Single Idea 7353

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 1. Slavery]

Full Idea

It is no accident that slavery among Jews disappeared with the rise of the Pharisees, as they insisted that all were equal before God in a court. Masters were no longer responsible for actions of slaves, so a slave had status, and slavery could not work.

Gist of Idea

The Pharisees undermined slavery, by giving slaves responsibility and status in law courts

Source

Paul Johnson (The History of the Jews [1987], Pt II)

Book Reference

Johnson,Paul: 'A History of the Jews' [Phoenix 1993], p.156


A Reaction

As in seventeenth century England, the rise of social freedom comes from religious sources, not social sources. A slave has status in the transcendent world of souls, despite being a nobody in the physical world.