this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2026
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it wasnt until 1888 that the pope denounced slavery wholesale, until that point is was various manners of "fine long as they're treated right", then "fine long as they're not (white) christians", "fine long as they're christians", "fine long as it's punishment for a crime". etc.
Before Messianic times, the likes of Philo of Alexandria rejected slavery. And even in the early Messianic times (from a secular standpoint, this is when Christianity became a thing) there were abolitionists such as St Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century bishop.
Protestants were denouncing slavery in the 1700s, such as John Wesley and the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade being formed in the late 1700s by Quakers - which was originally a Christian denomination.
There's a 40~ minute documentary on the subject available here: https://youtu.be/kA0-21H1TtU
All of these claims could be true, but even so, it does not mean that the Bible rejects slavery or that the church has rejected slavery historically. Many of the churches in the American south explicitly endorse slavery before the civil war. Not only due to biblical scripture but in order to preserve their hierarchical society.
There are a number of lgbtq affirming churches today in America. Some are splitting up over this issue. I can point to verses in the Bible such as when Jesus tells people to become eunuchs or when Paul says "there is is neither Jew nor gentile nor male nor female" and say that the Bible allows lgbtq people to live normally. But if in 50 years, lgbtq people are accepted by the church, and I said that it was always that way, that would be intellectually dishonest. The tradition of eunuchs that people would point out in history was condemned by the council of Nicaea around 500 AD and marginalization would continue and has continued today. I'd be intellectually dishonest if I said that the church had always respected lgbtq people.
Likewise, it's the same with slavery. It wasn't condemned and it was supported by scriptures and the people who practice Christianity. Christian countries would conquer land and take slaves. It's intellectually dishonest to say that the church has always condemned slavery or that it was the majority position until recently.
You're right that the southern baptist convention happened and had doctrine over slavery - which they have repented and apologised for. The mainstream Catholic Protestant churches generally haven't been in favour of it as far as I know.
The LGBTQ issue is different - The Bible full on anathematises homosexuality, for example in 1 Corinthians 6:9, or Romans 1, stating that they "will not inherit the Kingdom of heaven" and categorises them with adulterers, idolaters, greedy, thieves, etc. St Paul asks Philemon to free Onesimus and doesn't - so such a condemnation was never issued against abolitionists.
Again, the transgender issue isn't full-on anathematised, except for perhaps an old law on cross-dressing which doesn't really hold much water due to it being OT in it's context. So I wouldn't say that such a thing would not be accepted, I think I'll depend on how much scientific and societal study of the subject will continue to evolve. I don't even know if it's possible to categorise an asexual/chaste transgender person as sinful (the reason I put that qualifier in would be if we can't know whether or not a trans woman is a woman theologically speaking, then her engaging with a man could be homosexuality, but likewise if she is, then her engaging with a woman can be of the same). I wouldn't really consider them to be living a life of sin as it's not specifically addressed nor condemned.
When Jesus was talking about Eunuchs, it was moreso celibacy than literally cutting off your genitals. And He doesn't command people to, he moreso asks for respect for those who do. This was after He was talking about marriage.
Oh, they said sorry. Isn't that nice of them. They still did it at the time. There were plenty of verses for them to pull support from.
I'm not going to defend the Southern Baptist Convention, lol. But it is worth noting that slavery had existed since civilisations have existed - likely before the first words of The Torah were ever penned. Despite it taking almost two millenia, Christianity was the force that generally stopped it around the time it gained the most influence, as well as the global reach of colonial empires, even if they were just acting to appease the voters back home - although it still exists underground.
It's quite silly to blame someone for partaking in a practice they didn't start, but eventually stopped.
If anything, you could probably argue that if Christianity didn't have the influence that it had, there'll still be slaves in our society today.