Rev. Thornton Stringfellow (1788-1869) pastored Stevensburg Baptist Church in Culpepper County, Virginia and in 1856 published "A Scriptural View" as a source for the Biblical justification of slavery. In brief, he stated that slavery had the sanction of God in the Patriarchal Age (from Abraham to Moses), Christ never prohibited slavery but in fact regulated its duties, and, lastly, slavery provided mercy to the heathens. For many Christians, slavery could not be reconciled with Christianity. Views like Stringfellow's, common in many southern churches, were part of what led so many denominations to split.

For more information on proslavery arguments in the Bible, visit http://members.aol.com/bibletells/ proslavery.htm.