The 1861 Statement

Although according to the Word of God it is not in itself sin to have slaves, yet slavery is an evil and a punishment from God, and we condemn all the abuses and sins which are connected with it, just as we, when our call requires it and Christian charity and wisdom demand it, will work for its abolition.

The 1868 Statement

1. The system of forced servitude which is mentioned in the New Testament (Col. 3, 22 ff.; 4, 1; Tit. 2, 9; Eph. 6, 5-9; I Tim. 6, 2) is not in itself sinful.
2. In this system of forced servitude, the master has the right to demand of the servant that he applies all his talents and energies in accordance with his master's will in all things where he would not by such obedience be denying to God the obedience due to Him. Cf. Tit. 2, 9; Eph. 6, 5 ff.; Col. 3, 22; Acts 5, 29.
3. This system of servitude is called "forced" because of the right which according to thesis 2 belongs to the master and the duty which rests upon the servant; and this particularly because the servant has no right to demand that his servitude be abolished and that he be given his freedom.
4. Even if it were the case that the servant of his own free will entered into servitude, or remained in it though he could be free, the servitude would still be, and is called, a forced servitude.
5. Accordingly, this servitude is, and is called, forced, even though the servant obeys gladly and willingly and not only because he must. (Eph. 6, 6 ff.)
6. In this system of forced servitude, the servant has no right to demand any other wages than that which belongs to his daily bread.
7. In this system of forced servitude, the master is in duty bound to show his servant love and all justice and fairness in accordance with the Word of God. Matth. 7, 12; Col. 4, 1.
8. Since this system of forced servitude is a civil institution, the right and duty referred to above mean civil right and duty. But the Christian master will not always make use of his strict rights, for the very reason that he wants to follow the law of love and the admonition to fairness; he will rather feel in conscience bound often to give up his right.
9. The system of forced servitude described above is customarily, by linguistic usage in and outside of Holy Writ, denoted by the words master and bond-servant (or slave).
10. The bondage referred to in the New Testament is a real servitude, or real slavery.

The 1869 Statement

The Synod would like to do what it can to prevent misunderstandings by declaring frankly that it recognizes that there in American slavery certainly were laws or customs which either directly permitted, or at least did not punish, sin; so that the most shameful and shocking wickednesses went unpunished, whereby the poor slaves were cruelly treated, and at the same time the masters and the ruling classes as a whole were liable to be corrupted in moral respects. And it is, of course, clear that wherever masters took advantage of such laws or customs to mistreat their slaves, there this was sin against both God and men, even though it was allowed by the civil order.