For three centuries, corsairs from the Barbary Coast of North Africa raided Europe and carried Christians into slavery — by one contested estimate, as many as a million. It's one of the least-known chapters in the whole history of slavery.
Does the Bible endorse slavery? It's one of the most common objections to Christianity. A closer look at the text — and at history — tells a more surprising story than most people expect.
Amazing Grace was written by John Newton — a former slave-ship captain who came to believe he'd been rescued from the very trade he once ran. The story behind the hymn is stranger, and darker, than most people know.
William Wilberforce gave more than forty years to ending British slavery — driven, by his own account, by his Christian faith. He died three days after learning he had finally won.
C.S. Lewis loved myths but called them lies. Then a late-night walk with J.R.R. Tolkien reframed the one objection keeping him from Christianity — and a motorcycle ride sealed it.
