Sinners Unaware
March 19, 2007 Posted by Amy Hall
I'm currently reading A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards and have come upon the chapter titled “Trusting the Theology of a Slave Owner.”
Even as Edwards argued against the slave trade, saying that it was wrong because we are all of the same human race, made by the same Maker in His image, and we ought not steal human beings and tear them away from their families, nor should we profit from others who do so–even as he argued this, Edwards continued to own slaves.
It's a scary thought that a man who knew God's word far better than I do and who spent far more time in prayer, study, and meditation than I do was blinded enough by his own sin and culture not to see a sin that is now glaringly obvious to us–that a man of such incisive and precise thinking could not see that he condemned himself with his own arguments against the slave trade.
His son, who was able to follow the logic of Edwards's arguments and the implications of his theology to the end, argued eloquently against slavery and not just the trade. But it took those of that next generation to finally work their way completely out of the blinders of cultural complacency.
It's difficult to see clearly and then fight against a sin you're already participating in. How much more so if your culture condones it! Our sin blinds us and distorts our perception (a frightening reality that ought to make us more careful about giving into temptation). Edwards had slaves, so he was not able to see the wrongness of it, and while he was ahead of his time morally in many ways, including in his arguments against the slave trade, his treatment of his slaves, and his inclusion of slaves as members of his church, we can see now how far he was from God's standard of perfect righteousness.
If this doesn't point out the need of all of us for a savior, I don't know what does! We are all desperately in the “sinner” category (a category which includes everyone but God) in ways of which we haven't even a clue. Edwards fought so hard for holiness in himself and mastery over his sin, and people around him would have considered him a very good man. Some who misunderstood the gospel probably thought he was good enough to get to heaven based on his works. But they could not even see the sin of slavery.
In the same way, as best as we try to conquer our own sin, there will be sins in our lives that we will never even recognize. This is a humbling thought to which we are forced to respond like Paul:
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!…Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus….For what the Law could not do [i.e., make us righteous], weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Related posts:
- O Holy Night (10) – The Slave Is Our Brother
- Confidence: The Key to Great Goodness
- Free Jonathan Edwards
- Irrelevant Characteristics
- ETS 2008 – William Henard “Sinners in the Hands of the Emergent Church”
- God's Glory in Creation, Part 2
Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Theology
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March 19th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Good post Amy. Sin deceives (Hebrews 3) the best of us. It's like the first few weeks of American Idol, where we wonder how people can be so self-deceived to think that they really have a shot at winning. I suppose that's like us. It makes for great television. I don't want my life to be made for television where all are baffled as to why I can't see the darkness within. The moments where my sin become more visible to me are those difficult moments where I feel that wretchedness.
What I would add to your post is this: how do we get out of it? One way I read Hebrews 3 is the mutual exhortation of the community. For me, I need people (the Church, friends, community) to 'exhort' me or appeal to get me out of it. I can't do it alone.
Ok, I'm done with my sermon
March 19th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
EE, ha! Great analogy! What an excellent visual picture of this.
We'll never get totally out of it because sometimes, as with Edwards, our entire community is blind to the sin. Thank God for justification through Jesus!
March 19th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Good reminder on community. I noticed a counter-point in the cultural intoxication mentioned above that seems just as true. Granted all the good his community's influence probably did him, in this area, some individuality might have done him some good. I think this shows that good things (like community) can be mal-embraced.
March 20th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Good point–in a world where that kind of deception was acceptable, i suppose only (redeemed/positive) individuality would have been the ticket out of the cycle. Makes you think about two things:
1. What are the deceptions we have grown to accept that community can help us get out of?
2. What are the deceptions we have grown to accept that our community is just as deceived as us, and we need some self-reflection, God-conviction, individuality to get out of it?
March 21st, 2007 at 11:27 am
I find this an odd post; here's why: the Bible doesn't seem to take issue with slaves (or servants if you're more comfortable with that term) in the Old or New Testament.
For the OT, consider Leviticus 25:44-54. Although God doesn't want slavery to necessarily be permanent or for slaves to be treated badly, he certainly makes provision for it.
In the NT, Eph. 6:5-9 pretty much reiterates the same treatment, not saying it's wrong by any means, but simply giving commands on how masters and slaves are supposed to live out their Christianity in the context of that relationship. Even in the book of Philemon, when Paul could have simply told Philemon that he should let Onesimus go free, he doesn't say slavery is flat-out wrong, but simply appeals to Philemon on the basis of love and their friendship. This book seems to be what most Christians cling to as their definitive “slavery is wrong” text, but its personal appeal and implied statements don't make for a strong argument.
As a result, it's not hard for me to understand why Edwards would condemn the slave trade (which involved kidnapping, extortion and greed) but not slavery itself. Are we seeing what the Bible says clearly for ourselves?
March 21st, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Brandon, good challenge. Off the top of my head: Edwards specifically argued that people should not profit from the slave trade, but that's just what he was doing by owning slaves. Having slaves was an integral part of the stealing (they weren't just offering themselves willingly). Part of Edwards's argument against the trade also rested on the equality of all men since we're made in the image of God, and that also should have extended to slavery.
Also, Paul argues that Philemon should welcome Onesimus as a brother in Christ rather than a slave (as he says in Galatians, we're all equal in standing before Christ), so at the very least, Edwards ought to have freed the slaves who became Christians. And could one not argue that he was continually stealing their freedom from them and denying them the wages they were worth when the worker is worth his wages and people are to receive the fruit of their labor?
Anyone else have thoughts on this?