In the Gospel of Matthew 7:12, Jesus says: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
On April 18, 1688 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Jesus’s words in Matthew’s Gospel, became the underlying principle for the first written protest against slavery in the English colonies.
The Germantown settlers were disturbed that so many Philadelphia colonists owned slaves. For them, slavery was contrary to the teachings of the Bible, underscored in their 1688 petition: “There is a saying that we shall do to all men like as we will be done ourselves, making no difference of what generation, descent, or color they are.”
Engage with the Bible—in its influence on the social consciousness of people over the centuries!
On April 18, 1688 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Jesus’s words in Matthew’s Gospel, became the underlying principle for the first written protest against slavery in the English colonies.
The Germantown settlers were disturbed that so many Philadelphia colonists owned slaves. For them, slavery was contrary to the teachings of the Bible, underscored in their 1688 petition: “There is a saying that we shall do to all men like as we will be done ourselves, making no difference of what generation, descent, or color they are.”
Engage with the Bible—in its influence on the social consciousness of people over the centuries!
Share
More Book Minute Features
August 19, 2019
Hieroglyphic Bibles
Millions of Bibles are published each year for children — in all sizes, shapes and colors — in a variety of translations. But perhaps none are more in...
August 12, 2019
Wycliffe Translators Origins
In 1917, a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. He was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the...
August 05, 2019
Five Presidential Birthdays
Five former US presidents have birthdays in August, with the oldest being Benjamin Harrison, followed by Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton...