Question

The NT writers did not immediately condemn slavery and tell slaves to revolt because the _____ would have reacted by destroying the infant Church.

A) Roman authorities
B) Jewish leaders
C) Greek philosophers
D) Early Christian community

Answer 1

The New Testament writers did not condemn slavery immediately because they feared retaliation from the Roman authorities that could have destroyed the early Church.

Step-by-step explanation:

The New Testament writers did not immediately condemn slavery and tell slaves to revolt because they were concerned that the Roman authorities would have reacted by destroying the infant Church. During the first few centuries CE, Christianity was regarded with suspicion by the Roman Empire and on occasion was subject to persecution.

Christians were seen as a threat to the Roman order, particularly because of their refusal to partake in the state cults that honored Roman gods, and because they were understood to challenge the societal hierarchy of Rome. Moreover, the early Church was invested in survival and the spreading of its message rather than inciting immediate social upheaval.