7:21
Paul now moves to his second example, slavery. As always when dealing with a section on slavery one has to give some context. Slavery was endemic, it was nothing like the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In Corinth at the time it is estimated that one third of the population were slaves, one third had gained their freedom from slavery, and one third were born free. Many lived absolutely miserable lives, especially those who worked in mines, some were horribly beaten. At the same time, some served in much better ways, and some were well educated. There is more discussion in the commentary by Schreiner, and elsewhere. The impression given that America and Britain were uniquely responsible for slavery is utter nonsense.
So to the text! Paul is addressing the thought that being a slave somehow made it harder or impossible to be a true servant of Christ. This was not the case. Note that Paul does encourage them to gain their freedom if the opportunity arose. And this was possible for some through a process called manumission.
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