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This is so important. https://twitter.com/ThabitiAnyabwil/status/1304850794689290241
Part of the offense of slavery is that it goes against God's design for human beings to serve Him & Him alone. In the Exodus narrative, He sets Israel free to worship Him.
That's why we see the language of "slave" appear in NT epistles--Paul is describing renewed creational design of human beings serving GOD as their master.
What we see in chattel slavery is a corruption of this design w/ human beings ruling over other human beings in God's place. Human beings controlling the work, bodies, & families of image bearers who should be set free to serve GOD w/ their work, bodies, & families.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not talking about the radical autonomy of modern west where every individual is free to serve self & do what he/she wants. I'm talking about the freedom to serve God in the ways He calls. That's the point of the story of Exodus.
And an institution that systemically kept image bearers from serving God w/ their work & families, that boundaried their access to Church & Scripture, that denied their baptism made them brothers & sisters w/ white Xians--such an institution is in no way aligned w/ God's design.
Instead, whatever social order exists should exist to free human beings to serve God w/ their work & lives. A good, faithful employer will do this, knowing he's under authority himself & he is called to support the flourishing of his workers. Slavery knows no such thing.
The entire emphasis of the Scripture & the Gospel is the renewal of Creation, that people would be set free to serve Him all their days. If you have social authority & privilege & claim to follow Christ, guess what your calling is? To set people free to serve Him all their days.
