Adult Sunday School - November 19

The American experience of slavery was marked by racism, torture, rape and other forms of violence. The question of how to present it to students is being debated across the country, most recently in the State of Florida. Since slaves and slavery are a part of the biblical story, our next class will focus on how slavery should be understood and presented in the Christian community. 

If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, here is the lesson for Sunday, November 19. 

Blacks 'Developed Skills' Thanks to Enslavement, Says Florida Board of Education 

In the News 

In July, the Florida Board of Education approved new state social studies standards, including norms for American history (including African American history), civics, government, and economics. Included in the instructions for middle school students is the assertion that "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." Some people criticized the Florida Board for linking slavery, skills, and personal benefits. 

The Florida standards correctly describe enslavement as a common historical practice around the globe, including slave trading in Africa. But the Florida standards fail to note, writes Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson, that the enslavement practiced in Africa "was an entirely different system from the hereditary and unequal one that developed in the U.S." 

The chattel slavery practiced in the United States prior to the Civil War was a form of slavery based on race, and it enabled African Americans to be treated as property -- bought, sold, and owned forever (the word chattel means "personal property"). In other times and places, enslavement was not necessarily a permanent state of affairs, nor was it based on race. 

Critics accuse the Florida Board of portraying slavery as a kind of service work, with slaves performing "various duties and trades." While some enslaved Americans certainly did work in the trades, far more worked in the fields and did not develop marketable skills. "Taken together," writes Richardson, "this curriculum presents human enslavement as simply one of a number of labor systems, a system that does not, in this telling, involve racism or violence." 

National Review spoke with two of the thirteen members of the workgroup that developed the standards. "The intention of it was, African Americans, slaves, my ancestors, they were resilient people," said one of them, Valencia Robinson, who teaches African American history and English in Florida. People who were enslaved, she said, were forced to work "sun up to sun down" in a variety of jobs, but yet in some cases they were able to use their skills to "gain some extra money" and to purchase goods for themselves and for their families.

Another African American work group member, William B. Allen, a professor at Michigan State University, noted that Frederick Douglass started learning to read from his slave mistress before her husband put a stop to it. "He exploited that opportunity to his own advantage," Allen said. "That doesn't mean he benefited from slavery. But it does mean he acquired a skill from which he benefited while enslaved." 

Robinson said she understands how some of the language could cause confusion, and she would not be against amending the standard. "Using the word 'benefit' period, that just implies that they got something," Robinson said. "There was nothing to be gotten from being in bondage and being raped and tortured." 

Florida state representative Berny Jacques, a Republican from the Tampa Bay region, said, "Slavery is bad, and the standards make it pretty clear that slavery was a bad thing," said Jacques, who was born in Haiti. "This simply is a reference to the many well-documented cases of slaves who used trades that they learned while enslaved, and they made the most out of a terrible situation. It actually, if anything, highlights the resiliency of Black Americans." 

In defending the new standards, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have argued the College Board used similar language in the framework for its course. But College Board officials denied that the AP course echoes the new Florida standards, reports USA Today, noting that while the course "includes a discussion about the skills enslaved people brought with them that enslavers exploited as well as other skills developed in America that were valuable to their enslavers," the class does not portray slavery in a positive light. 

"We resolutely disagree with the notion that enslavement was in any way a beneficial, productive, or useful experience for African Americans," the College Board said in a statement. "Unequivocally, slavery was an atrocity that cannot be justified by examples of African Americans' agency and resistance during their enslavement." 

Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis' press secretary, referenced a portion of the College Board's curriculum that discusses various trades that enslaved people learned. A learning objective for the AP course states that "enslaved people learned specialized trades" and "once free, African Americans used these skills to provide for themselves and others." 

More on this story can be found at these links: 

Letters From an American, Substack. (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-22-2023? utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) 

Educators Behind Florida's African-American History Standards Push Back on Claims That It Whitewashes Slavery, National Review. (https://www.nationalreview.com/news/educators-behind-floridas-african-american history-standards-push-back-on-claims-that-it-whitewashed-slavery/) 

College Board Rejects Florida Stance That Slavery Was Beneficial for African Americans, USA Today. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/07/27/college-board-criticizes-florida-black-history standards/70480361007/)Florida State Academic Standards -- Social Studies, 2023 

(https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20653/urlt/6-4.pdf)AP African American Studies, Official Course Framework, Project, and Exam Overview (https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-african-american studies-course-framework.pdf) 

Applying the News Story

Since slavery was an absolute atrocity in the United States, how should Christians understand and apply the many biblical references to "slaves" and "slavery"? Discuss and determine whether the word "slave" can be redeemed for Christian use or if it needs to be replaced or rejected. 

The Big Questions 

1. What did you learn about the enslavement of African Americans in your classes at school? What have you learned since then, if anything? How has your understanding changed, if at all? 

2. How do you respond to the assertion of the Florida Board of Education that "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit"? In what ways is this assertion true, if at all, and in what ways is it misleading, if at all? 

3. The slavery practiced in the United States was based on race, and it enabled African Americans to be treated as property -- bought, sold, and owned forever. How do you see this as similar to the practice of slavery in the Bible? How is it different? 

4. If you are an African American, how do you think your race influences your reaction to slavery language in the Bible? If you are a white American, how do you think your race influences your reaction to such language? What can Black and white Christians learn from each other about this topic? Why is such dialogue important? 

5. If slavery is not a useful image for the Christian life, what could replace it? Servanthood? Obedience? Subjugation? Subservience? What would be the value of finding new terminology, if at all? How do biblical statements, such as Paul's declaration that "you were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:20 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A20&version=NRSVUE)) influence your answer? 

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope 

Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion: 

Exodus 3:7-8 

Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (For context, read Exodus 3:1-12. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Exodus+3%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE)) 

At the heart of the Book of Exodus is the story of the Israelites escaping Egyptian bondage. This story is central to Jewish faith and identity, remembered each year in the celebration of Passover. The word exodus is from Greek and means "going out" -- that is, going out of captivity in Egypt. The promise of the book is that oppressive empires are no match for the power of a just and loving God. Exodus links religious faith to the work of liberation and stresses God's love for the oppressed of the Earth. During the American Civil War, it inspired African American spirituals such as, "Go down, Moses / Way down in Egypt's land / Tell old Pharaoh / Let my people go." 

Questions: How does the slavery of the Israelites shape your faith, if at all? What does the story of the exodus tell you about God? How does this story shape your attitude toward people who are oppressed, in the past and today? 

Matthew 25:19-21 

After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, "Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." (For context, read Matthew 25:14-30 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=matthew+25%3A14-30&version=NRSVUE).) 

Jesus uses the word "slave" 34 times in the Gospel of Matthew, often as part of his parables about the kingdom of heaven. In the parable of the talents, Jesus speaks of a man who summons three slaves. He entrusts his property to them, giving them units of money called "talents," and then goes on a journey. When he returns, he settles accounts with them and commends the two slaves who doubled his investment. To the slave who hid his talent in the ground, the master says, "You wicked and lazy slave!" (v. 26). The man then orders that the third slave be thrown "into the outer darkness" (v. 30). 

Questions: What is the experience of the slaves in this parable, and how, if at all, does it compare to slavery in the United States before the Civil War? What, if anything, does it teach you about the nature of God? What, if anything, does it teach you about service to God? Where is there value -- or lack of value -- in being identified as a slave? 

Romans 6:16 

Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (For context, read Romans 6:15-19. (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A15- 19&version=NRSVUE)) 

Like Jesus, the apostle Paul often uses the language of slavery. In his letter to the Romans, he insists that we are all slaves, "either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness." For Paul, the human condition includes slavery for all, and he says that the Romans were once "slaves to impurity and

lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness" (v. 19). But thanks to the death and resurrection of Christ, and to the fact that the Romans have died and been raised through their faith in Christ, they are now "slaves to righteousness" (v. 19). 

Christians today can disagree with the use of slave language to describe the human condition. But a distinction needs to be made between the slavery practiced in America and the slavery practiced in the Bible. The word "slave" in the Bible refers to people in a variety of situations, from forced labor to domestic service. Some became slaves when they were captured in war; others would voluntarily become slaves to escape poverty. To be a slave was never a desirable position to be in, but it was not necessarily a permanent state of affairs, nor was it based on race. Slaves could be freed if relatives redeemed them by paying a debt or a ransom. In Paul's letter to the Romans, those who were slaves to impurity were redeemed and turned into slaves to righteousness. 

Questions: What benefit do you see, if any, in being described as a "slave to righteousness"? How does it capture your relationship with God and Jesus, if at all? What other terms could describe this relationship of obedience, subjugation, and subservience? 

Philippians 2:5-7 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. (For context, read Philippians 2:1-11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Philippians+2%3A1-11&version=NRSVUE).) 

Paul was a prisoner when he wrote his letter to the Christ-followers of Philippi, a city in the district of Macedonia, located in what is now Greece. The letter is very personal, with Paul saying to his friends in Philippi that he longed for them with the compassion of Jesus (Philippians 1:8 

(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A8&version=NRSVUE)). He had a desire to visit them again but did not know if it would be possible, so he urged them to "live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Philippians+1%3A27&version=NRSVUE)). Then he encouraged them to imitate the humility of Jesus, using a poetic passage that includes the Greek word kenosis, difficult to translate but often appearing in English as "emptied." Paul understood this word to be at the heart of the Christian faith, seen in Christ's willingness to empty himself, take the form of a slave, and assume human likeness. 

Questions: What value, if any, do you see in Paul describing Jesus Christ as a slave? How is it connected to Christ's humility? Where does it give you guidance and inspiration, if at all, as you grow in obedience to God? 

For Further Discussion

1. TWW Team Member Henry Brinton once wrote an essay for USA Today 

(https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/06/05/redskins-slavery-nfl-bible-racism column/10030087/) that called for the Washington Redskins to change their name, based on the fact that the impact of words can change over time. "The horror of U.S. slavery has shifted our understanding of the word 'slave,'" he wrote. "I would never stand before my congregation and call them 'slaves of Christ,' even though there is biblical support for such a name. Words are shaped by history and changing understandings, and this is true in both religion and popular culture." Discuss. 

2. Language is shifting in the United States, away from using terms such as "master" and "slave." In technology, many people are moving away from the historical terminology for asymmetric communication in which one device (the master) controls another device (the slave). In similar manner, real estate agents are finding alternatives for the room known as the "master bedroom." What value, if any, is found in finding alternatives to language that comes from the institution of slavery? What alternatives would you suggest for master and slave language in the Bible? If you would not want to alter the biblical use of this language, how would you want your children to understand what that language refers to? 

3. The contention that "slaves developed skills" during their enslavement is a point of political controversy today. Do you ever see good coming out of evil as recorded in the Bible (for example, the account of Joseph being sold by his brothers into slavery, and then being used by God to rescue many people)? Where, if ever, have you personally experienced God turning bad into good? 

4. The African American spiritual "He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word" refers to Jesus on the path to the cross: "O, they whipped Him up the hill, and He never said a mumbling word, / He just hung down His head, and He cried." Scholar Richard Newman, provides this analysis of the stanza 

(https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-he-never-said-a-mumbalin-word): "Not crying out despite the pain during a whipping of thirty or fifty or a hundred lashes was one of the slaves' methods of holding on to their dignity and demonstrating resistance." Where do you find inspiration in the witness of African American Christians who maintained their dignity and demonstrated resistance through the horror of enslavement? How can this faith and courage be remembered and honored by all? 

5. TWW Team Member Ako Cromwell observes, "In the past, some books, stage-plays, television shows, and films attempted to romanticize elements of the antebellum South. What thoughts or feelings do you have about such portrayals of the lives and relationships of that era? Is it possible to recognize or romanticize such elements or should the entire era have condemnation? How do we reconcile the pasts of such slaveholders as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson?" 

Responding to the News 

Reflect on the atrocity that was slavery in the United States, and consider how it impacts the language of slaves and slavery in the Bible. Look for an opportunity to talk about this topic with a member of another racial or ethnic group. Consider how your own language about slavery will be heard by others, especially those who have experienced oppression. Look for language that might be better able to allow all Christians to discuss obedience to God. 

Prayer

Mighty God, we thank you for being the liberator of the oppressed. Help us to speak of your mighty work in every time and place in words that will enable us to honor you and all of our brothers and sisters. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Copyright 2023 Communication Resources