The apostle Paul uses slavery as a primary and often positive way of talking about relationships.   Paul’s insensitivity to the plight of actual slaves has encouraged many Americans, African-Americans and feminists to name Paul as an enemy to their just causes.  It is popular to ignore the problem of slavery in Paul or Paul’s writing itself in order to avoid conflict.  However, other critics have found that Paul can lend exploited people power. Paul’s imagination about the future of the world can be a great beginning for a countercultural vision that can empower sufferers. If Paul can be a tool for those exploited by slavery and slavery-like practices, then modern thinkers are obligated to find a responsible way to use Paul in this cause. I also insist that we explore how former slaves have dealt with Paul’s talk of slavery in the past.  If modern thinkers wish to make Paul an ally in their arguments to benefit those exploited by slavery-like practices, they must be wary of his potential to corrupt their message with his biases of time and attitude. There is no forgetting the slavery in Paul’s message.

In my paper I demonstrate how the postmodern concept of ‘erasure’ exists at the popular level in the way Paul and his use of slavery is encountered in America. Applying the concept of ‘erasure’ to its popular use can reveal the impossibility of forgetting American slavery.  First, I introduce what Nancy Ambrose (a woman who directly experienced slavery in America) does to Paul in her reading of the Bible as what I will name a ‘tradition of erasure.’ Second, I use an academic tradition of close reading to highlight Paul’s use of the word ‘δοῦλος’ (slave) and how the concept of slavery in his work falls into two categories: a reflection of Paul’s attitude toward slaves and a metaphor for the Christ-following life. Third, I show how Nancy Ambrose’s ‘tradition of erasing’ Paul must be addressed if Americans are to read Paul as a source of hope and guidance in a pluralistic world.  Americans are products of a history that includes slavery and live in a world where people still experience slavery-like practices in various forms of human trafficking in a range of exploitative conditions.[1] If Paul is to be used in America or be of value to those who still experience the exploitations of slavery, the tension between Paul’s use of slavery in his writing and the realities of American slavery must be addressed.  While it is tempting to resolve this tension by attempting to forget either the memory of American slavery or the slavery in Paul’s writing, the concept of erasure teaches us that no force of amnesia can allow us to forget without knowing or know how to forget.

[1] Maggy Lee, “Understanding Human Trafficking,” in Human Trafficking (ed. Maggy Lee; Portland, Ore.: Willian Publishing, 2007), 3.

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