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To: BroJoeK
In fact, God hates slavery for His chosen people

Possibly, but he still made provision in the law for an Israelite creditor to take a brother Israelite into slavery for debt. The Law treats slavery throughout as a fact of life. There is not a hint of it being a sin or wrong.

The Israelites didn't want to be slaves, no more than anybody else did. But they hated being slaves themselves, not slavery.

Joshua enslaved an entire people, the Gibeonites.

I seriously doubt you could hate slavery and slavers more than I do. It is very nearly the ultimate sin, the denial of humanity of a brother human.

But I also don't deceive myself that the Bible contains no single explicit denunciation of the institution. As I've said before, I believe the underlying principles of the Bible point to eventual end of slavery. But the words themselves, unfortunately, don't.

124 posted on 08/29/2013 6:51:24 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: Sherman Logan; Pelham; DManA; donmeaker
Sherman Logan: "But I also don't deceive myself that the Bible contains no single explicit denunciation of the institution."

Forest meet trees, trees meet forest, you guys would get along great if you could only see each other... ;-)

I would argue that the Bible itself (forest) is a denunciation of slavery (trees) as an institution.
I'll say again: the strongest possible denunciation of slavery, and the biggest theme of the Old Testament, is God's leading a reluctant Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
Israelites don't really want to be free.
Freedom scares them.
They constantly look for excuses to return to slavery, and of course they want to make others their slaves too.
The relationship of slave & master is fundamental to human nature, and loyalty to God first is a difficult, conscious effort requiring much pain and sacrifice.

Israelites don't want to do it, and are constantly back-sliding to the old ways.
This, by the way, is precisely what's happening in the USA today -- freedom takes courage, honor and self-discipline, and we now have majorities who find slavery to the Government far easier and more enjoyable.
We are the old Israelites...

The New Testament takes the word "slave" and turns it into a metaphor: 2 Peter 2:19 -- "people are slaves to whatever has mastered them."

The New Testament tells us to be "slaves" to God's law, slaves to Christ and, if we wish to be leaders, slaves to each other.
It does not tell slaves to escape their masters, but rather advises slaves in precisely that behavior which is most likely to win them their freedom.
In the mean time, it offers "slavery to Christ" as the alternative which makes all lesser-human forms of slavery irrelevant.

Truly, FRiend, the forest is huge and beautiful.
So take some time away from examining the trees with your microscope, and look at the forest through a telescope... ;-)

130 posted on 08/30/2013 4:45:10 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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