Slavery was considered standard operating procedure in the ancient world. It was deemed necessary to make the mighty Roman Empire economy go. Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335-ca. 395) was a rare dissenting voice who railed against slavery in sermons and writings. His argument was rather simple. Since the first chapter of Genesis makes plain that God makes people in his image, they are God’s property and cannot properly belong to anyone else. Gregory said in a sermon, “If we are in the image of God, then who is his buyer, tell me? Who is his seller? To God alone belongs this power, or rather, not even to God himself, for his gracious gifts, it says, are irrevocable. God would not therefore reduce the human race to slavery, since he himself, when we had been enslaved to sin, spontaneously recalled us to faith. If God did not enslave what is free, who is he that sets his own powers against God’s?”
Gregory of Nyssa, along with his brother Basil and another Gregory (of Nazianzus) are called the Cappadocian fathers (Cappadocia was a region in modern-day Turkey). These three early church leaders articulated a thorough understanding of the nature of our Trinitarian God. Their theology is not merely academic; it bears upon God’s people to obey this triune God in condemning slavery. God not only heals the breach caused by sin but also calls people to account for every sin perpetrated against our fellow creatures. Gregory leads us to pray: