The Truth About the Catholic Church and Slavery
The problem wasn't that the leadership was silent. It was that almost nobody listened.
Rodney Stark | posted 7/01/2003 12:00AM
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As with the Jewish rules about slavery, Muhammad's admonition and example probably often mitigated the conditions of slaves in Islam as contrasted with Greece and Rome. But the fundamental morality of the institution of slavery was not in doubt. While Christian theologians were able to work their way around the biblical acceptance of slavery, they probably could not have done so had Jesus kept slaves. That Muhammad had owned slaves presented Muslim theologians with a fact that no intellectual maneuvering could overcome, even had they desired to do so.
Rodney Stark is professor of sociology and comparative religion at the university of Washington. This article is an excerpt from his book, For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-hunts, and the End of Slavery.
Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
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For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark is this month's selection for CT's Editor's Bookshelf. Elsewhere on our site, you can:
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