Few topics are more distorted in public debate than slavery—especially its relationship to Scripture and Western history. When viewed through the lens of Scripture and credible historical research, the picture becomes far more complex—and, in many cases, radically different from the cultural narrative promulgated by many far-left progressives.

Here are seven myths that need to be challenged, each grounded in biblical truth and supported with historical data.

The Bible Condones Slavery

Scripture’s storyline consistently moves toward liberation, human dignity, and equality in Christ—not the perpetuation of bondage.

Slaveholders in the American South understood this, which is why they forbade enslaved people from reading, as a plain reading of Scripture undermined slavery itself. Consider:

Exodus: the world’s most influential liberation narrative.

Philemon 16: Paul urges receiving Onesimus “no longer as a slave… but as a beloved brother.”

Galatians 3:28: status distinctions collapse in Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:21: the enslaved are urged to gain freedom whenever possible.

John 8:36: “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

These passages became the theological backbone of evangelical abolitionism in Britain and America.

Biblical Slavery Was Identical to American Chattel Slavery

This is historically and legally false.

In the ancient Near East, servitude often emerged from war captivity, debt, or famine-relief contracts, not racial ideology. Mosaic Law restricted power and protected the vulnerable:

Debt service was time-limited for the Hebrews.

Runaway slaves were not returned (Deut. 23:15–16).

Servants received Sabbath rest and legal protection.

This bears no resemblance to race-based, hereditary, property-in-persons chattel slavery in the American South.

(For ancient slavery’s complexity, see the British Museum and Oxford Classical Dictionary.)

Slavery Was Always About Skin Color

Before the transatlantic trade, slavery was not racial—it was universal.

In the Roman Empire, it was primarily a legal and economic status unrelated to ethnicity. Standard scholarly estimates:

Italy (late Republic / early Empire): 20–30% enslaved

Empire-wide (Late Antiquity): 10–15% enslaved

These numbers reflect a diverse, multi-ethnic slave population.

Thomas Sowell summarizes it well:

To many people today, slavery means white people holding black people in bondage. The vast millions of people … who were neither white nor black fade out of this vision.

The American racialization of slavery was a late and tragic innovation, not the norm of world history.

All European-Americans Supported Slavery

Utterly false.

The Union mobilized millions to destroy the Confederacy and end legal slavery.

Approximately 400 thousand white Northern soldiers died in that cause.

Evangelical preachers such as Charles Finney during the 2nd Great Awakening in the USA tied revival preaching to abolition.

Furthermore, only 20–25% of white Southern households owned slaves (varying from 3% in Delaware to nearly 50% in Mississippi). The idea of monolithic white support ignores the entire abolitionist movement and the Union war effort.

(For detailed myth-busting, see PolitiFact’s synthesis of census evidence.)

Slavery Began With Western Europeans in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Historically false.

Slavery is as old as civilization—from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Greece and Rome. It was the Enlightenment’s rediscovery of pagan philosophers like Aristotle (“natural slaves”) that ironically helped justify the practice for some Europeans. Also, many Muslim nations practiced slavery centuries before the large-scale European transatlantic slave trade began in the 16th century (The Trans-Saharan or Eastern slave trade is recognized as the longest in history, spanning over 1000 years)

In West and Central Africa, African rulers and traders sold war captives or kidnapped persons to European slavers.

Indigenous civilizations in the Americas also practiced forms of coerced labor:

Aztec Mexico: tlacotin slavery—non-hereditary, gained by war or debt.

Inca Andes: mit’a labor draft—coerced labor for the state, not chattel slavery.

North America: captive-taking and hereditary slavery was practiced among some Indian nations.

Western Europeans participated in and expanded slavery, but they did not invent it. Ironically, Britain became the world’s leading abolitionist force, outlawing the trade in 1807 and deploying its navy on African coasts for decades to suppress it.

Yet it was Christian reformers, not pagan philosophers or muslims, who birthed the modern abolition movement.

(For global antiquity surveys, see Britannica and the British Museum.)

Slavery Is a Thing of the Past

Unfortunately, there are more slaves today than at any point in modern history.

Believing it is a thing of the past is the most dangerous myth of all because it blinds us to the suffering happening right now.

According to the Global Slavery Index (Walk Free Foundation, 2023):

Approximately 50 million people live in modern slavery today: 28 million in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriages (many involving minors). This is a staggering increase—10 million more people enslaved than in 2016.

Additional international data:

ILO (International Labour Organization, 2022):

1 in every 150 people in the world is currently enslaved.

Forced labor generates $236 billion annually for exploiters.

UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2023):

Human trafficking cases have risen on every continent.

Sex trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise globally.

Why is global slavery worse now?

Population explosion: More people = more exploitable poor.

Weak law enforcement: Many nations lack the resources to fight trafficking.

Conflict and displacement: Refugee crises create massive vulnerability.

Digital exploitation: Technology enables the recruitment, coercion, and sale of victims.

Global supply chains: Forced labor is embedded in agriculture, mining, construction, and manufacturing.

Historically, slavery was legal but localized. Today, it is illegal but globalized, hidden, profitable, and expanding. By every credible measurement, the raw number of enslaved human beings is larger than at any time in recorded history.

Biblical Dominion Was Never Over People

Genesis 1:28 grants humans dominion over the earth—not over other human beings. Once the earth was populated, the term “dominion” was never used again in Scripture.

From Abraham’s call to bless the nations (Gen. 12:1–3) to Jesus’ proclamation of liberty (Luke 4:18), Scripture consistently pushes history toward freedom, justice, and the dignity of God’s image-bearers. The modern church must not merely critique past bondage—we must confront present chains: like forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and child enslavement.

The gospel compels us to act: to proclaim liberty, defend the oppressed, and embody the kingdom through sacrificial love. Consequently, true influence is not through domination—it is self-giving service modeled by Christ.

Joseph Mattera is an internationally known author, futurist, interpreter of culture and activist/theologian whose mission is to influence leaders who influence nations. To order one of his books or to subscribe to his weekly newsletter go to www.josephmattera.org.