Can theology and philosophy critically influence contextual developments? The question is relevant for the discussion about Slavery in the former Dutch Colonial Empire, and its impact on society in the present day. The Mennonite Marten Douwes Teenstra (1795-1864) was a Colonial administrator with extensive experience in both South Africa, Indonesia, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles. Teenstra became a leading figure in the first generation of Dutch Abolitionists, intent on ending Slavery. Teenstra was interested in Bible exegesis. In the early nineteenth century it was still common in Dutch churches to refer to Genesis 9:25 (the curse of Ham) to justify enslavement of Black Africans especially. Teenstra would fight that assumption from a background in Enlightenment (‘natural’) theology. Simultaneously, he faced a new form of hegemonistic thinking: the claim that the ‘White race’ was superior to all others, considering Black Christianity (let alone native Black religions such as Winti) as intrinsically less rational and developed than its White counterpart. Interestingly, in opposing this latter proposition, Teenstra increasingly moved from the Enlightenment to the Evangelical position. Only conversion of the heart could alter the interaction between church and culture.