Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity
- The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- List of Contributors
- Editors’ Preface
- Part I Contested Contexts
- Part II Contested Figures
- Part III Contested Heritage
- Part IV Contested Cultures
- Part V Contested Beliefs
- Part VI Contested Bodies
- 24 Masculinity, Femininity, and Sexuality
- 25 Christian Slavery in Theology and Practice
- 26 Wealth, Almsgiving, and Poverty
- 27 Power, Authority, the Living, and the Dead
- Ancient Sources
- Modern Authors
- References
25 - Christian Slavery in Theology and Practice
Its Relation to God, Sin, and Justice
from Part VI - Contested Bodies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 August 2023
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity
- The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- List of Contributors
- Editors’ Preface
- Part I Contested Contexts
- Part II Contested Figures
- Part III Contested Heritage
- Part IV Contested Cultures
- Part V Contested Beliefs
- Part VI Contested Bodies
- 24 Masculinity, Femininity, and Sexuality
- 25 Christian Slavery in Theology and Practice
- 26 Wealth, Almsgiving, and Poverty
- 27 Power, Authority, the Living, and the Dead
- Ancient Sources
- Modern Authors
- References
Summary
The condition of being a slave in antiquity, marked by “social death” and “the permanent, violent domination of natally alienated and generally dishonored persons,”1 was so miserable as to be excluded from the ancient ideal of happiness (εὐδαιμονία): “How can a man be happy when he must serve someone as a slave [δουλεύειν]?” says Callicles to Socrates (Plato, Gorg. 491E). Families in the Greco-Roman world often included slaves,2 although manumission in the Roman world was more frequent than once thought.3
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity , pp. 586 - 612Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
References
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