However, in addition to these two conflicting positions regarding slavery--abolition or approval--some 18th and 19th century Christians attempted to occupy the middle ground, seeking to ameliorate (spiritually) the situation of the enslaved without calling for the outright abolition of slavery.
One example of an individual attempting to hold to this "middle-of-the-road" position would be the British pastor and hymn-writer John Newton (1725-1807). Best known today as the author of the words to the beloved hymn "Amazing Grace," Newton lived an extremely dissolute life before a dramatic conversion experience (see this article for details on Newton's life). At the time of his conversion, Newton was serving as an officer on a ship transporting enslaved Africans. However, his new-found faith did not actually cause him to question the morality of slavery. In fact, for the next few years, he would serve as the captain of two slave ships. As Chris Armstrong of the Christian History Institute tells us, "though he disliked the inconvenience and the dangers of the [slave] trade, [Newton] still accepted it as an honorable profession, as did the rest of 'polite' 18th century society." At the same time, however, Newton hoped "as a Christian to restrain the worse excesses of the slave trade, 'promoting the life of God in the soul' of both his crew and his African cargo" ("John Newton: Reformed Slave Trader," Christianity Today).
A somewhat similar approach was taken by the British Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves. According to author Brigit Katz, "the missionaries associated with this movement sought to teach enslaved Africans [in the British West Indies] how to read, with the ultimate goal of introducing them to Christianity. But they had to be careful not to run afoul of farmers who were wary of the revolutionary implications of educating their enslaved workforce." As a result, in 1807 the society published a heavily abridged version of the Bible, one from which passages that could possibly encourage slaves to seek their freedom had been removed. For example, the society deleted verses such as Galatians 3:28 ("In Christ is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" NIV, emphasis mine)--which implied that slaves and their masters were equal before God. Not only were individual verses removed, but even whole passages. For instance, the entire account of Moses leading the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, which appears in the Old Testament book of Exodus, was also redacted. In fact, about 90% of the Old Testament and around 50% of the New Testament was deleted from this "Slave Bible" (see Michel Martin, "Slave Bible from the 1800s Omitted Key Passages That Could Incite Rebellion, NPR, December 9, 2018). In other words, instead of the 66 chapters found in the Protestant Bible, this version of the Bible only featured parts of 14 chapters! At the same time, according to Katz, "missionaries emphasized passages that encouraged subservience, such as Ephesians 6:5," which urges slaves to be obedient to their masters "as unto Christ."
Nevertheless, the moral contradictions involved in this "middle position" regarding slavery were ultimately not sustainable, at least not for John Newton. In his later years, "through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the help of his young protege [the British politician William Wilberforce,] Newton came to see the depth of the slave trade's sinfulness" (Armstrong). "In 1787 Newton wrote Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade to help [Wilberforce's] campaign to end the practice--'a business at which my heart now shudders,' he wrote." ("John Newton: Reformed Slave Trader"). He also testified at hearings of the British Parliament against the slave trade. As it would turn out, he would live just long enough to see the slave trade--but not slavery itself--abolished in the British Empire, in 1807--ironically, the same year the "Slave Bible" was published!
Image of John Newton from Wikimedia Commons