Question:
Why do so many Christians insist the Bible doesn't support slavery?
uǝɥɔıl
2009-05-05 23:23:53 UTC
It clearly does. Somebody answered something like, "I don't see why the Bible would if Moses led his people out of slavery," but that ignorance is pervasive and astounding. The Bible tells you how to treat your slaves, how to sell your daughter into sex slavery, how you should be punished if you beat your slave to death but only if they die. Haven't you noticed how some translations say slave in the NT, and other use the word servant?

Old Testament: Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6, Exodus 21:7-11, Exodus 21:20-21

New Testament: Ephesians 6:5, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Luke 12:47-48, Matthew 18:25, Colossians 4:1, 1 Corinthians 7:21, Paul's Letter to Philemon where he returns the slave


Ephesians 6:5: "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling"




I understand some of you Bible literalists don't want to admit the unpalatable material in there. But sometimes your answers make me think you don't even understand its historical context.
Sixteen answers:
anonymous
2009-05-05 23:39:23 UTC
I love these idiotic responses. Willing slaves? They'd starve otherwise? Come on. What utter horse-sh-t.



On the first point, slaves at that time were mostly taken as spoils of war or sold by family to pay debts. Those that weren't sold themselves into slavery to avoid death, or were born into it.



Second, wouldn't a truly righteous God say "Share with them" instead of "Make them your indentured servants, oh and here's some rules on how to beat them when they disobey"?
anonymous
2009-05-07 10:03:01 UTC
1) Why do so many Christians insist the Bible doesn't support slavery?



The answer to that is simple: the bible really does NOT support slavery. What it *does* is CONDONE slavery. If you're not sure what "condone" means, it means "permit" or "allow without complaint". That is a far cry from "support".





2) Anti-abolitionists used the Bible to justify slavery.



And abolitionists used the bible to justify the outlaw of slavery! (grin) Indeed, the entire Western Abolitionist Movement was fundamentally a Christian one, supported by passages such as this

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal%203:28&multilayout=cols&version1=49&version2=9





Conclusion: you have, unfortunately, exaggerated your point. The bible very clearly *allows* slavery - but does not ever "support" it!



Note also that instructing a person to be a productive slave does *not* in any way condone **slavery**. Rather, it only supports Christian attitude and Christian demand for obedience to the law. Here is the verse you should have used that shows that the New Testament allows Christians to own slaves

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1ti%206:2&multilayout=cols&version1=49&version2=9



Again: note that there is no indication that this is *good* or *right* - only that it was *permissible*.



Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com
The_Cricket: Thinking Pink!
2009-05-06 00:19:01 UTC
The Bible doesn't support slavery, but it doesn't condemn it either. The reason it doesn't condemn slavery is because it was a way of life back then. There was no welfare system, so anyone who couldn't afford to feed themselves or their family had the option to sell themselves and/or their family into slavery. The Bible makes it clear that eventually they were to be released, if they were Israelites. If they were not Israelites, they could keep the slave and their descendants, if they chose to. But the constant reminder throughout the Old Testament to the Israelites is that they were once slaves too, and they needed to remember that.



There were loads of restrictions on slavery:

1. All Israelites had to be released after seven years (that is indentured servitude).

2. Any person who kidnapped another person to sell them into slavery would be put to death. That means that the slave traders in the Americas and Europe would have been put to death under Old Testament law.

3. If the slave married one of their master's family members, they were to no longer be a slave.

4. Slaves were required to rest on the Sabbath.

5. Slave owners weren't just punished if their slave died after a beating. They were also punished if they severely injured their slave, hence the passage "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

6. If a slave ran away and was found, the person who found them did not have to return them.



You also misunderstand the passage regarding Israelites selling their daughters into slavery. It was not sex slavery. Israelites were warned that if they sold their daughters, the daughter's master did not have to release her. He could marry her off to one of his sons, or marry her himself.



Anti-abolitionists did use the Bible to justify their actions, but abolitionists used the Bible, too. They used the fact that God released the Israelites from slavery, and the Africans who were enslaved in the U.S. and in Britain were treated exactly as the Israelites were in Egypt. It was unjust, and totally unbiblical (see point 2 in the restrictions on slavery).



But slavery does go against Jesus' teachings. Where in "love one another" is there any provision made for enslaving whole races of people?
Smiling JW™
2009-05-05 23:35:36 UTC
Slavery was not always meaning being harshly treated with being whipped and worked hard then to be disrespected and humiliated. Though that is how some slave masters treated their slaves such as the Egyptians did with the Hebrews.



Which ironically to your accusations that God actually freed the Hebrews from (Exodus 2:23-25)





Some masters and slaves had great loyalty for each other. Some slaves wanted to be with their masters and family and serve them. It was just a way back then of employing people. A slave would have his needs taken care of and a home. Sometimes a slave would serve to pay off a large debt until it was paid. A good master was kind and considerate of the person or persons serving him, and would honour them.



(Exodus 21:5-6) But if the slave should insistently say, ‘I really love my master, my wife and my sons; I do not want to go out as one set free,’ 6 then his master must bring him near to the [true] God and must bring him up against the door or the doorpost; and his master must pierce his ear through with an awl, and he must be his slave to time indefinite.



How people took the Bible as an excuse further black slavery in the USA and justify their mistreatment is nothing to do with what the Bible taught which was about the need to be kind to slaves. The premise to your question is faulty.



Come and cry on my shoulder if it makes you feel better about yourself.
Kuulio
2009-05-06 00:07:56 UTC
For starters, some translations use the term "servant" instead of "slave" because it is more closely relays the intended message. There are plenty of people today that have what would be defined as servants but not as slaves. Most people generally jump to the conclusion that every time there is a reference to slaves or servants in the bible it is similar to that of the slave trade involving African Americans.



Second, to say that the Bible supports slavery can be misleading if I'm hearing your sentiment correctly. The bible, as a whole, does not come across as promoting/supporting while at the same time doesn't outright speak against having servants. In most of the epistles written by Paul he describes the proper relationships between people and how they should treat one another. In Philemon, also written by Paul, Paul goes a broad step forward in addressing a very specific servant and master relationship. Please read Philemon as it is only 1 chapter and is very helpful in seeing into the heart of Paul. For those that won't here is a summation:



Paul is writing to the master of a servant. Philemon, the master, sent his servant Onesimus to Paul to assist him while in prison. Paul thanks him for all the help that Onesimus has been and braggs about him to the master. Paul gives Philemon instructions to receive his servant back as a brother in the Lord and that if there is any debt owed by the servant he will pay it back for him out of his own pocket. Paul says that he is confident that the master will do all that he has asked and even more. Following through this letter it is easy to see that Paul is hopeful that Philemon will recieve Onesimus back as a brother and no longer as a slave/servant as would be more fitting in the church.
His Boy, Sherman
2009-05-05 23:41:00 UTC
Paul suggested that Onesimus should return to Philemon because under ROMAN law the death penalty was always a possibility for runaway slaves. Paul wasn't promoting slavery in any way. He was in fact trying to protect the life of a runaway slave.



I think you know that, don't you.



God set my entire nation free from slavery. That story is what the entire Old Testament is about. It's a story that inspired Wilberforce, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, and Desmond Tutu. In fact ALL the leading abolitionists in Britain and America were Christians, weren't they?



I think you know that, don't you?



In fact Christians are the only ones who fight the globe human trafficking that still goes on today. What have YOU done to stop slavery lately?



The truth is that in Old Testament Israel there were no prisons. rather than slavery on the American model, what the Bible calls "slavery" was ACTUALLY the criminal justice system. If you stole from a man or injured him, you became his "slave" until he was repaid. Pretty smart, huh? An effective criminal justice system that saved the taxpayers a pretty big sum of loot.



But you already know that, don't you?



What's your real beef with God? All this "slavery" twaddle is just a cover for whatever you're really angry about, isn't it? That's between you and God, of course, but let me assure you, if your parents were screw-ups, or some lover mistreated you, or some church abused you, God's as angry at them as you are, and He still loves you as much as He ever did, loves you enough to die for you, and He'd go right back to that cross for you again if He had to for you. He will help you work through you hurt and your anger. He will be patient. He will wait on you. God bless you! Grace and peace to you!
anonymous
2009-05-05 23:33:29 UTC
Slavery in the context used in the Bible was a good thing. The Bible does not support slavery in a form that was used in America. The form of slavery in the Bible is much different than what we know of.



People that had no means to support themselves would have died on their own and would become willing slaves. The Bible makes it clear that masters are to treat their slaves very well.



Christians were responsible for ending the ungodly slavery that existed in America. Those that used the Bible to support slavery were doing so outside of God's will.
some person
2009-05-05 23:36:57 UTC
What is a slave specifically? We all get this idea in our heads about a black man getting beaten and treated poorly and then we associate that kind of behavior with what's written in the Bible.



I have never associated that kind of definition when I read about "slaves" in the Bible. I always took them as servants, and servants were taken care of by their masters. It was culturally acceptable to have servants and to take care of them. What ticks me off though, is how many were sold. It's something I have yet to research and understand.



Edit: Monkey, well God did kill many people back then too....
Travis J
2009-05-05 23:38:18 UTC
What we call employment today is translated as slavery from those ancient texts today. Servants, like employees today, were liable to employers for losses, and were held to contracts, in order to fulfill conditions that they had previously agreed to, for some provsion they had in mind to earn. There were years of release of all from these terms, as far as the servants went, but in the case of the employers, there was a forcing of their forgiveness of all debts being worked for the payment of. If someone does a certain thing today, wages might be taken by the court, or community service imposed.



There in fact is no verse saying one can sell a daughter into sexual slavery. Also, there are statements right in the Text that many of the things in it require further judgement, in the context of each event, by the Elders, whose Oral legal training and Understanding were also intended to be followed as well.



In times of war, those who had invaded them, also, were made to work to pay back costs they inflicted on the people, or were given servitude as a sentence, rather than death for what may have deserved a harsh punishment - such as trying to annihilate their people.



Again, monkeyb.pants, it never says one should hit anyone, but knows that if one does, it will be a matter to deal with. Judges gave more particular sentences out of their training by Moses. It says to treat even foreigners well, and commands to treat brothers as brothers, which, if obeyed, would avoid slavery. But again, slaves weren't what we think of that word today to mean. So even if one is forced into it, I also am forced to work for an exacting master in a situation I don't like either. Why doesn't my employer make me a freed man, giving me the money that would necessitate to get that freedom and keep it?



Also, even a captive of war was given one out of seven days to absolutely rest, and a master could be put to death for even ruining his rest with any kind of demand, any sort of stressful exchange.
aaronvgp
2009-05-05 23:29:45 UTC
I can't believe that you're posting this question when you clearly have no idea about what slavery was back then. It was a lot different to how it's understood today. Educate yourself before going off at others.......even though those saying that it doesn't support slavery are wrong



Slaves back then were more like low-class workers, they were just bound to work for their masters until a debt was paid off or they could be released if their master wanted to do that. Also look up jubilee year that they had. Educated enough??



@metavain....and you think atheism doesnt??? Just look at this question....just look at pretty much all the atheist questions on here.....Lol.....what a joke



@ dragonvalor.....wow, you like to embarass yourself. Firstly the crusades were a response to the muslims invading europe....go back to school and get an education.

Secondly, the bible says everything was created in 6 days and God rested on the seventh....not 7 and 8 as you put it.....i think even your atheist friends are laughing at you...LOL
Joey Boy
2009-05-05 23:35:38 UTC
the bible does support slavery.



but i think it teaches you have treat your slaves fairly
pirate
2009-05-05 23:43:17 UTC
to answer your question it would mean admitting that their holy book is wrong about human right big time they can't have that can they
Ftwasher
2009-05-05 23:31:46 UTC
since you like context, check your verses, who it was written to, why, when it was written, where , who wrote it



the Bible is the word of God, and men are sinners so foul that we had to be washed int he blood of Christ to be saved, dont think Gods will and our sin are compatible.
anonymous
2009-05-05 23:30:37 UTC
umm...christians are those who promote war...*_*...crusades...and even nowadays......and i don't think jesus even spoke a word of modern day english...and besides that...jesus was middle eastern...so for the "christians" in the military, they just killed/tortured jesus's brethren...besides...people only see/hear/believe what they want to see/hear/believe...
humanistheart
2009-05-05 23:31:40 UTC
Because they're utterly ignorant.
Love me, I am the COOKIE MONSTER
2009-05-05 23:28:26 UTC
Because the Christian Religion cherry-picks what they want people to here.


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