Slave, by John MacArthur
Author and pastor John MacArthur’s motivation for writing Slave stems from his realization of the softening of the English translation of slavery references in the Bible (“slave” is often translated as “servant”) and his view of the importance of the concept of slavery (to God) in Biblical Christianity. He establishes the premise that being a Christian is equivalent to being owned by Christ as His slave. MacArthur is a strong proponent of the lordship salvation view. But Christ is not only our Owner and Master; He is also our Father. MacArthur devotes two chapters to the adoption of God’s children. He also touches upon slavery in connection with future accountability before Christ, heavenly citizenship, freedom, equality, grace, and salvation.
This insightful, informative book was well-researched with its tightly interwoven, well-chosen references, inclusion of historical figures, and description of slavery in the first century AD. One of the chapters worthy of review is the ninth, as the comparison is made between the purchasing of a slave at a market and the redeeming of a child of God.
Although MacArthur makes a lot of good points about the relevance of the concept of slavery within Christianity, in part of the fifth chapter, his bias toward lordship salvation and criticism of the opposing view and modern evangelicalism may not convince readers who do not readily adopt the lordship salvation viewpoint or who may see themselves painted (and possibly not holistically or fairly) within the (perhaps partially tangential) negative description.
Even if a reader is not one to retain all of the information or is not sold-out on the lordship salvation perspective, though, s/he could still benefit by giving more thought to the idea of slavery to Christ, an idea that seems not to be emphasized within Christianity. I would recommend this unique book but not to people who might wrongly interpret the intended message to use it as an excuse for treating another person in an unfairly subservient manner. The book is not promoting modern day slavery in the typically understood sense of the word, but it is promoting slavery to God.
You may see a sample chapter of this book here.
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Disclosure: I received a free e-book from the publisher in exchange for this review.
For more information, a preview, and a video clip, see the details on the Thomas Nelson website.
Image from Booksneeze.
