The Bible's approval of slavery (including Jesus)

rebel8

How can there possibly be a reason for this?

SMH. I can't imagine how this is excusable.

Simon

The simple reason is that the bible is not inspired and is simply a product of it's time.

In the same way that books from 100+ years ago that describe as "perfectly normal" the notion that women would not have any vote.

Authors have a tendency to reflect the prevailing sentiment of the society they exist in. It's why the bible condones slavery and the OT is even worse in it's opinions of women as property.

Village Idiot

A list of scriptures on the subject:

How the former slaves of Israel treated their own slaves:

Non-Israelites could be taken as slaves for life and their children be passed of as inheritance: Leviticus 25:44-46 compare to Leviticus 19:33-34 where it says the exact opposite.

A Hebrew slave was obligated for only six years of slavery but had to leave behind the wife his master gave him along with his children: Exodus 21:2-6.

A master was allowed to savagely beat his slave so long as he or she did not die within a day or two: Exodus 21:20-21 compare to Exodus 2:11-12.

If a slave had an eye blinded by his master he was to be set free but his master was not blinded in punishment according to the rule of an ‘eye for an eye’ that applied to other people guilty of the same crime: Exodus 21:26-27 compare to Leviticus 24:19-21.

Christian view on slavery: 1 Peter 2:18-20.

nicolaou

Well written article, thanks for sharing.

Hairtrigger

A god who sends his prodigy to preach only to a certain arbitarily selected tribe of people who are not going to listen or obey. His preaching/teaching was for "all men". So their holy book claims. Never in any of the documented history of this particular people has their messiah ever spoken to a black man ;nor do these make mention of any other group/tibe or race of people being addressed.All their heroes are of the tribe yet the world is asked to believe that their diety is a god for everyone. The tribes came out of Egypt. Freed from slavery by their diety. What of the other slaves not from their tribes? No mention is made of them or what their fate was after the tribals left for the promised land. Why would a 'just diety' rescue a certain group of people from slavery while abandoning others who were suffering the same fate if he was a god for "all men". The OP is one of the many glaring examples of the condonation of slavery by a diety who is,supposedly touted as a god of love.

smiddy

How anyone can claim GOD is a GOD of love when you look at his record in the OT is beyond me.

And doesnt the bible say that GOD is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow ?

smiddy

Vidqun

Don't get me wrong. I don't condone slavery at all. But at the same time, I do enjoy studying history. As I have said before, you cannot compare the situation in the first century with conditions today. We live in a different epoch. Firstly, Jesus was not a social reformer, but a religious reformer (Jewry > inclusive; Christianity > universal). Yes, even a slave could become a Christian, which was unusual at the time. Secondly, if Christianity opposed the slave trade during the Roman period, they would have been wiped out. Thirdly, history tells us that the slave trade was only abolished fairly recently, about three or four hundred years ago, with Abraham Lincoln and Co. Would one now condemn all those before the American Constitution was written because they allowed the slave trade to continue? The slave trade might have been abolished then, but as we all know, discrimination would continue to be rife until the time of Martin Luther King. In fact, in the US the policing and legal systems still discriminate against blacks, as the recent social upheavals indicate. And surprise, surprise, the slave trade is still going strong, even though outlawed by most countries.

runForever

Good thing we have electricity and tools otherwise we would still have slaves.

Village Idiot

Vidqun: "Secondly, if Christianity opposed the slave trade during the Roman period, they would have been wiped out."

Christianity did not have to confront Rome to abolish slavery within its ranks. All Christians had to do was to require all potential converts who held slaves to liberate them as a precondition to becoming a Christian.

"We live in a different epoch. Firstly, Jesus was not a social reformer, but a religious reformer..."

Jesus' attitude concerning slavery can be seen in many of his parables where he often uses the metaphor of slavery in an approving manner.

Vidqun

Village Idiot, I disagree. If you attempted to liberate a Roman slave, and you would have been prosecuted according to Roman Law. Slaves, resisting their masters, were punished by death.

By using a metaphor, doesn't mean you like or approve of something. Jesus' teaching methods include parables and metaphors of everyday things. E.g., by using current agricultural methods in his metaphors and parables do not mean he approved of such techniques. He often included the habits of the Pharisees in his teaching. We know what he thought of them and their man-made rules.

The Bible's approval of slavery (including Jesus)

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