Have you noticed that some people think it took nearly 2,000 years
after the Bible was written before people realised that slavery was wrong? That’s
incorrect of course, but what was the strongest condemnation of slavery in
antiquity? Here is the answer: Gregory of Nyssa, a Christian who was writing in
the 4th century wrote this powerful attack on slavery.
So I’m simply reproducing below what Gregory wrote, translated by the
Revd Andrew Maguire, and reproduced here with his kind permission.
Gregory comments on Ecclesiastes 2:7:
Ecclesiastes 2:7
I got me slaves and slave-girls,
and homebred slaves were born for me,
and much property in cattle and sheep became mine.
And this is what Gregory wrote:
‘The theme of confession is still the focus of our text. The writer
of Ecclesiastes sets out in careful order virtually everything in his own
experience through which the futility of our activities in this life is known.
But at this point he touches on what appears to be a more serious piece of
evidence from his deeds through which he can be accused of the affliction of
arrogant pride. What is there in what he has laid before us so far which leads
to such a level of conceit? He has told us about a valuable house, an abundance
of vines, elegant gardens and water features, nicely constructed swimming
pools, extensive beautiful parkland. Yet, none of this can compare to his
presumption that, as a human being he believes he can lord it over people who
in essence are just like him. Because then he goes on to say: “I
got me slaves and slave-girls, and homebred slaves were born for me”.
Do you detect the excessive arrogance? An utterance like this shows that he is exalting
himself against God. We know from the words of the prophets that absolutely
everything is subject to the supreme authority in the universe (Psalm
119/118.91). But this man counts as his own what truly belongs to God and
gives to the likes of himself the kind of power which makes him think that he
can be the master of men and women. When he sees himself as so different
from those who are subject to him one can only conclude that pride has led him
to go beyond what is appropriate for his nature.
“I
got me slaves and slave-girls.” You are condemning to slavery human beings whose
nature is free and characterised by free will. You are making laws that
rival the law of God, overturning the law appropriate for humankind. Human
beings were created specifically to have dominion over the earth; it was
determined by their creator that they should exercise authority. Yet you place
them under the yoke of slavery, as though you are opposing and fighting against
the divine decree.
Have you forgotten the limits of your authority? Your rule is limited to
control of irrational creatures. In scripture we read: “let them rule over
birds and fish and four-footed creatures”. (Gen 1.26) How then do you go
beyond what is subject to you and exalt yourself against a nature which is
free, counting people like you among four-footed or footless creatures. “You
subjected everything to humankind” declares the scripture through prophecy and
it goes on to list what is under human control: domestic animals, cattle and
sheep. (Psalm 8/7.8) Surely human beings have not been born to you from
domestic animals? Surely cattle have not given birth to human offspring?
Irrational creatures alone are subject to humankind. “He makes grass grow for
animals and green plants for people’s slaves”. (Psalm 104/103.14) . But you
have torn apart the nature of slavery and lordship and made the same thing at
one and the same time enslaved to itself and lord of itself.
“I
got me slaves and slave-girls.” Tell me what sort of price you paid. What did you find
in creation with a value corresponding to the nature of your purchase?
What price did you put on rationality? For how many obols did you value
the image of God? For how many coins did you sell this nature formed by God?
God said: “Let us make human beings in our own image and likeness” (Gen 1.26).
When we are talking about one who is in the image of God, who has dominion over
the whole earth and who has been granted by God authority over everything on
the earth, tell me, who is the seller and who the buyer? Only God has this kind
of power, or, one might almost say, not even God. For scripture says that the
gifts of God are irrevocable (Romans 11.29). God would not make a slave of
humankind. It was God who, through his own will, called us back to freedom when
we were slaves of sin. If God does not enslave a free person, then who would
consider their own authority higher than God’s?
How can people be sold who have dominion over the earth and everything
on the earth? It is essential that the assets of people being sold are sold
with them. How can we value the contents of the whole earth (Genesis 1.26)? If
these are beyond any valuation then tell me, what is the value of the one who
is over them? If you said “the world in its entirety”, even then you would not
have found anything approximating to the value (Matthew 16.26; Mark 8.36). Someone
knowing the true value of human nature said that not even the whole world is
worth enough to be given in exchange for the human soul. So when a human
being is for sale, it is nothing other than the lord of the earth being brought
to the auction room. This means that creation as we know it is at the same time
being put up for public sale. That is earth, sea and islands and all that is in
them. How then is the purchaser going to settle the payment? What will the
vendor accept considering the greatness of the property involved in the
transaction?
Did the little notebook, the written agreement and the calculation in obols
trick you into thinking that you could be master of the image of God? What
utter folly! If the contract was lost, if the writing was eaten by moths,
if a drop of water fell on it and washed it away, where is there any proof that
you have a slave? Where is there anything that supports you in being a
master? You have somebody who is named as your subordinate, but beyond the
mere name I see nothing. What did such power add to your real nature? It did
not give you extra years or any genuine superiority. Your lineage is still
human, your life is similar, the sufferings of the soul and the body prevail
upon you both in the same way, with you as master and another in subjugation
you are still both affected by agony and delight, gladness and distress, sorrow
and joy, anger and fear, disease and death. Surely there is no distinction in
such things between slave and master? Do they not draw in the same air when
they breathe? Do they not see the sun in a similar way? Do they not both
sustain their life by taking in nourishment? Is not the make-up of their bodily
organs the same? Do they not both return to the same dust after death? Do they
not both face one and the same judgment? Is not the prospect of heaven and hell
the same for them both?
So when you are equivalent in every way, tell me in what particular way you
have more so that you think you can become master of another human being even
though you are a human being yourself. “I got me”, you say,
“slaves and slave-girls,” as though they were a herd of goats or swine.
After saying “I got me slaves and slave-girls,” he
added the good cheer that comes through flocks and herds. For he says “And much
property in cattle and sheep became mine”, as though animals and slaves were
subject to his authority to an equal degree.’
Gregory of Nyssa - In Ecclesiasten Homiliae - The start of Homily
IV [emphasis added]
This translation is reproduced by permission of the Revd Andrew
Maguire, and is sourced from the Early Church Texts website - https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/gregoryofnyss_ecclesiastes_slavery.htm
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