1807 – the year that saw the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in England, also saw the first edition of another significant document: ‘Selected Parts of the Holy Bible for the Use of the Negro Slaves in the British West-India Islands‘, otherwise knowns as ‘The Slave Bible‘.
Commissioned by the Society for the Conversion and Religious Education of Negro Slaves, the full title (above) should warn the reader of its sparse contents. But if it was just a matter of sparse contents, the book could maybe pass without much comment. However, it is the matter of what was selected to remain in the Slave Bible and what was selected to go that reveals a devilish motive.
Parts of the Bible that speak of freedom, for example, God rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt, laws about releasing slaves, Psalms that cry out to God for help, verses that state how in Christ Jesus there is no hierarchy of people, are noticeably missing from the Slave Bible. Instead, there is focus on obedience and obeying the law. With the book of Revelation missing, the Slave Bible does not even end with hope for a new heaven and new earth.
In fact, the Society believed so much needed to be removed, that the Slave Bible can only boast of 11.5% of the Old Testament, and an even more pathetic 10.4% of the New Testament. With these fundamental changes, one thing should be clear, the Slave Bible does not present a balanced view of Christianity as simply, it is not the Holy Bible.
The table below gives a breakdown of the missing chapters in the Slave Bible, or for a full PDF comparison, click here.
| No. | Book | Chapters in Standard Bible | Chapters in Slave Bible | % of Standard Book |
| 1 | Genesis | 50 | 14 | 28% |
| 2 | Exodus | 40 | 2 | 5% |
| 3 | Leviticus | 27 | 0 | 0% |
| 4 | Numbers | 36 | 0 | 0% |
| 5 | Deuteronomy | 34 | 8 | 23.5% |
| 6 | Joshua | 24 | 0 | 0% |
| 7 | Judges | 21 | 0 | 0% |
| 8 | Ruth | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 9 | 1 Samuel | 31 | 2 | 6.5% |
| 10 | 2 Samuel | 24 | 0 | 0% |
| 11 | 1 Kings | 22 | 5 | 22.7% |
| 12 | 2 Kings | 25 | 2 | 8% |
| 13 | 1 Chronicles | 29 | 1 | 3.4% |
| 14 | 2 Chronicles | 36 | 0 | 0% |
| 15 | Ezra | 10 | 0 | 0% |
| 16 | Nehemiah | 13 | 0 | 0% |
| 17 | Esther | 10 | 0 | 0% |
| 18 | Job | 42 | 6 | 14.3% |
| 19 | Psalms | 150 | 0 | 0% |
| 20 | Proverbs | 31 | 24 | 77.4% |
| 21 | Ecclesiastes | 12 | 12 | 100% |
| 22 | Song of Solomon | 8 | 0 | 0% |
| 23 | Isaiah | 66 | 16 | 24.2% |
| 24 | Jeremiah | 52 | 0 | 0% |
| 25 | Lamentations | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| 26 | Ezekiel | 48 | 0 | 0% |
| 27 | Daniel | 12 | 9 | 75% |
| 28 | Hosea | 14 | 3 | 21.4% |
| 29 | Joel | 3 | 2 | 66.7% |
| 30 | Amos | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| 31 | Obadiah | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 32 | Jonah | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 33 | Micah | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| 34 | Nahum | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 35 | Habakkuk | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 36 | Zephaniah | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 37 | Haggai | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 38 | Zechariah | 14 | 0 | 0% |
| 39 | Malachi | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 40 | Matthew | 28 | 28 | 100% |
| 41 | Mark | 16 | 0 | 0% |
| 42 | Luke | 24 | 24 | 100% |
| 43 | John | 21 | 6 | 28.6% |
| 44 | Acts | 28 | 28 | 100% |
| 45 | Romans | 16 | 2 | 12.5% |
| 46 | 1 Corinthians | 16 | 5 | 31.3% |
| 47 | 2 Corinthians | 13 | 2 | 15.4% |
| 48 | Galatians | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| 49 | Ephesians | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| 50 | Philippians | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| 51 | Colossians | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 52 | 1 Thessalonians | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| 53 | 2 Thessalonians | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 54 | 1 Timothy | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| 55 | 2 Timothy | 4 | 3 | 75% |
| 56 | Titus | 3 | 2 | 66.7% |
| 57 | Philemon | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 58 | Hebrews | 13 | 5 | 38.5% |
| 59 | James | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| 60 | 1 Peter | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| 61 | 2 Peter | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 62 | 1 John | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| 63 | 2 John | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 64 | 3 John | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 65 | Jude | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 66 | Revelation | 22 | 0 | 0% |