The slave figure has never ceased to be enigmatic. History is full of it. More than the moral context of slavery, the slave should first be seen as a historical figure and a cultural phenomenon. The Bible teaches unity through faith where there should not be any distinctions or discriminations in race, sex, or creed. It contradicts itself, though. Christianity, it is said, is a religion that makes man not engage in slavery, even if slavery very well exists in it. The Apostle Paul discussed the existence and reality of slavery a lot.  In the Bible, the slave figure has become a cultural assumption and stereotype. Through time, the ‘slave body’ has become a stereotypical graphic of moral weakness and amazingly fierce strength.

In “Slavery in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions,” the author J. Albert Harrill avers that the servant stereotype is rife in human culture. Christianity is brimming full with it. By essence, the Christian faith contains a lot of discussion of servitude and authority. Command and subordination are basic tenets of the Christian faith. The ‘slave manager,’ an owner of slaves, is deemed a ‘master of men’ and is, thus, construed as a Biblical persona and a subordinate of God. A little twisted logic there but such was the mindset when ownership of slaves was widespread and ubiquitous. Theres is also the recurring figure of the ’slave trader’ or ‘slave dealer’ that is regarded as stereotypically bad, even evil. The stereotype is made even more typical by attributing to this figure a penchant for many vices. The slave as ‘domestic enemy’ who complains a lot, tells lies, and betrays his master is yet another stereotype.

Although the Bible is apparently pro-slavery, it should not be taken in the context of a moral discussion of the slavery issue. The usage and definition of slavery in the New Testament are largely based on and inspired by the culture of the early Roman Empire where the very subjects of power and powerlessness were larger-than-life concerns of the day. In imperialistic Rome, people were preoccupied with the issues of subordination and subjugation,as much as these made up the centerpiece of their moral debates.

In the book “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing” which won a National Book Award for juvenile literature, a group of American philosophers conducted an experiment on a black youth named Octavian. Their goal is to prove or disprove their far-reaching hypothesis that Africans are a separate species from white people. The 900-page two-volume historical epic for teens revolves around Octavian who is both a science experiment and a slave.

The slave figure is a necessary component of the issue of power and the struggle for it. The pagan or Christian slave, thus, becomes not a person but a persona who is a player in a
world of power and subordination. The slave is nothing more than a stereotype of the power struggle. The slave is both an accessory and a remnant.

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Via The New York Times