← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Petr
Thread ID: 16644 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2005-02-08
2005-02-08 01:21 | User Profile
From "[I]Readings in Late Antiquity - a sourcebook[/I]" by Michael Maas, page 65:
[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=3][I][B]"1.11.7 Slavery is taken for granted[/B][/I][/SIZE]
"Slavery pervaded late antique society and was generally accepted without question. Here [U][U]Basil of Caesarea[/U], [/U] a bishop of the late fourth century, gives a Christian interpretation of the institution.
[B][U]Basil of Caesarea[/U], [/B] [I]On the Holy Spirit [/I] 20
(Peter Garnsey, Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to Augustine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 45)
Some say that the Spirit is neither master or slave, but like a freeman. What miserable nonsense! What pitiful audacity! What shall I lament, their ignorance or their blasphemy? They insult the dogmas pertaining to the divine nature by confining them within human categories. They think they see the differences of dignity among men, and then apply such variation to the ineffable nature of God.
Do they not realize that even among men, no one is slave by nature? [B]Men are brought under the yoke of slavery by either because they are captured in the battle or else they sell themselves into slavery owing to poverty[/B]; as the Egyptians became the slaves of Pharaoh.
[B]Sometimes, by a wise and inscrutable providence, worthless children are commanded by their father to serve their more intelligent brothers and sisters. [/B] Any upright person investigating the circumstances would realize that such situations bring much benefit, and are not a sentence of condemnation for those involved.
[B]It is better for a man who lacks intelligence and self-control to become another's possession[/B]. Governed by his master's intelligence, he will become like a chariot driven by a skilled horseman or a ship with a seasoned sailor at the tiller.
That is why Jacob obtained his father's blessing and became Esau's master: so that this foolish son, who had no intelligence properly to guide him, might profit from his prudent brother, even against his will. Canaan became a "slave of slaves to this brother", because [B]his father Ham was void of understanding, unable to teach his son any virtue[/B].
That is why men become slaves, but those who escape poverty, war, or the need of a guardian, are free. [I]And even though one man is called master, and another a slave, we are all the possessions of our Creator; we shall all share the rank of slave.[/I][/COLOR]
Petr
2005-02-09 01:40 | User Profile
bump
2005-02-11 19:00 | User Profile
bump!
2005-02-11 20:32 | User Profile
[color=#000080]Men are brought under the yoke of slavery by either because they are captured in the battle or else they sell themselves into slavery owing to poverty; as the Egyptians became the slaves of Pharaoh.[/color]
Basil got it right.
I'll also add: [color=#000080]IMO, it's far more expedient to teach a man how to avoid slavery, than to condemn this institution, which does serve a purpose.[/color]
2005-02-11 21:10 | User Profile
Slavery, like taxation and conscription, can be used for evil or for good.
2005-02-11 21:52 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Quantrill]Slavery, like taxation and conscription, can be used for evil or for good.[/QUOTE]
It seems to me that the term has come to mean simultaneously chattel slavery, where a man or woman was bound to the master as property with no rights, and the children of such human chattel were automatically the property of the master. This is fraught with evil.
On the other hand, a limited form of slavery like indentured servitude was perhaps harsh but it tended to be an important anti-poverty measure. Actually, the protections the OT provided Jewish slaves are fine with me. Sign up with a man for seven years, and it's like enlisting in the military. You can't quit. On the other hand, he has to feed you and care for you when you're sick. Plus you get off the sabbath and religious holidays. At the end of seven years, you can reinlist with the man, or leave. If you stay on, then at some point he has to agree to care for you for life, even in your dotage.
Traditionally apprenticeships worked the same way. Enlist with a master craftsman, he feeds you and teaches you the trade, and then you're free to go. Maybe you marry his daughter and live happily ever after.
Before Ivan the Terrible, Russian peasants were enserfed to the extent that they couldn't leave the estate owner except once per year, right before plowing season started. That was St. George's day. The peasants were free until Ivan the Terrible took away St. George's day rights (or was that his father, also Ivan?)
Anyway, all those forms of limited slavery are also fraught with potential for abuse, but then again everything human is.
Anyway, I think it's important not to confuse the two forms. Chattel slavery is bad - at least of Christians. It really violates the fundamental dignity of the person in a very basic way. In contrast, indentured servitude, temporary serfdom, and bonded apprenticeships were often harsh, but that overall I'm sure they did a lot more good than harm.
2005-02-11 22:07 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Walter Yannis]On the other hand, a limited form of slavery like indentured servitude was perhaps harsh but it tended to be an important anti-poverty measure. .[/QUOTE]Exactly. And every "homeless" person who petitions government and politicians for a handout, should be put into slavery. It would be a way to reduce the size of government and save the taxpayers great expense.