Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1859-04-20
srAvEnrA B.vrsE IssTIrETIoE.

$50 nj
To G. D. 4, Esq., n S0afAappf0n, Engiana
Ny DEAR GEosor. In ny isttsf Of he On
nit, ! did not bring to support my views any
evidence from the New Testament, but viii
endeavcr to Do 50 now. 7 an aware nat the
New Testament is act 50 pointed upon MS
subject as the Old Testament, bot stli Is sum
GENTLY plain as to bear out IN indorsemsnt 70
the Old Testament doctrine, hst slavery ha
divine Institution.
However, i matters not whether The New
Testament said anything about slavery in ne
least, IRON the fact that what was true N one
aes must necessarily be true in any subsequent
age, for truth is eternal and u~nehangeaoie.
Hence, theegh Christ aud his apostles had
been silent upon the subject Of slavery YET as
God had decreed hat there should be buying
and selling Of human beings into bondage
(Lev xxvi IS. 46,) the institution H % rei-
giously right, as If they had taken great pains
70 show forth its divine authority
It is very evident from the oft-rsPsa'ed sN-
preston Of the apostles, Bond and ffee'
that slaves were not only admitted into The
church, but that they remained slaves AFTER
ward.
Bond and frss,n . servant and master"
are certainly synonymous terms. When the
apostles says, sssrysnts Be obedient @ your
masters" CEph. vi; s. the expression GER
tainly conveys the idea that ths servants were
bond people, for in the eighth verse Of the
same chapter, be terms the relationship Of
" servant and master" as " bond and free
There is no room here for quibling over a nice
definition Of the term servant amnot going
to deny.thst there were hired servants IN those
days, butt il cannot be doubtss for a moment but
that the apostles was teaching bound ser
wants, and not hired servants 70 be obsdisn' to
their masters.
II slavery was not a divine Institution.
surely slave owners would not have been ad-
mitied into the church, and allowed to enjoy
an the privileges Of the same together with the
advantages arising from tia system Of slavery.
II slavery had not been a divine institution,
the apOstlss-nsver would have taught the bond
people to be perfectly obedient to their masters,
and only reeuestth the master TO treat their slaves
KIM Al tAaHEA- NoA A0H 1AhAAN 1aAAAAAAAf
Paul would not have been SO serupulous in not
OBTAINING Onesimus, the slave Of PhIlsmos, 20
administer to him in prison, without first cons
sulting his master. (PhiL xiii: $50
Yes, dear George, however revolving a run
AWAY slave may picture to you the horrors OF
modern slavery, It is sustained BY the Bible as
having a Divine origin. What you hear, if
true, Of the sad effects Of slavery, are the sx-
ceptions, and I should think that you would
not be so absurd as to Judge any system by its
exceptions. However it is not the object Of
my present letter to show the social advantages
Of slavery, but shall do SO in some future let
ter. Ny object has been to show that accord
Ing to Biblical authority, slavery is a divine
Institution.
Though God has mads all nations Of one
blood CAets xvii: %, YET he has cursed some
Of these Bations-aoeording to the Bible-to
be the bondmen and bondWOmen Of the others
forever; aud further, says the Apostle-speak-
ing BY divine suthouty-that bond people
shall not be heirs with the free people.
aGEORGE ?. A SPILLER
Memphis, Tenn, April 9, 1859.