Last year there were multiple stories across different denominations of pastors and laymen being persecuted for being too right wing. Perhaps the most notorious example is Ryan Turnipseed in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in a case that backfired spectacularly. Then there is David Whitney in the Evangelical Free Church who was ousted in a fishing expedition that started when he refused to lockdown his church in 2020. There’s also Michael Spangler of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church who was deemed unfit for ministry due to a sermon that confronted feminism. In the Presbyterian Church in America, there’s Zachary Garris.
What was his crime? Defending what the Bible says.
Enter Eli McGowen, an antifa dweeb whose the grandson of Charles McGowan, an influential PCA elder who played a role in promoting Sarah Young and “Jesus calling.”Â
Evidently, he decided to spill information on the proceedings against Garris. Garris is being targeted for his defense of Southern Presbyterianism which upheld slavery in the American South. Such figures include Robert Lewis Dabney and the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention, all of whom were more orthodox in their theology than the abolitionists in the North. However, what Garris said regarding slavery wasn’t wrong.
In the Old Testament, slavery is acknowledged and regulated. For instance, the book of Exodus contains laws that govern the treatment of Hebrew and non-Hebrew slaves (Exodus 21:1-11). These laws set limits on the duration of enslavement for Hebrew slaves and outlined rights and protections for them. The distinction of the regulation for Hebrew slaves was to create a category of non-chattel slavery. The non-Hebrew slaves in the Old Testament law were still chattel that could be bought or sold. Abraham and Solomon are both slave owners.
In the New Testament, the context shifts to the Roman Empire, where slavery was also a significant part of society and far worse than the American South. While the New Testament does not directly condemn slavery, it introduces principles of brotherly love that have been interpreted as undermining the moral grounds for slavery. For example, Galatians 3:28 states, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This passage suggests a spiritual equality among all people, regardless of their social status. Given the time period and location of the New Testament, there is no reason to assume that the slaves contained therein are not chattel, most notably Onesimus and the slave whom the God-fearing Centurion wanted Jesus to heal.
Ideally, society would not have slavery, but there is no biblical condemnation and the truth in this matter is not politically correct. Zachary Garris did nothing wrong, and for a liberal Presbytery to persecute him, especially after failing to defrock Greg Johnson, is functionally an attack on Scripture.
3 Responses
I agree with you about a lot of things, but in this one I will vehemently disagree. Biblical slavery was different, even in the OT. “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” Exodus 21:16
Yes, they had slaves but they were also warned against kidnapping people to make them slaves. American slavery was different. People were kidnapped from their homeland and bought and sold. Very different. And I am not a liberal. I’m not a Conservative either. I’m not anything. I just try to go where the Truth leads. And the Truth here is that slavery was always wrong, but God allowed it just like he allowed polygamy even though it wasn’t his original plan. God has mercy and grace and allows certain things for whatever his reasons are. But defending it? No. Talking about it, studying scripture, yes. But defending it? No.
Slavery only benefits the Jews. And it still exists. We all are their slaves. So we still need to get rid of slavery.
Kat is correct. I’ll even take it a step further. Slavery existed all over the ancient world. However, God never permitted the Israelites to take slaves or practice this like the pagan nations did. This pagan practice was wicked then, as it is wicked now, and will always be wicked. Within the Israelite society, “slavery” was actually “indentured servitude”, in other words, being in-debted to someone. There is a massive difference between this practice and American South chattel slavery. Therefore, it is morally wrong to say the Bible justifies slavery.