A Defence of Virginia: And Through Her, of the South, in Recent and Pending Contests Against the Sectional PartyDabney, Robert Lewis
History
A Defence of Virginia: And Through Her, of the South, in Recent and Pending Contests Against the Sectional Party
Dabney, Robert Lewis
Slavery -- Justification; Slavery -- United States; Slavery -- United States -- History; Slavery -- Virginia
trivial child's play. It takes away with one hand what it professed to
give with the other. The fact that slavery continued to exist from age
to age, is proof enough that the Hebrews did not put the Abolitionist
construction on the law. To this agree the respectable Hebrew
antiquarians, as Horne, etc.
Fifth. It is urged that Revelation was in its plan progressive, like
the morning twilight; that the Mosaic code was the early dawn; that
God, for wise reasons, left many points in darkness, which the full
daylight of the Gospel has since shown to be sin. And, therefore,
several practices, which we are now taught to be sinful, may have been
ignorantly followed by good men, and tolerated by this imperfect
legislation of God's law. Yet if we, who enjoy a fuller revelation,
should indulge in these practices, we should be guilty and
disobedient.
Grant this, for the present. Grant, for argument's sake, that it may
have been consistent with the plan of revelation to make known at
first only a partial rule of duty, leaving some sins unmentioned. Yet
surely it was not consistent with the truth and holiness of God, to
throw a false light in that partial revelation, on those parts of
man's duty which he professed to reveal! So far as any revelation from
God goes, it must be a true and righteous one. If it undertook to fix
a point of duty, it must fix it correctly, whatever else it might
omit. Otherwise; we should have a holy, true, and good Creator, while
professing to guide man to duty and life, misleading him to sin and
death. Let now the reader note that the lawfulness of slavery was not
one of the points omitted. God spake expressly upon it; and what he
said was to authorize it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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