Religion Impact On Slavery

The Impact Of Religion On Slavery

Not only was religion used in a way to achieve grace among slaves, it was also used by slavemaster's to justify the cruel and punishing ways they treated them. During Frederick Douglass's years as a slave, he helped express the impact Christianity had on slavery. Through his own experiences he was able to show both the good and bad of Christianity, the good being the “Christianity of Christ” and the bad being the “Christianity of the land”.

Slavery was first introduced into Europe in 1400. The largest slave trade in the world was created by Christian European nations. Slavery was highly influenced through religion as the stories in the Christian bible did enforce slavery. According to the bible Christians argued that Jesus Christ authorized them to own slaves. It was considered to be an acceptable practice sanctioned by god. "Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives." -- Matthew 24:45-46. This quote from the bible shows that God was endorsing slavery. God was saying that when the time comes slaves must be put to good work.

People

The first being the difference between the “Christianity of Christ” and “Christianity of the land”. The Christianity of christ was the good practice of Christianity, Douglass explained it as the true and real version. “the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ” (Appendix, 1). The Christianity of christ is what the slaves used and practiced. In the book it was used as a source of freedom. Anytime slaves were allowed to go to church or practice Christianity, it helped them forget about all the harsh times they were going through. It gave them something to look forward to and use as