Apostle Paul Slavery

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Ephesians about 60AD and it’s important to point out Paul’s initial motives to serve God were improperly demonstrated as pointed out by Duvall and Hayes (2012) “He used to get papers from the Jewish high priest authorizing him to imprison Christians” (p.118). While there is according to Snodgrass (1996) a debate over authorship of Ephesians, most academic scholars insist the Apostle Paul is the author (p.23-25).
In the letters which are almost two thousand years old, there is also a debate over the ultimate destination, and the possibility that the letter was to be circular in nature and shared throughout the region. Nonetheless, it appears the region surrounding Ephesus is the intended biblical audience.
In today’s society slaves are non-existent and viewed as barbaric. However, the view of slaves was dissimilar as mentioned here by Ferguson (2003), “Slavery was a basic element in ancient society” and “was very extensive in both the Hellenistic and Roman periods, as the large number of prisoners of war made slaves cheap in Hellenistic Greece and republican Rome” (p.56). Further, the number of slaves in a residence in Rome was said to have been one in every five. Slaves who were freed gained their freedom and it’s also important to mention as some slaves were freed, their skill and diligent work enabled them to become
There was an importance also demonstrated in the relationships with a patron and client and the welcoming into the home was no exception. Ferguson (2003) explains, “The relationships operated on all levels and in various groupings: between formers masters and freedmen, rich and poor, generals and conquered peoples. “The interactions between patrons and clients and between members of a household represented the principle vertical relationships in society; friendship was the ideal horizontal relationship”