Christian churches have only recently condemned slavery - in the nineteenth century most denominations bowed to the demands of the Southern slave owners by softening or removing any references to slavery from their statements.  Although every church included some abolitionists, the most outspoken religious leaders of Abolitionism were Quakers, Unitarians and representatives of other "fringe" groups. Not only that but prominent theologians like Charles Hodge of Princeton, actually offered extensive theological justification for the institution of slavery.  Hodge, in an article entitled The Bible Argument on Slavery, sums up his argument as follows:

As it appears to us too clear to admit of either denial or doubt, that the Scriptures do sanction slaveholding; that under the old dispensation it was expressly permitted by divine command, and under the New Testament is nowhere forbidden or denounced, but on the contrary, acknowledged to be consistent with the Christian character and profession (that is, consistent with justice, mercy, holiness, love to God and love to man), to declare it to be a heinous crime, is a direct impeachment of the word of God. We, therefore, felt it incumbent upon us to prove, that the sacred Scriptures are not in conflict with the first principles of morals; what they sanction is not the blackest and basest of all offenses in the sight of God.

Hodge was correct.  The Bible fully accepts and justifies slavery as an institution. Colossians 3:22-24 provides a basic proof text:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourself into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.

Not only is slavery recognized as a fact in the society of the time but it is enthusiastically accepted. Slaves are urged to accept their master's will as the will of Christ himself!  For the author of Colossians (Paul), the ideal life is not one of freedom but one of obedience. The whole point of the slave's life is to obey.  Freedom seems to be a foreign concept and certainly not a basic human right.

And Paul must have known that female slaves were frequently used by their masters for both sexual pleasure and breeding purposes. Female slaves were regularly forced to produce more slaves for the master's household as well as to fulfill the desires of both the master and the mistress. The slave had no recourse, no defence. Thus while Christianity held up high standards of chastity and purity for the free person, it urged the female slave to accept sexual degradation as "from the Lord."

Paul takes it further in the book of Philemon which is entirely devoted to the issue of slavery. In it, Paul sends Onesimus, a runaway slave, back to his master. Paul pleads for understanding but there is no mention at all of freeing the salve or of the evils of slavery.

Ephesians 6: 5-6 also makes many of the same points that Colossians does:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves to Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

Peter 2:18-21 goes even farther:

Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

Not only is slavery permitted by the bible (New Testament) but the slaves are exhorted to be obedient.  In fact this attitude of complete obedience characterizes the whole Christian ethic.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and never treat them harshly. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. Col. 3:18-21

So, therefore, everyone's life must be characterized by obedience. Slaves obey their masters; children obey their parents; wives obey their husbands; husbands obey the political authorities; the lower political authorities obey the higher ones; the highest authority, the Emperor, must obey God. The underlying thought is that since God wills all things, all such obedience is obedience to him. In that sense, everyone is a slave to both God and the system he creates.

So for Christians, believers must have the mind of a slave. They must learn to be obedient, even "unto death" because the "human likeness" is found in servitude. The ideal Christian life is that of a slave who obeys without question.  All Catholic monks and nuns make vows of "poverty, chastity and obedience" - it is entrenched in the Church's mindset as being a Christian virtue.

Of course, over the top of all these slaves, we have the Pope (or if you are not Catholic, the Church) as decreed in Matthew 16:18-19:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Of course this is a conflict with Jesus himself who was very critical of ecclesiastical authorities, repeatedly attacking the scribes and Pharisees. In Matthew 23:8-10 he says:

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father--- the one in heaven. Neither be called instructors , for you have one instructor, the Messiah.

But then he reverts to the image of slavery when he adds,

The greatest among you will be your slave; all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. Matt. 23:11-12.

Very confusing.

Bottom line - all Christians are supposed to think of themselves as slaves and should not demand freedom and should do what they are told by the Church.

But then the Church also teaches that humans have a sinful nature and in the Church's structure there are many levels of human obedience (child obeys mother, mother obeys husband, husband obeys lord, lord obeys church, church obeys god).  This brings with it a real danger that sinful religious and secular lords, priests and bishops will take advantage of Christian obedience and literally get away with murder - or at least child abuse.

Not all churches demand obedience, but the bible teaches that obedience is required.  So clearly, those that don't have implicitly rejected significant parts of the bible.  If they had not, we would still have slavery in the western world.  Subservience of women is another type of slavery - and it continued for some decades after slavery was abolished but eventually Christians saw the justice in that as well.  Again, contrary to what the bible says.

So to summarize, authoritarianism with its hierarchy of lords, religious and secular, is not some later medieval addition to Christianity but is clearly spelled out in the New Testament itself. To accept the Bible as the literal word of god means that you accept a highly authoritarian structure for the church and society and the required "slave-mind" which such authority implies. To reject that structure, you need to "pick and choose" your quote from the Bible which means the bible is no longer an authority.

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