The Holy Prophet Habakkuk (Avvakum); Athanasius the Recluse (1176); Passing into Eternal Life (1973) of Blessed Ivan Sleziuk, Catacomb Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk and Confessor
1 Timothy 5:22-6:11; Luke 18:15-17, 26-30
Nativity Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read 1 Timothy 5:22-6:11
In 1 Timothy 6, St. Paul speaks directly to slaves. This type of societal structure is very foreign to us today—primarily because the Gospel has informed our constitutions and laws. There are those who blame St. Paul and the early Church for not being progressive enough in their approach to slavery. To understand how revolutionary St. Paul’s approach to slaves is we have to understand the context in which he lived. Ancient writers only addressed their message to freemen, that is masters, and never addressed slaves or wives because this group of people was beneath the dignity of their owners and therefore not worth the effort to teach. St. Paul on the other hand sees humanity from God’s perspective and addresses everyone, including women and slaves, on the same level of dignity. Women and slaves are human beings, with souls for whom Christ died, and they like everyone else will have to account to God at the end of their life.
It also has to be pointed out that Christianity was very small at this time and it faced very hostile opposition from the pagan world. The slave trade was at the foundation of the ancient economy and anything that opposes the economy was a direct enemy to the way of life of the Empire. Any meaningful societal change is not easy to enact and takes a level of doctrinal acceptance by the majority of people. To reduce Christianity to the level of a social reform movement would ultimately be disingenuous to its true nature and an act of ignorance to the fact that doctrine informs world view; in other words, Christian doctrine is important because it positively influences persons and society. In order for Christianity to end slavery, it needed to positively reform the hearts of people by bringing them to Christ who grants us true freedom from sin, death and the devil. Without the transformation of the individual, there can be no societal change and without Christian doctrine we revert back to dark pagan times—living, thinking and acting as if there is no God.