Abstract
‘[S]implistic readings of Scripture are hindering a Christian response to human trafficking’ (p. xi). As a director of a Christian anti-trafficking agency, such a bold statement gets my attention! Not least because of the author’s personal involvement in anti-trafficking work. This initial provocation draws you in and the book’s genius is that it covers so many necessary angles of the subject matter. Without question it gives its readers a rounded comprehension of the sinister industry of human trafficking from a biblical perspective.
The author wishes to interface the contemporary problem of human trafficking with the bible to ask whether it has wisdom to undermine such societal wickedness. Following a definition and survey of what the current day problem is, Carson rewinds history to demonstrate what motivated the famous Christian Abolitionists from both America and Britain. Her discussion of how the American Abolitionists based their arguments on a reading of Scripture whereas their British counterparts did not, was a fascinating and illuminating encounter.
Carson’s honest revelation of shameful hermeneutical approaches, which perpetuated the plight of the slave trade from perceived seminal theologians, is more than a warning shot today across the Church’s bow. The warts of the Church’s past also make this a compelling read, albeit a shameful past in places. Repairing such readings of Scripture by revisiting the complex themes of ‘slavery’ and ‘prostitution’ are rich and resourceful. These analyses provide an intelligence and rigor in light of history that today’s Church requires.
The author simultaneously takes the reader on a journey through biblical hermeneutics, showing the value of the historical-critical method, but not ending there. Using the best of this method and combining it with the best of social-scientific, rhetorical and narrative criticism, and feminist hermeneutics, the reader is put through her paces as the difficulty of reading the bible in light of contemporary human trafficking becomes evident.
Not leaving readers confused, Carson instead articulates, with a deftness of touch, the necessity of reading the bible in view of human trafficking with an ‘intuitive hermeneutic’ (p. 6) that is redemptive in shape. For those seeking to energise the Church to tackle this vast, opaque, and systemic evil, this book will leave activists much better equipped. A worthy read!