In order to impugn the moral authority of Jesus of Nazareth, New Atheist Sam Harris claims:

“There is no place in the New Testament where Jesus objects to slavery”

Is this true? Actually, Jesus did speak to the issue of slavery, but he went after the root of physical slavery: spiritual slavery. Spiritual slavery has led to and continues to lead to immense misery. When Jesus began his public ministry, he stood in the synagogue to read the following passage: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

What a mission statement! Jesus came to set captives free, restore, heal, and transform—that is the good news of the kingdom of God. The good news of the kingdom of God is when “up there” comes “down here” and begins to be embodied by a new community. Given the reality of sinful humans and corrupted institutions, Jesus knew the best way to end slavery was first to liberate the hearts and minds of humanity. The truth sets people free. As Ravi Zacharias poignantly frames the question, “Slavery is now illegal, but is racism gone?” Simply passing a law doesn’t transform the brokenness in the human heart. If obscure Bible passages were really the problem, then why in the twenty-first century are we confronted with the horrible reality of human trafficking and the sex-slave trade?

For more, see my answer to the question of Does God Intend For Us To Keep Slaves? (p148-57)

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