Discourses on Slavery in European Religious History

Abstract

This article argues that abolitionism in European religious history did not emerge directly or inevitably from Christianity, but through a long, contested process in which Stoic philosophy, Christian theology, biblical interpretation, colonial critique, and African agency interacted. It first examines slavery discourse in the Roman Empire, comparing Stoic critiques by Seneca and Epictetus with early Christian responses by Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, and Eustathius. While several authors affirmed human unity and questioned domination, most did not demand legal abolition or organised reform. The article therefore distinguishes between moral or theological abolitionism, which undermined justifications for slavery, and activist abolitionism, which challenged the institution in law and practice. It then traces how this distinction was reshaped in the colonial-modern period, when biblical texts were used both to defend and oppose slavery. Through Las Casas, Quakers, Wesley, Clarkson, Newton, Equiano, and other African voices, abolitionism appears as a conflict over Scripture, natural justice, human nature, testimony, and empire. The article concludes with John Philip and John William Colenso in South Africa, showing how abolitionist reasoning expanded beyond slavery to expose colonial dependency, coerced labour, and racialised subordination as hidden forms of domination.