Posted on 06/25/2020 8:02:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
RE: In those days, many people went into and out of slavery. It was a means of repaying debts.
Not necessarily. Some were enslaved as a result of the spoils of war or raiding of one tribe on another.
Within the workings of the political system individuals are answerable to God for their own sins. Kings and tyrants are personally liable for their sins. If you seek justification for your preferred political system or condemnation to one you dislike in the Bible you will find no help. If you look for your own personal redemption then it is all there. What matters is the afterlife, not this life.
The writer points out that slavery arises out of alienation among individuals, races and nations. This allows people to think in terms of “others” who don’t have the same capabilities and rights as themselves. Christianity teaches the brotherhood of all men because of the fatherhood of God and infinite atonement of the Savior. Generally God does not attempt to impose change on His people through coercion but it is instructive that in the time when slavery was rampant, He allowed His Children of Israel to experience the wrong side of slavery before they were rescued from it.
SJWs and others like to argue they are evolved from the evils of slavery but punishing people because of their skin color, forcing people to work to support them with welfare when they could support themselves, considering lives disposable on a whim (i.e., abortion), refusal to accord rights to a hated other (i.e., police, conservatives), and refusing redemption or forgiveness for past attitudes are hallmarks of the cultures that accepted slavery. The SJWs of today are not evolved; they have just changed the hallmarks of their fallen nature and are little better than the slaveholders of yore.
Tyranny and slavery are pandemic throughout history. They qualify as descendants of original sin, the chief categories of which are pride (I am better than you) and covetousness (I want to take away what you have — in this case, freedom).
So I was treating tyranny and slavery as ubiquitous aspects of the human condition — not that they’re right. Like divorce, though, and warfare, they’re not right, but they’re everywhere present. Jesus, on divorce, said, “It was not so from the beginning; but because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses gave you a work-around.”
To transition to my analogy, let’s take Jesus’ words concerning the man born blind, and those who lost their lives when a tower fell on them. “Who sinned that this man was born blind? Were those on whom the tower fell more wicked than others? No. No one sinned. None of them were more wicked.” And He concluded that it rains on the just and the unjust alike, just as the sun shines on them alike. He is asserting that mishaps and disease are part of the human condition.
So no, I do not equate contraction of disease or accidental death with a voluntary choice to commit tyranny. But I do throw them into a broader category called the human condition as we find it existentially. My main point is that the Bible is not condoning these conditions but rather that the Bible is providing ways to move forward, and away from them.
Thanks for your response — and your ministry of correction is well refined.
Ha- me too- i read that one just the other day- going through dueteronomy now infact- doing hte charles Stanley daily devotional book
NKJV, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible,
You are a slave to your employer. Ordered to have sex with the boss is now seen as against labor law. The only different between an employee of today, and a slave of yesteryear is the labor laws. “If you want to continue in this cushy job Hagar, you will do as I ask, or go die in a sand dune” would pretty much inform ones choice.
Awesome! Due to a reading program I set up for myself (totally voluntary), I am able to go thru the Torah twice a year, the Gospels more than that, and the other books at least once a year. I’ve been doing it this way since 2001, so now I can find things really, really FAST! :-)
I love Dr. Stanley.
“It’s ok to alter your views from those that came before you.”
Well, yes, certainly, because I am so much smarter than Aquinas, Augustine, Crysostom...in fact, all the doctors of the Church and all the saints. Yes, in a few short decades I have outdone all the finest minds, all the holiest spirits of the past 2,000 years. There’s certainly no reason for me to be influenced by their interpretations of scripture when I can fall back on my own magnificent intellect.
Man stealing type slavery (the US historical kind) is a death penalty offense.
Indentured servants are allowed and are usually called slaves in the Bible. If you see references about slaves that is usually what it is talking about.
Slaves/indentured servants to be freed every sixth year and the year of jubilee.
POWs can be enslaved rather than killed in some instances. Perhaps we don’t like this. But I’d rather be a POW in OT Israel than dead.
Slaves/indentured servants were protected by law from murder and rape and severe abuse. Physical chastisement that did not result in great bodily harm was allowed.
You were forbidden to turn in a runaway slave!
I recall having my 8th grade social studies teacher state in class that the Bible condones slavery, so I spent a night (manually) looking it up. I did find a number of verses which condone cordial behavior between slaves and slavekeepers, but I also found verses which clearly spoke on slavery as something God directly does not support, but as something that exists anyway and which could be used to spread Gods glory. I doubt my search would approach anything exhaustive, but even in the limited citations the Bible clearly said slavery is not a desired state.
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