Christian religious teachers, like some of their pagan counterparts, particularly among the Stoics, affirmed that slavery was unnatural, and that in an ideal world all human beings ought to be free. Since this present terrestrial world was far from ideal, however, both the law and the practice of early Christian communities sought to limit the exploitation of slaves, rather than to abolish an institution so central to the society and economy of their age. Christian law, although it did not attack the institution of slavery, did insist that Christians must treat their slaves humanely and admonished owners to make every effort to provide for the religious needs of their slaves.