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Human trafficking causes untold suffering to millions throughout the world. From a Christian perspective it should go without saying that we ought to work towards the eradication of this evil. The Bible, however, which all Christian traditions recognize as normative for faith and practice, reflects an era in which slavery was regarded as the norm. This raises a question: can it have anything to say to the church about human trafficking, or should it be discarded as irrelevant and anachronistic? Drawing on history and literature to help us bridge the hermeneutical gap between the texts and our own age, this study presents an examination of key biblical material on slavery and prostitution. It suggests that the Bible does have much to say that can inform Christian responses to modern-day slavery in all its forms, including the sex industry into which so many victims of trafficking are sold.

In Setting the Captives Free Marion Carson sets out to answer the question, what does the Bible say about human trafficking? Aimed at Christian anti-trafficking activists and church groups, the book offers an overview of the biblical material on slavery and the sex trade. Acknowledging that there is a difference between the biblical worldview and most Christians today with regard to slavery, it suggests that we can learn much from the Abolitionists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Following their example, it reads the biblical text through the lens of the law of love. Each chapter provides study questions and is illustrated throughout.