The Concept of Christianity in Texts and Biographies

Subject: Religion
Pages: 2
Words: 350
Reading time:
2 min

The three texts where Christianity and being a Christian are two of the most important elements in terms of narration are Cugoano, De Crevecoeur, and Sancho. The relation between slavery and Christianity in these texts is rather close because each of these three authors raises the concept of the unity of the human race and how the alleged African inferiority destroys it. Therefore, infidel philosophers could be perceived as the key actors in the development of anti-African clauses that promoted slavery and reduced the value of Christianity. De Crevecoeur and Cugoano appealed to Christianity because equal rights could be synonymous with common humanity, which also meant that the majority of the liberties available to humans were the gifts of the Creator that could not be taken away by a human. Sancho considered that there were no lawful prerequisites to either a person selling themselves into slavery or any other individual forcefully depriving them of their freedom. For all three authors, it is important to be Christian because it gives them the strength to believe in the power of God unremittingly.

Authors knowingly use the concept of Christian benevolence to prove that slavery is wrong, while also striving to achieve both physical and spiritual redemption for African slaves. According to Cugoano, slavery had to be abolished because no sin could justify slavery, especially knowing that the majority of masters tried to stay away from the Gospel. Such an appeal to Christianity in the three texts mentioned above was an attempt to show that conversion to Christianity could become the key means of damaging the slaves’ servility. Without Christianity, such arguments would not become as powerful because Black Christianity quickly became a trend that could not be stopped, even if it was only for slaves who praised God through the Gospel. The only downside to invoking Christianity could be the development of excessive anti-slavery activism that could have established a reversely racist environment. The social implications of the Gospel and Black Christianity turned out to be one of the strongest moving powers for anti-slavery trends.