My husband, Mike, read and reviewed this book.
John MacArthur writes in Slave, his newest book, that we are called as Christians to be slaves of Christ. The idea and word "slave" is the exact interpretation from the Greek and the one Paul uses over and over again in the NT. Paul identifies himself with this word in several opening statements including the opening of Romans; "I Paul a slave of Christ Jesus." This to me is a much more powerful statement than “servant”, especially after reading the true meaning of slave during this period of time.
The word is doulos from the Greek and translates exactly as “slave”. The original translators, including those of the Geneva Bible, used the word servant instead of slave for 1) the negative association with slave and 2) coupled with the Latin word “servus,” it usually depicted a person in prison or in chains…also, not an accurate description of what Paul was saying.
Paul’s idea was this, we are not hired (servant) but owned (slave). This is the image that the Bible portrays 124 times in the original text.
Of course MacArthur moves through the book describing in great detail what it meant to be a slave in Roman times and how that applies to Christians today. He takes us through the history, through the writers who used the word, and the idea of if we are slaves, who is the master.
There are notations at the bottom of the book so it feels much like a term paper from college. Don’t allow this to dissuade you from reading though. For me, it read much better than any paper I ever wrote in college or read otherwise. This is a fantastic book that doesn’t read like other theology books I have read. It’s a couple of hundred pages of what one word should mean in every Christian’s life.
Thomas Nelson provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through the booksneeze blogging program.
1 comment:
May I suggest you check out the endnotes in SLAVE? They are important because nearly all of these referebces lead to heretical works of modernist and postmodern scholars who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. Some of these “scholars” are in fact rabidly anti-Christian, and their works, which Macarthur recommends as authoritative, are filled with slander and blasphemy of the Lord Jesus Christ. One homosexual scholar cited by Macarthur wrote a blasphemous book which attempts to prove that Jesus was a homosexual. (Sex and the Single Savior) Other liberal scholars quoted by Macarthur claim that Christians in the early Church, including the Apostles, not only condoned the institution of slavery but were abusive and immoral slave owners and slave traders just like Roman slave owners/traders. For documentation, read this critical review:
“PAGANIZING” THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: PART 2 - JOHN MACARTHUR’S “SLAVE” BOOK
http://watch-unto-prayer.org/macarthur-2-slave-book.html
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