Slavery in the early church · Sophia Scriptura

Slaves and masters, and their duties. Part of Ethics.

Didache 4.10Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Do not treat slaves harshly, since God is over both master and slave.
Didache 4.11Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Slaves are to obey their masters with reverence.
Epistle of Barnabas 19.7Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · Slaves respect masters; masters must not treat slaves harshly.
To Polycarp 4.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Slaves and masters should both avoid pride; slaves should seek God's freedom rather than church-funded release.
The Instructor 3.4.26Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · The rich keep crowds of slaves for every luxury: cooks, cupbearers, handsome boys, hairdressers, and eunuchs serving as procurers.
Against Heresies 4.30.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Israel took only a small wage for long, cruel slavery; the heretics who blame them carry Caesar’s coin earned by others’ labour.
Acts of Thomas 2Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · The Lord sells Thomas as a slave carpenter to Abbanes, the merchant of King Gundaphorus, and Thomas accepts.
Acts of Thomas 83Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas tells Mygdonia's bearers that the Lord's invitation is for them, that slaves and free alike are human, and that his command is not to do to others what we would not have done to ourselves.
Arabic Pentateuch fragment XXIIIHippolytus of Rome · unknown (transmitted in a medieval Arabic catena) · The catena summarizes laws of Deuteronomy on tithes, the seventh year, release of slaves and debts, firstborn, food, feasts, judges, sacrifices, and idolatry.
Against Marcion 2.20Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Marcionites accuse the Creator of theft for telling the Hebrews to take the Egyptians' gold and silver, but it was modest back pay for generations of unpaid slave labour and murdered children.
To Quirinus 3.72Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Slaves who become believers should serve their earthly masters even more faithfully, as serving Christ.
To Quirinus 3.73Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Masters must be gentle with their slaves, knowing they share one Lord in heaven.
To Demetrian 8Cyprian of Carthage · 252–253 · Pagans demand that nature serve them and harshly demand obedience from their slaves, yet they refuse to serve God, the Lord of all.
Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · A mistress who beats her slave woman to death does seven years' penance if it was intentional, five if accidental.
Divine Institutes 5.14.17Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Before God no one is slave or master.
Divine Institutes 5.15.3Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Slaves are brothers in spirit and fellow servants.
Preparation for the Gospel 8.12.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · They have no slaves, holding slavery unjust and contrary to nature.
Preparation for the Gospel 12.37.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Moses forbade enslaving Hebrews; Plato forbade enslaving Greeks.
Preparation for the Gospel 13.21.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Plato (Laws): a slave who fails to report found treasure is to be put to death.
Preparation for the Gospel 13.21.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Plato lets a master who kills his own slave go with purification.
Preparation for the Gospel 13.21.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Plato would flog a slave one lash for every grape or fig taken.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 59.3Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · Treat children and slaves as one wishes God to treat oneself.
Life of Constantine 4.27.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Jews were forbidden to own Christian slaves.
Canon 3Anonymous · ca. 340–360 · Anyone who teaches slaves to leave their masters on religious grounds is anathematized.
Long recension, Philadelphians 4Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges one faith and one Eucharist, sets out the unity of God, faith and church, and gives instructions to wives, virgins, children, slaves, husbands, fathers and masters, honouring both virginity and marriage.
Long recension, Polycarp 4Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius gives Polycarp instructions on widows, slaves, wives and husbands, celibacy and marriage, and urges the church to serve as God's soldiers under the bishop.
Long recension, Antiochians 10Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Instructions to masters and slaves, with the example of Job.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 74Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · This section holds Basil's rules 74–76: on widows, on slaves and masters, and on children and parents.
Letter 149Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory rebukes the noblewoman Simplicia, who praises his dead father but claims as her slave the man his father ordained bishop.
Oration 14.25Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · God gave the earth and the means of life to all in common; wealth, poverty, and slavery came later with sin, but in the beginning man was free and rich in paradise.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:20–21Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A slave called to faith should serve his master well and so become worthy of freedom, if it is offered.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Sin is true slavery; the believing slave is Christ's freedman and the free believer Christ's slave, which removes pride on both sides.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Christian slaves should honor their masters so that their faithful service may win the masters to the faith.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Slaves of Christian masters must serve them all the more, not despise them as brothers.
Commentary on Colossians 3:22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Slaves should serve sincerely, since faithfulness in small things prepares faithfulness toward God.
Commentary on Colossians 3:23–25Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Slaves who serve as to the Lord will be rewarded in Christ's kingdom as servants of Christ, a title of dignity.
Commentary on Colossians 4:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · God created all free; slavery arose from human injustice, and before God the true slave is the sinner, so masters, themselves God's servants, must treat slaves justly.
Commentary on Ephesians 6:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Christians, though their faith is supreme, must fulfil the duties of their station, so that masters and slaves alike are drawn to the faith.
Commentary on Ephesians 6:6–8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Slaves serve God when they serve their masters faithfully, awaiting God's reward, and their example can win their masters.
Commentary on Ephesians 6:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Masters must treat slaves as they would wish to be treated, since God their common Lord judges impartially.
Prologue to the Commentary on PhilemonAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The prologue explains that Paul writes to Philemon, a layman, asking him to receive back his slave Onesimus as a brother.
Commentary on Philemon 1:15–16Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Onesimus’s flight led to his conversion, so that he returns as Philemon’s brother, since all descend from Adam and faith removes pride.
Question 115, section 47Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Slavery did not exist from the beginning but began with war under Ninus, which shows it is not the work of the unchanging stars.
Letter 82.6Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome protests that John's letter is full of insults against him and answers John's charge that a former slave and informer had been ordained among Jerome's circle.
On the Holy Spirit 20.51Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · The claim that the Spirit is neither slave nor master but free fails: among men slavery is not by nature, but every creature serves God, so the Spirit is either a creature and a slave or above creation and a sharer in God's rule.
Apostolic Canon 82Anonymous · ca. 380 · Slaves may be ordained only with their masters' consent and freedom.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.12.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Slaves must serve even pagan masters with goodwill, but not share their religion.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.12.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Masters must love their servants and treat them fairly as fellow human beings.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.12.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A slave with a Christian master should love him as master, brother in faith and father.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.12.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A Christian master should love a believing slave as a son or brother.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.32.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A slave's admission depends on his master's testimony, if the master is a believer.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.32.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · A believing master who does not let his slaves marry is excommunicated.
Homily 4Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 379–394 · On Eccl 2:7–11 Gregory condemns the owning of slaves as arrogance against God, since every human being bears God’s image and was made to rule only over irrational creatures, then attacks love of money and lending at interest, and the singers and cupbearers of the banquet, concluding that every pleasure is like writing on water.
On Tobit 29Ambrose · ca. 380-390 · Ambrose has seen children sold at auction for their father’s debt.
On Tobit 30Ambrose · ca. 380-390 · Fathers even sell their own children to pay their debts.
On the Lord's Prayer 1189Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · The parable of the unforgiving servant shows how small our neighbours’ debts are beside ours to God; the master who rages at a slave should remember that slavery comes from power, not nature, since God gave humans dominion only over animals, and that he himself has deserted his own divine Master.
On Jacob and the Happy Life 1.12Ambrose · ca. 386-390 · All are Christ's freedmen, redeemed from the slavery of Adam's sin, and owe him the deference a freedman owes his patron.
On Jacob and the Happy Life 2.12Ambrose · ca. 386-390 · Every passion enslaves; only the prudent are free, and the wise rule as lenders of wisdom, which Ambrose applies to Jews and gentiles.
On Joseph 20Ambrose · ca. 387-390 · Joseph shows slaves that the mind can be free in servitude, while the greedy and lustful are slaves even in freedom.
On Joseph 21Ambrose · ca. 387-390 · Joseph's example consoles slaves and shows masters how much good slaves can bring.
Life of Malchus 4Jerome · ca. 390–392 · Malchus's caravan to Edessa is seized by Saracen raiders, and he and a woman are given to one master.
Sermon 9.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Masters who demand fidelity from their slaves but refuse service to God do to God what they would not suffer; the one rule contains all the commandments.
Sermon 21.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · People see and demand faithfulness from others, especially their slaves, whom they reward with freedom, yet refuse it to God, who created and redeemed them; the Gospel is the record of their purchase by Christ's blood.
Sermon 21.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Masters who claim to have given their "blood" (money) for their slaves should remember that Christ bought them with his real blood and death, and owe him the faithfulness they demand.
Sermon 58.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Emperor and beggar, slave and master all say “Our Father,” and so are brothers; masters should not disdain slaves whom Christ calls brothers.
Sermon 94.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Too tired to preach at length, Augustine applies the parable of the talents: bishops pay out God’s word, and every head of a household must act as a bishop at home, guarding the faith of wife, children, and slaves.
Sermon 211.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · One refused pardon after sincerely asking may trust God; those who have wronged others must ask pardon without shame, and a master who wrongs his slave should at least show it by gentle speech.
Homily on 1 Cor, 19.4John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom reads 1 Cor 7:21–23 as telling slaves to remain slaves, since true slavery is to sin, and illustrates with Joseph, who stayed free in slavery while his free mistress and brothers were slaves of vice.
Homily on 1 Cor, 19.5John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom continues that the real slavery is to sin and passion, as Potiphar's wife and Cain show, and begins on virginity (1 Cor 7:25–27), where his text breaks off.
The Lord's Sermon on the Mount 1.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 393–396 · Augustine explains that the law of retaliation set a measure on revenge, which Christ perfects by commanding readiness to suffer more, and interprets the cheek, the tunic and garment, and the forced mile as dispositions of the heart, citing the conduct of Paul and of Christ himself.
Against Jovinianus 1.11Jerome · 393 · Jerome interprets Paul's sayings about circumcision and slavery in 1 Cor 7:17–24 as figures for the married and the unmarried.
Canon 7Anonymous · 394 (or 396) · Christians who violate the freedom of freedmen under the church's protection are to be excluded from the church (the text breaks off).
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · The narration continues with the Babylonian captivity as a figure of the Church's service under the kings of this world, now Christian, until its final deliverance, and with the prophecies of Christ given to Israel.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · The pains of childbirth are a literal punishment; the husband's rule existed before sin, but the servile form of that rule, like slavery itself, arose from sin.
Canon 82 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The emperor is to be asked to allow the freeing of slaves in church.
Letter 36Firmus of Caesarea · early fifth century · Firmus asks a bishop to have a man's runaway slaves found and returned.
1 Corinthians 7:21Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · God looks at the will, not one's social condition; the slave should rather make use of slavery.
1 Corinthians 7:22Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Slave and free are equal before God.
City of God 4.3Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine compares a vast empire won by war to a rich man tormented by anxieties, and argues that the reign of the good benefits their subjects while the wicked ruler is himself a slave to his vices.
City of God 19.15Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine teaches that God made man to rule over beasts, not over other men, that slavery entered as a penalty of sin, and that slaves should serve faithfully until all human rule ends and God is all in all.
City of God 19.16Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine says that righteous fathers cared equally for children and slaves in regard to God, that household discipline serves the good of the one corrected, and that domestic peace is ordered to the peace of the city.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 4.5.3Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Volsinii freed its slaves freely.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 4.5.4Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The freedmen plotted to take power.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 4.5.5Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The freedmen seized Volsinii; Rome restored the masters.
On 1 Cor 7:7.20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret reads 1 Cor 7:21 as advice to remain a slave even if freedom is possible, so that piety is not made a pretext for flight.
On 1 Cor 7:7.22Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains Paul's paradox of the free man as Christ's slave and the slave as the Lord's freedman.
On 1 Cor 7:7.23Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains that “bought with a price” makes slaves and masters fellow slaves, and that Paul forbids a servile mind, not servitude.
Canon 6Anonymous · 441 · Anyone who seizes clerics' slaves in retaliation for his own slaves who fled to a church is condemned.
Canon 7Anonymous · 441 · Those freed in church or commended to the church by will may not be reduced again to servitude.