Slave Owners Heavily Edited ‘Slave Bible’ to Remove Passages That Might Encourage Uprisings

When 19th-century British missionaries arrived in the Caribbean to convert enslaved Africans, they came armed with a heavily edited version of the Bible. Any passage that might incite rebellion was removed; gone, for instance, were references to the exodus of enslaved Israelites from Egypt. Today, just three copies of the so-called “Slave Bible” are known to exist. Two are held in the United Kingdom, and one is currently on view at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Michel Martin reports for NPR.

The bible is the centerpiece of an exhibition titled Parts of the Holy Bible, selected for the use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islands, which explores how religion was used to bolster the economic interests of the British Empire.
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heavily-abridged-slave-bible-removed-passages-might-encourage-uprisings-180970989/#JOXJZfDf32RHhOFS.99
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