Excerpt from The Biblical World, Vol. 35
One of the greatest desiderata in present-day Christian thinking is a general and clear recognition of the supremacy of the fundamental moral principles of the Bible over all the statutes and usages in which they have found more or less temporary expression. Once and again when great moral issues have been at stake, even those who did not fully admit this general law have found a way to make principle superior to statutes and precedents. But the lesson once learned has been too soon forgotten. New problems have to be settled anew, and the principle involved requires not only to be reapplied, but often also to be learned anew.
A generation ago the people of the country were confronted by the question whether domestic slavery should continue. From the point of view of the theology of the time it was a difficult problem, and both sides appealed to Scripture. The Old Testament, though seeking to mitigate the evils of slavery, did not prohibit, but expressly permitted, it. Jesus, though teaching the principle of the brotherhood of men, is not recorded as having spoken any express word against slavery. The apostle Paul sent a fugitive slave back to his master, and definitely enjoined slaves to be obedient to their masters and not to seek their freedom even if they had the opportunity. Existing institutions, he held, were not to be disturbed, but only to be permeated with the Christian spirit. In the controversies of a half-century ago these facts were forcibly urged in favor of slavery and against all efforts to abolish it.
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