Posted on 06/25/2020 8:02:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every thinking reader of the Bible is bound to ask at some point in time, "Does this book actually condone slavery?" To be sure, slavery is not the only issue the Bible causes us to question. The Old Testament is rife with palace intrigues, polygamy, divorce, violence and the like, and godly people are very often part of the problem. Although the New Testament is decidedly improved, it still seems to fall far short of that which twenty-first century human rights would expect. There are no women among the twelve disciples of Jesus and Christian masters do have slaves working for them.
To address issues of this kind, we need to step back and ask three larger questions: What are the theological, political, and cultural contexts in which the Old Testament narrative unfolds, and how is the behavior of God's people in the Old Testament expected to be different from those of other cultures? What are the major developments in the New Testament that give us a clue to interpretation of Old Testament ethics? And are we expected to further extrapolate changes in behavior beyond the New Testament times to the present day?
To begin with, it should not be forgotten that the Old Testament narratives contain codes which are ethical, ceremonial, and social. Therefore, their application to the present day should not always be considered in literal terms. The social elements of those narratives need not apply to us, and the ceremonial ones are largely fulfilled in the completed work of Christ. It is the ethical aspects of Old Testament teaching with which we should be concerned, and there is indeed much to consider.
As an example, on the way to Canaan, God tells his people through Moses that the alien, or foreigner, among them should not be oppressed (Exodus 23:9). The reason given is fascinating: the people of Israel know in their hearts how it feels to be oppressed! (The word translated "alien" is not the same as slave, but the experience of the Israelites in Egypt was certainly that of slaves.) Thus, we see the first statement on human rights: the alien was to be treated as a citizen; in fact, he was to be loved as one of their own.(1) Even when Hebrew law and custom shared in the common heritage of the ancient world, there is a unique care in God's Name for those people who by status were not considered people—something absent from the codes of Babylon and Assyria.
The New Testament further gives us a paradigm to interpret Old Testament practices. In one of their notorious fault-finding missions, the Pharisees test Jesus on the subject of divorce.(2) He initially appears to play into their hands, asking what Mosaic Law has to say on the subject. When they gleefully quote the permission of Moses to divorce one's wife, Jesus lays down a method of interpretation that has to be taken very seriously. He makes it clear that certain Old Testament commandments were to be understood as concessions to the hardness of the human heart rather than as expressions of God's holy character. He goes on to reference how this was not the state of affairs in the beginning—that is, before the fall.
The regulation of slavery should therefore be seen as a practical step to deal with the realities of the day resulting from human fall. The aberrations that lead to alienation among individuals, races, and nations are the result of a fundamental broken relationship between humankind and God. Within this tragic scenario, Scripture comes as a breath of fresh air as it seeks to redeem the situation and sets us on a path of ever-increasing amelioration of our predicament. While the Bible does not reject slavery outright, the conclusion that it actually favors slavery is patently wrong. Scripture does reveal that slavery is not ideal, both in Old Testament laws forbidding the enslavement of fellow Israelites, the law of jubilee, and in New Testament applications of Christ. In fact, the Bible teaches that the feeling of superiority in general is sin!(3) The abolition of slavery is thus not only permissible by biblical standards, but demanded by biblical principles. The pre-fall statement that should guide and ultimately abolish such (and any) practices of superiority is the declaration that all humans—men and women—are made in the image of God.
On this principle, the Bible even lays the foundation for progressing far beyond what was possible in New Testament times by addressing the very economic discrimination and favoritism of which slavery is the worst expression.(4) Of course, lamentably, it must be admitted that the Church has taken many centuries to live out what Scripture taught long ago, and no doubt we continue to drag our feet. The time delay between the Word of Scripture and its implementation in society is often due to the "holy huddle" mentality prevailing among Christians who are largely unconcerned about issues outside of their immediate periphery. Another reason many Christians continue to remain silent in the face of injustice is the platonic view of the cosmos we have adopted, implying that life in the hereafter is the only issue to be addressed, while we watch the world go by in its destructive way. Both mentalities are sadly misguided.
Those of us who say that we believe the Bible to be the Word of God have to raise our level of awareness and involvement regarding social issues. Having failed to do so, we have let these issues pass into the hands of those who may not be Christians, but are better informed about social injustice and concerned enough to fight wrong practices through legal means. While they have no logical basis to do what they are doing, the real tragedy is that we who do have a basis to address these issues remain largely indifferent. May the Lord of Scripture open our eyes to see that God is interested in the redemption of the whole of creation and not just disembodied souls and spirits!
L.T. Jeyachandran is executive director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Singapore.
(1) See Leviticus 19:33-34.
(2) See Matthew 19:1-9; Mark 10:2-9.
(3) See Philemon 2:1-8.
(4) See James 2:1-9; 5:1-6.
No.
Sinners are Slaves until they become washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, by accepting the Sacrifice made on the Cross.
RE: Sinners are Slaves until they become washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, by accepting the Sacrifice made on the Cross.
This article is not talking about slavery to our sinful nature. It’s talking about human beings enslaving other human beings. Let’s stick to that particular definition of slavery.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”.
Just the first part, “I am the Lord your God”, would have been sufficient. But he adds the second part — “out of the house of bondage”.
The author states that some parts of the bible are allegory. This is dangerous. You can believe in the bible, or accept it as allegory. To mix it is to think that you can translate it better than anyone else.
It’s ok to not live biblically. It’s ok to alter your views from those that came before you.
Were the jews slaves in Egypt?
Did God tell them to stay as slaves?
Slavery was (and still IS) an economic condition imposed upon a group of people by another. Back then by class, today by communist and socialist governments. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist and all that.
Communism’s ultimate goal is to make everyone a slave.
That’s why capitalism is a GOOD thing.
RE: The author states that some parts of the bible are allegory.
But what the author’s saying is true.
Jesus’ parables are allegories ( the Sower and the Seed, The Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, etc. ).
Figure of Speech and Metaphors are used freely in the Bible.
Jesus calls Himself, The Door, The Good Shepherd, The Vine, He calls His disciples the Branches, etc.
Probably a LOT of people of all colors are slaves to their passions, to their addictions, to their jobs. Slavery exists in MANY forms, to enslave someone for pigment tones is horrible, but some people who have refused to pay their bills, getting up and go to work, be responsible to clean up their own messs..... probably need to go be slaves and have a whip taken to their back. If you PROMISE to pay, and can’t fulfill your obligations, you probably will be indebted, enslaved to the person from which you went to mortgage your future.
Exactly right. It’s a silly conundrum.
Just because there is sin in the Bible that doesn’t mean that the Bible condones sin.
Sinners (i.e., all of us) have the sin virus. It follows that sin is everywhere. Slavery is a sin in itself; but it is a by-product of inherent sin.
Does the Bible condone leprosy? No. But does the Bible condemn it? Again, no. It is a part of the human condition and the Bible gives a work-around for it. Same with slavery.
May I ask you this -— Did the Patriarch Abraham own slaves?
Was Hagar his slave?
If not, how could Sarah tell her to have sexual relations with Abraham to sire Ishmael?
RE: Does the Bible condone leprosy? No. But does the Bible condemn it? Again, no
I would not go that far in making this parallel.
Someone being stricken by leprosy is a tragic condition which he did not freely choose ( just an innocent person coming down with the flu or Covid-19 or cancer did not freely choose to have it ).
But one can FREELY choose NOT to enslave another person, or even buy a slave, or if one inherits such a slave, one can FREELY choose to set him free.
The two are simply not comparable.
So I think looking at the Bible for commentary on slavery is like comparing apples to oranges because the Jews simply did not practice slavery as we think of it today.
Define Slave. Once you start to do that, you realize everyone is a Slave too something.
Some will say yes. The Bible does condone slavery.
And point to the book of Philemon as evidence.
Just saying.
RE: Define Slave
For the purpose of this discussion, let’s stick to this NARROWER definition:
“One who is owned as the property of someone else, especially in involuntary servitude or as a chattel to another person.”
RE: Back in those days under the law someone could take another person as a “slave” for an unpaid debt, but it wasn’t slavery as we think of it today as they could only be kept in servitude until the debt was paid or 7 years whichever came first.
Let’s take the case of Hagar the servant of Abraham and Sarah for instance... she was told to have sexual relations with Abraham to sire a child ( Ishmael ) by Sarah. Did she have a choice in the matter? What if she said no?
Could someone who was in servitude for say, 7 years be forced to do what Hagar was told to do?
Depends on the laws at the time.
Recall that, even OUTSIDE of slavery, at that point in time women were property of their husbands.
Jesus’ mission on earth was focused on dying on the Cross. He also did not condemn abortion, homosexuality, robbing banks or a number of other things we know God does not approve but were not His purpose in appearing in the flesh.
In those days, many people went into and out of slavery. It was a means of repaying debts. It did not have the stigma we assign to it today where slavery is considered perpetual.
Imagine if everyone today with credit card debt were forced into slavery until their debts were forgiven. You’d be a virtual slave to Citibank or Bank of America or Capital One or whomever.
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