ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the relationship between early Christian ethics and slaveholding was quite comfortable and accommodating—for those in positions of power. It provides a more detailed comparison of early Christian interpretations of the curse and specifically to relate it to the concept of sin and the treatment of slaves. Marriage, slavery, and imperial government are therefore fully analogous to one another in Chrysostom's hamartiology and social ethics. In terms of imperial governance, Chrysostom acknowledges that although pious Christians respect the law they have no need of it since they can live a life free from sin with absolute self-governance. The link between slavery and sin had very real consequences for the punishment and rewarding of slaves. Notions of reward and punishment, which are essentially doulological discourses, were therefore very influential in the making of early Christian eschatology.
