by Fr. Stephen Freeman
Αncient faith / Glory 2 God for all things
Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries
One of the most rewarding aspects of reading historical material is how
it reveals the human mind even at a great remove from our own. There is
a myth in our culture that history is the story of progress. It
presumes that only in our modern times have we begun to free ourselves
from the false ideas of the past. What you discover when you actually
read historical materials is that many of the worst ideas ever espoused
were specifically “modern” ideas (eugenics, racial superiority,
abortion, euthanasia, etc.).
Occasionally, you come across a
piece of ancient writing that simply shatters these false assumptions. A
case-in-point is this excerpt from St. Gregory of Nyssa’s fourth homily
on Ecclesiastes. He is writing in the 4th century, A.D., when the
Church is squarely in the Byzantine period. The homily is a commentary
on Ecclesiastes 2:7 in which the writer describes his growing wealth and
his acquisition of slaves. Nyssa uses the occasion for the most
scathing critique of slavery in the annals of Christian preaching. It
shows a wonderful clarity of theological insight and understanding –
something that would and should have been available and understood both
by his contemporaries and by Christians of all times. He did not invent
this understanding – he simply demonstrates that its ideas are timeless
and not the product of some later historical progress.
There is truth. It abides. There is sin. It obscures.
From the 4th Homily on Ecclesiastes – St. Gregory of Nyssa
Ecclesiastes 2:7
I got me slaves and slave-girls,
and homebred slaves were born for me,
and much property in cattle and sheep became mine.
The writer of Ecclesiastes sets out in careful order virtually
everything in his own experience through which the futility of our
activities in this life is known. But at this point he touches on what
appears to be a more serious piece of evidence from his deeds through
which he can be accused of the affliction of arrogant pride. What is
there in what he has laid before us so far which leads to such a level
of conceit? He has told us about a valuable house, an abundance of
vines, elegant gardens and water features, nicely constructed swimming
pools, extensive beautiful parkland. Yet, none of this can compare to
his presumption that, as a human being he believes he can lord it over
people who in essence are just like him. Because then he goes on to say:
“I got me slaves and slave-girls, and homebred slaves were born for
me”.
Do you detect the excessive arrogance? An utterance like
this shows that he is exalting himself against God. We know from the
words of the prophets that absolutely everything is subject to the
supreme authority in the universe (Psalm 119/118.91). But this man
counts as his own what truly belongs to God and gives to the likes of
himself the kind of power which makes him think that he can be the
master of men and women. When he sees himself as so different from those
who are subject to him one can only conclude that pride has led him to
go beyond what is appropriate for his nature.
“I got me slaves
and slave-girls.” You are condemning to slavery human beings whose
nature is free and characterized by free will. You are making laws that
rival the law of God, overturning the law appropriate for humankind.
Human beings were created specifically to have dominion over the earth;
it was determined by their creator that they should exercise authority.
Yet you place them under the yoke of slavery, as though you are opposing
and fighting against the divine decree.
Have you forgotten the
limits of your authority? Your rule is limited to control of irrational
creatures. In scripture we read: “let them rule over birds and fish and
four-footed creatures”. (Gen 1.26) How then do you go beyond what is
subject to you and exalt yourself against a nature which is free,
counting people like you among four-footed or footless creatures. “You
subjected everything to humankind” declares the scripture through
prophecy and it goes on to list what is under human control: domestic
animals, cattle and sheep. (Psalm 8/7.8) Surely human beings have not
been born to you from domestic animals? Surely cattle have not given
birth to human offspring? Irrational creatures alone are subject to
humankind. “He makes grass grow for animals and green plants for
people’s slaves”. (Psalm 104/103.14) . But you have torn apart the
nature of slavery and lordship and made the same thing at one and the
same time enslaved to itself and lord of itself.
“I got me
slaves and slave-girls.” Tell me what sort of price you paid. What did
you find in creation with a value corresponding to the nature of your
purchase? What price did you put on rationality? For how many obols did
you value the image of God? For how many coins did you sell this nature
formed by God? God said: “Let us make human beings in our own image and
likeness” (Gen 1.26). When we are talking about one who is in the image
of God, who has dominion over the whole earth and who has been granted
by God authority over everything on the earth, tell me, who is the
seller and who the buyer? Only God has this kind of power, or, one might
almost say, not even God. For scripture says that the gifts of God are
irrevocable (Romans 11.29). God would not make a slave of humankind. It
was God who, through his own will, called us back to freedom when we
were slaves of sin. If God does not enslave a free person, then who
would consider their own authority higher than God’s?
How can
people be sold who have dominion over the earth and everything on the
earth? It is essential that the assets of people being sold are sold
with them. How can we value the contents of the whole earth (Genesis
1.26)? If these are beyond any valuation then tell me, what is the value
of the one who is over them? If you said “the world in its entirety”,
even then you would not have found anything approximating to the value
(Matthew 16.26; Mark 8.36). Someone knowing the true value of human
nature said that not even the whole world is worth enough to be given in
exchange for the human soul. So when a human being is for sale, it is
nothing other than the lord of the earth being brought to the auction
room. This means that creation as we know it is at the same time being
put up for public sale. That is earth, sea and islands and all that is
in them. How then is the purchaser going to settle the payment? What
will the vendor accept considering the greatness of the property
involved in the transaction?
Did the little notebook, the
written agreement and the calculation in obols trick you into thinking
that you could be master of the image of God? What utter folly! If the
contract was lost, if the writing was eaten by moths, if a drop of water
fell on it and washed it away, where is there any proof that you have a
slave? Where is there anything that supports you in being a master? You
have somebody who is named as your subordinate, but beyond the mere
name I see nothing.
What
did such power add to your real nature? It did not give you extra years
or any genuine superiority. Your lineage is still human, your life is
similar, the sufferings of the soul and the body prevail upon you both
in the same way, with you as master and another in subjugation you are
still both affected by agony and delight, gladness and distress, sorrow
and joy, anger and fear, disease and death. Surely there is no
distinction in such things between slave and master? Do they not draw in
the same air when they breathe? Do they not see the sun in a similar
way? Do they not both sustain their life by taking in nourishment? Is
not the make-up of their bodily organs the same? Do they not both return
to the same dust after death? Do they not both face one and the same
judgment? Is not the prospect of heaven and hell the same for them both?
So when you are equivalent in every way, tell me in what
particular way you have more so that you think you can become master of
another human being even though you are a human being yourself. “I got
me”, you say, “slaves and slave-girls,” as though they were a herd of
goats or swine. After saying “I got me slaves and slave-girls,” he added
the good cheer that comes through flocks and herds. For he says “And
much property in cattle and sheep became mine”, as though animals and
slaves were subject to his authority to an equal degree.
This text is copied from the website Early Church Texts – edited by Revd Andrew Maguire.
