle here? There must be so®« reason for what you take to be the spirit taking so long to work. A thousand year, is a long time, Groper. In conclusion ]e( me presume to advise you, when you K, ply again, get down off that high ^ tal. You appear to be away up in th« clouds, and you cannot see clearly through clouds. Do not try and obscure the ieshs by throwing dust. Try to be cairn and de not impute wrong reasons for other peo. ples actions (intelligent men know you ar« only guessing), and above all liave less conceit in yourself, do not imagine ynj have studied the right authorities, and everybody el&e the wrong ones. It is pos. sible to come to different conclusions even studying the same authorities. Eemembei that the evils of slavery according to history (which I can quote if mecessary) last. ed well into the seventeenth century) last. slaves were trafficked in and ill-treated by Christians at that time. Many other evils were also prolonged because we wer« not allowed to read the Bible as we read other hooks. Had this been possible, n should have admired its beauties and treasured its worthy thoughts, without being called upon to bolster up those paris which are otherwise. Let us be thankful we are living in a later age when "The charm dissolves apace, And as the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness, So their rising senses Begin to chase the "gnorant fumes That mantle their clearer reason.- i ua,

etc.,