Q
Why does doulos always have to be translated one way "as 'slave' " in every
place in the New Testament?
A
In the King James Version the word doulos is always translated as "servant."
This is consistent with the dictionary definition of a servant. Webster’s Dictionary
defines a servant as one who exerts himself for the benefit of another master as a
public servant, an official of a government. In the millennium, "we shall reign on the
earth" (Rev. 5:10). Revelation 20:4 says "and they Iived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years." So calling us "servants of Christ" or a public servant in an official
government is very accurate.
The word "slave" used by the NIV, NASB, and the New King James, is defined by
Webster’s Dictionary as a person held in bondage, a thrall, one who has lost control
of himself, no freedom of action, a drudge. Having been saved for twenty years, I
certainly would not describe my relationship with my beloved Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as someone who has "lost control, no freedom of action, a drudge," or
anything like that. The NIV and NASB, in Ephesians 6:6 and a number of other
places, calls us "slaves of Christ," instead of "servants of Christ." We know that we
are "servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6). We do it
because we love him and because we want to do it. In occult and New Age circles,
they slanderously call Christians "slaves." The San Antonio Express News reported of
this "anti-Christian" graffiti written on an altar where satanic sacrifices took place.
The move of new versions toward words that are slanderous "i.e., calling Christians
“slaves”", is not a move in the right direction.
COMMENT: I would like to share something else with you based
on slaves and servants that I read in the Compton's Encyclopedia
which I thought was very interesting.
"The uninterrupted history of blacks in the United States
began in 1619, when 20 Africans were landed in the English
colony of Virginia. These blacks were not slaves but indentured
servants, persons bound to an employer for a limited number of
years, as were many of the white settlers. By the 1660s large
numbers of Africans were being brought to the English colonies.
In 1790 blacks numbered almost 760,000 and made up nearly one
fifth of the population of the United States.
"Attempts to hold black servants beyond the normal term of
indenture culminated in the legal establishment of black slavery
in Virginia in 1661 and in all the English colonies by 1750. The
blacks were easily distinguished by their color from the rest of
the population, making them highly visible targets for
enslavement. Moreover, the belief that they were an inferior
race with a heathen culture made it easier for whites to
rationalize black slavery. The enslaved blacks, who came from
populous agricultural societies, were profitably put to work
clearing and cultivating the farmlands of the New World."
(Bolded emphasis mine)
Compton's Encyclopedia
Black Americans or Africian Americans
Darwin thought that blacks were closer to the monkey than the
white man and hence evolution teaches that blacks are more
inferior than the white man but common sense will teach you
otherwise. White or black man is depraved, evil because of sin
not skin. We are of one race, the human race and it has all
fallen and redemption, hope is in Jesus Christ.
