A SLAVE CATECHISM
Control of the slave was exercised through religion, whether encouraged as a type of escape from the trouble of the world or used as a form of indoctrination. The all-slave church gave birth to the spirituals with their apparent emphasis on a promised land in the hereafter. The spirituals, however, may not have been so "otherworldly" as, at first blush, they sounded. They were susceptible of double meanings, and undoubtedly many slaves interpreted the language of the spirituals in a manner unsuspected by white listeners. In slave-attended churches with white pastors, a special catechism, of which the following is an example, was prepared for the darker brother.
Q. WHO KEEPS THE SNAKES AND ALL BAD THINGS FROM HURTING YOU?
A. GOD DOES.
"Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live."He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm." (Acts 28:3-5)
Q. WHO GAVE YOU A MASTER AND A MISTRESS?
A. GOD GAVE THEM TO ME.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity
of heart,
just as you would obey Christ.
(Eph.
6:5)
Q. WHO SAYS YOU MUST OBEY THEM?
A. GOD SAYS I MUST.
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord." (Col. 3:22) "Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back..." (Ti. 2:9)
Q. WHAT BOOK TELLS YOU THESE THINGS?
A. THE BIBLE
Q. HOW DOES GOD DO ALL HIS WORK?
A. HE ALWAYS DOES IT RIGHT.
God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. (Gen. 1:25)
Q. DOES GOD LOVE TO WORK?
A. YES, GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen. 2:2-3)
Q. DO THE ANGELS WORK?
A. YES, THEY DO WHAT GOD TELLS THEM.
Q. DO THEY LOVE TO WORK?
A. YES, THEY LOVE TO PLEASE GOD.
"Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word." (Ps. 103:20)
Q. WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT YOUR WORK?
A. HE THAT WILL NOT WORK SHALL NOT EAT.
"For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. (2 Thess. 3:10-11)
Q. DID ADAM AND EVE HAVE TO WORK?
A. YES, THEY HAD TO KEEP THE GARDEN.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. (Gen. 3:15)
Q. WAS IT HARD TO KEEP THE GARDEN?
A. NO, IT WAS EASY.
Q. WHAT MAKES THE CROPS SO HARD TO GROW NOW?
A. SIN MAKES IT.
Q. WHAT MAKES YOU LAZY?
A. MY WICKED HEART.
Q. HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR HEART IS WICKED?
A. I FEEL IT EVERYDAY.
"Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? (Acts 5:3)
Q. WHO TEACHES YOU SO MANY WICKED THINGS?
A. THE DEVIL.
Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. (Luke 22:3)
Q. MUST YOU LET THE DEVIL TEACH YOU?
A. NO, I MUST NOT.
*The Negro American: A Documentary History, copyright 1967