The Problem of Slavery in Christian America: An Ethical-Judicial History of American Slavery and Racism

by Joel McDurmon

When one James Davis wrote a letter to the Christian Index asking whether slave owners who separated married slaves should be disciplined, he was confronted with the full force of the emphasis on the exclusive “spirituality of the church”: It is clear the scripture recognizes the relation of master and servant, & commands servants to obey their masters, not only the good and gentle, but also the forward. Here the primary obligation must rest, unless the servant can alienate the rights of his master to command, by a voluntary engagement of his own. But who will venture to affirm this? so then it follows that when the absolute commands of his master come in contact with the incidental promises of the servant the latter must yield to the former.57 The author does not seem to have realized the logical implications of this statement. It ultimately would mean that a master may do virtually anything not forbidden by secular laws, even if it caused a slave to sin or violated a sacred oath taken by a slave. This was essentially a declaration that masters could defy God’s law as long as the state said so, and the church would have nothing to say about it.