This is an issue which has been and is hotly debated and discussed by Christians, and by examining the Biblical verses on Slavery we can see how there can be several differing positions. The main views of how Christian apologists explain these passages are as follows: View 1: Slavery in the Bible was different (more like indentured servitude); View 2: God accommodated a fallen culture; View 3: Progressive revelation leads to abolition; View 4: Spiritual equality overrides social structure; View 5: Critical / skeptical view. Each view has its strengths and weaknesses, and I encourage you to research them. I favor View 3, Progressive revelation leads to abolition which I will discuss.
I had never looked into this in depth until the April 13, 2026 comment to my blog https://thefallacyofhell.com/2026/03/08/does-the-concept-of-eternal-punishment-in-hell-cause-some-people-to-become-atheists/ and I am thankful the commentator brought this to my attention. Therefore, here is my understanding at this point in my pilgrimage.
Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
Here are dictionary definitions of subdue:
To bring under control by physical force, persuasion; to overcome and bring under control, as by intimidation or persuasion; to hold in check or repress(feelings, emotions, etc.).
In Genesis 1:28, the word translated “subdue” comes from the Hebrew word כָּבַשׁ (kābash). The basic idea is:
to bring under control, to order, to harness, or to bring into productive usefulness.
This command was given to humanity before sin entered the world. It reflects humanity’s God-given role as caretakers and governors of creation under God’s authority to, among other things, “bring under control” the evils of slavery. This tells us our Creator/Redeemer purposely created us and our planet knowing it would take work and effort by mankind to bring to completion what He ultimately designed for us. In other words, that was the first “job assignment” given to mankind. Why would He design His creation in a way so that it would require people to complete what He sat in motion? What does He have in store for us? And of course, seeing how mankind has thoroughly messed up things so far we can see that we definitely need help, and that is where Jesus comes in.
Genesis 2 helps explain Genesis 1. Adam is placed in the garden “to cultivate it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Those are priestly and stewardship terms, not abusive terms. So the “subduing” of Genesis 1:28 would include the unfolding of creation’s potential. Humanity was meant to extend the order and beauty of Eden outward into the whole earth. This would include abolishing evil which would rise its ugly head from time to time, one “ugly head” being slavery.
Universal Restoration Perspective
From a restoration-oriented or universal reconciliation perspective, Genesis 1:28 is highly significant. The original command was life-giving, constructive, and restorative. Humanity was created to heal, cultivate, reconcile, and govern creation under God. This fits passages like:
- Romans 8:19–21 (“creation itself also will be set free”)
- Isaiah 11 (peace in creation)
- Colossians 1:20 (“reconcile all things”)
In that framework, “subdue” does not point toward endless torture or destruction, but toward bringing chaos into harmony under God’s good rule. Mankind has a part to play – a big part, which includes abolishing slavery.
Prelude: Progressive Revelation leads to Abolition
Here are more early on verses wherein we see that Father Yahweh is opposed to slavery and He progressively reveals it to us:
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD (Yahweh) said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, … to the land which I will show you; … and you shall be a blessing; … and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”
To date, all the families of the earth have not been blessed. In fact many have been born into pure hell and have died in “pure hell,” including slavery, having seen very few if any blessings during their lifetimes. Why? Because mankind chose to disobey our Creator and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3), that is, we will decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil, not Father Yahweh. Results? Disaster!
Leviticus 19:18 “… you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.”
And who is our neighbor? Everyone (Luke 10). And love, what does Biblical love look like? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is kind” etc..
Then when we arrive to the time of Jesus, we see “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, …” Luke 4:18. True, many are upset Jesus did not release all slaves at that time without realizing He set the standards, and therefore we as did William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which highlighted the horrors of slavery, have the calling to subdue and seek the freedom and liberty of all. Now, let’s move into View 3.
View 3: Progressive revelation leads to abolition
This is one of the most common ways thoughtful Christians try to reconcile slavery passages with the conviction that God is just, good, and ultimately opposed to human oppression. The argument is not that the Bible openly abolishes slavery in one sentence, but that Scripture unfolds morally and redemptively over time, moving humanity toward freedom, equality, and brotherhood.
The key phrase is progressive revelation—the idea that God did not reveal the fullness of His moral will all at once, but gradually, accommodating human hardness while steadily leading humanity upward as He works through His servants to bring about His ultimate plan.
Jesus Himself uses this interpretive framework in Matthew 19:8. When discussing divorce, He says:
“Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.”
That statement is important. Jesus acknowledges that something was permitted under Moses that was not God’s original ideal. Many Christian interpreters apply the same principle to slavery: Mosaic law regulated a broken institution without expressing God’s final moral intention for humanity.
Under this reading, slavery in the Torah is not presented as Edenic design. In the beginning, human beings are created together in the image of God:
“Let Us make mankind in Our image…” (Genesis 1:26–27)
No human is said to be created as property. Humanity is given dominion over creation—not over fellow image-bearers. That becomes a foundational theological argument: ownership of another human being violates the deeper creational vision of shared dignity before God. And Jesus tells us “man [not limited to Israel] lives by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
- Hebrew debt slaves were released in the seventh year (Exodus 21:2).
- Fugitive slaves were not to be returned to masters (Deuteronomy 23:15–16)—remarkably humane in the ancient world.
- Kidnapping a person to sell them into slavery was punishable by death (Exodus 21:16), directly condemning man-stealing—the very foundation of the later Atlantic slave trade.
- Masters were repeatedly reminded: Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.”
This repeated memory forms a moral trajectory: the experience of oppression was meant to create compassion, not permanent domination.
The prophets deepen that trajectory. Again and again, God condemns oppression, exploitation, and economic injustice. Through Isaiah:
“Loose the bonds of wickedness… undo heavy burdens… let the oppressed go free…” (Isaiah 58:6)
Through Jeremiah, God condemns Judah for violating release laws and re-enslaving fellow Hebrews (Jeremiah 34). Through Amos, He denounces selling the needy “for a pair of sandals.” The prophetic voice consistently bends toward liberation.
Then comes Jesus. His ministry is framed by liberation language:
“He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to captives…” Luke 4:18
While He does not organize a political anti-slavery campaign against Roman Empire slavery, He radically undermines slavery’s moral foundation by redefining human worth:
- The greatest is servant of all.
- The master must become like the least.
- Whoever receives the lowly receives Christ.
- Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
If taken seriously, many Christians argue, those teachings make chattel slavery morally impossible.
The apostles continue that movement. Paul the Apostle writes:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free… for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
That was socially explosive in the ancient world. Paul does not merely say slaves have souls—he says slave and master share equal standing in Christ.
In his letter to Philemon regarding the enslaved man Onesimus, Paul urges: receive him “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave—a beloved brother.” Many see that as the seed of abolition planted in apostolic soil.
Then there is 1 Timothy 1:10, where “slave traders” (Greek: andrapodistais, literally kidnappers/man-stealers) are classified among grave sins. This directly attacks the capture-and-sale system behind human trafficking.
Over centuries, many Christians believed these principles matured into abolition. Figures like William Wilberforce, John Wesley, Granville Sharp, and Harriet Beecher Stowe argued that the gospel’s deepest logic destroys slavery—even if ancient texts regulated it.
They saw a biblical arc:
Creation → Fall → Regulation → Prophetic Mercy → Christ’s Equality → Gospel Brotherhood → Abolition
or, as some summarize it:
The Bible records slavery, regulates slavery, morally undermines slavery, and ultimately points beyond slavery.
That is the strength of View 3.
The criticism of View 3 is this: opponents say it reads abolition into the Bible rather than from explicit commands in the Bible. They note that Scripture nowhere plainly says:
“Owning another human being is forbidden.”
So the debate becomes whether Christianity contains a moral trajectory that grows beyond earlier legal structures—or whether later readers are supplying that trajectory.
That is the heart of the progressive revelation argument.
As stated at the beginning of this blog, I am thankful for the April 13, 2026 comment to my blog https://thefallacyofhell.com/2026/03/08/does-the-concept-of-eternal-punishment-in-hell-cause-some-people-to-become-atheists/ by the commentator who may be an atheist. He awakened me to this subject and I have benefited by my study of what the Bible has to say about slavery. We all, atheist, agnostic, believer in Christ, and the bystander – we all have a part to play in the creation of Jesus, and He will use it all for good, the good of all of us, when all is finally said and done.
Brother Roger
Here is a song about this much debated subject:
Leave a Reply