The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity (review)

Readers of JECS will welcome this thorough, lucid, and judicious discussion of slavery in Graeco-Roman society, quite possibly the best compact treatment of the subject available, certainly the most useful for students of the early Church. Harrill (who is now at DePaul) not only explores the full range of primary and secondary material with care and depth but also identifies and avoids the pitfalls of moral anachronism that have beset so much investigation of his subject.

From a modern perspective, the manumission of slaves is a “liberal” value. A liberal St Paul would therefore endorse the practice, and a conservative St Paul resist it. Harrill destroys this presumption. In Roman society manumission was widely practiced and strongly supported by social conservatives, for the prospect of manumission was a leading instrument in the social control of slaves, who were thereby kept on their best behavior. Apologetic and polemical approaches have, almost without exception, missed the point.

Within this framework Harrill examines a perennial crux, 1 Cor 7:21b, which lacks an object, “slavery” or “freedom” being the dissimilar alternatives. To a pointed review of the vast literature he appends a philological analysis informed by the capacities of the TLG. He concludes that the best option is to understand “use instead (freedom).” These arguments will be difficult to refute. Given the conservative tendencies visible in the formation of the pauline corpus, it is not impossible than an editor of 1 Cor deleted this object. Harrill does not consider this hypothesis.

If “freedom” correctly fills in the blank, why does Ignatius (Polycarp. 4.3) appear to disapprove of efforts to purchase the freedom of Christian slaves? In response Harrill turns to an important facet of early Christian history, the use of community funds. (2 Thess 3:10, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat,” for instance, only makes sense if it means “not be supported by community funds.”) Corporate associations with common funds could be construed as threats to society because they were miniature poleis, as it were, and rival sources of patronage. Such monies also generate internal conflict about the use and misuse of funds and the power they convey. Harrill argues that Ignatius’s church-political goal was to have all common funds under episcopal control rather than in the hands of the heads of house-churches, who could use them to function as patrons. From the apologetic angle Ignatius did not wish the church to be seen as a subversive agent, purchasing the freedom of slaves whom masters might not otherwise manumit at that time. One scenario Harrill does not discuss is that of a master who might grudgingly permit a slave to become a Christian but withhold manumission on those grounds. Such hypothetical slaves might well turn to their religious communities.

Harrill rounds off his research with a study of corporate manumission by various bodies, including synagogues, followed by a review of slavery in early Christian literature. Although the author eschews anachronism, he nonetheless exposes and deprecates attempts to gloss over even the more beneficent forms of ancient slavery. This is a fine example of what a monograph should be: informed and informative, clear about its methods and scope, specific in focus but not narrow in compass. Even those who are quite knowledgeable about slavery in the ancient world will appreciate this competent study.