Posted on 05/31/2009 9:26:02 AM PDT by Freepmanchew
The topic of slavery is usually accompanied by bitter feelings and condemnation for Americas past. Like America, many civilizations have used slavery as a means of providing labor. Samarian drawings on clay tablets dating back to 4000 BC show captives taken in battle being tied, whipped, and forced to work. Then there are ancient papyrus manuscripts from 2100 BC that record the ownership of slaves by private citizens in Egypt. The earliest mention of slavery in the Bible would be Genesis 9:25 when Noah cursed the descendants of Canaan. From Abraham on down we read of the men in the Bible owning slaves and the Israelites themselves becoming slaves, but never do we read of God condemning slavery. We do read of Him telling Moses how to treat slaves in Exodus chapter 21, but neither God nor Jesus ever condemned the practice.
(Excerpt) Read more at norcalblogs.com ...
What's surprising? Who could not know that blacks captured, owned and sold slaves? And does your Google search contribute to the question? (My answer is, yes, slavery is an unmitigated evil worthy of death at the hands of the intended slave or anyone in a position to assist the slave).
Try to enslave me before you disarm me, and I’ll give you my answer. You may survive to talk about it if your Bible is bulletproof.
I have an “evil” slow internet connection, and admittedly did not read the whole article. I wonder why you pick on me, because I’ve seen numerous instances of FReepers who obviously sound off without reading the article, including on this thread. Anyway, my comment was much more succinct than the article ;-)
Did he speak against abortion?
The alternative would be starvation. In such a case, what would YOU prefer: to starve to death on the street, or to become somebody’s slave for seven years.
Personally I’d rather starve to death because I believe my freedom is worth dieing for. Your mileage may vary.
Seems to me some here are confusing slavery with employment or a contractual commitment. Slavery is one person OWNING another as they own any other piece of property. Irrespective of how well they’re obliged to treat that piece of property, the slave is DEHUMANIZED. Joining the military is NOT slavery, it’s a commitment that you sign up for. A sergeant does not ‘own his’ platoon, a slave owner OWNS HIS SLAVES.
I’ll bet those who think slavery is OK see themselves as the owner and not the owned. Personally I’d rather be dead than a slave.
Just post the whole thing, ferchrissake. The blog isn’t on the “excerpt only” list. Here you go, hellbender.
May 31, 2009
Is Slavery Evil?
The Sunday Sermon, by OneVike
The topic of slavery is usually accompanied by bitter feelings and condemnation for Americas past. Like America, many civilizations have used slavery as a means of providing labor. Samarian drawings on clay tablets dating back to 4000 BC show captives taken in battle being tied, whipped, and forced to work. Then there are ancient papyrus manuscripts from 2100 BC that record the ownership of slaves by private citizens in Egypt. The earliest mention of slavery in the Bible would be Genesis 9:25 when Noah cursed the descendants of Canaan. From Abraham on down we read of the men in the Bible owning slaves and the Israelites themselves becoming slaves, but never do we read of God condemning slavery. We do read of Him telling Moses how to treat slaves in Exodus chapter 21, but neither God nor Jesus ever condemned the practice.
This absence of any condemnation towards slavery has led many critics to claim that the God of the Christianity and the Bible is evil. Instead of trying to understand why God would not expressly forbid the practice of slavery, I often hear Christians defending God’s silence on the evils of slavery. Like Job’s friends who defended God by foolishly condemning Job, Christians often times defend God in a rather foolish way by condemning slavery. It’s almost as if Christians think that somehow God just forgot to mention the evils of slavery in the Scriptures. I do believe that the practice of slavery in the Bible needs to be addressed. But not to defend God’s lack of condemnation, but rather to better understand God’s reasoning for not condemning it.
Here’s where many will disagree with me, but as I study the Scriptures and understand God’s word, I can only conclude that God did not condemn slavery because slavery is not evil. Throughout history, men have willingly chosen to be in servitude to others rather than put their future in their own hands, God even made arrangements for such a desire. “.....if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”...... his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever. Exodus 21:5-6 So, while there have always has been evil masters who abuse their slaves, God obviously knew that there would be good slave owners. God specifically condemned treating others in an evil way. Man being evil in his treatment of others does not make the practice of slavery itself wrong just as a husband’s abuse of his wife does not make marriage evil.
It is my position that the bible does not condemn slavery because our human positions in life is not what the gospel is concerned with. To say that the very concept of slavery is wrong is to say that God’s salvation is an evil practice. That is because the concept of total submission and slavery is at the very heart of Christ’s gospel; in order to be saved you have to be a slave to Christ. God is the one who chose us, he is the one who saved us, and He is the one who paid the price to buy us with the very blood of His Son, Jesus.
Human slavery is a very tragic and sobering part of history. The fact that godly people in the Bible owned slaves, only makes it more difficult for modern people to understand. As humans, its natural for all of us to want to be free rather than slaves because slavery means we are in bondage. However, even though we may want to be free, the reality is that we are not. True liberty is freedom from sin, not freedom from human bondage. Sin ultimately leads to eternal punishment of torment in Hell. Jesus Christ, whom all Christians are slaves to, broke our bondage to the slavery of sin by placing us under His light yoke and easy burden > Mathew 11:30 The whole concept of slavery and servitude may be difficult for us to grasp today, but at the time when Christ taught most people understand this message of slavery.
During the time when Christianity was born, 85% of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. It is my opinion that had any of the authors of the New Testament epistles directly attacked slavery, then there would have been revolts against the institution of slavery. The result of which would be similar to what happened to the 120,000 slaves that revolted with Spartacus in 73-71 BC. The Roman general Crassus crucified 6000 of the survivors along the Appian Way to teach future slaves what Rome would do to them of they revolted. Instead of spreading the gospel the message of Christ would have been hopelessly confused with that of social reform. Instead of a violent revolt, Christianity worked to undermine the evils of slavery by changing the hearts of slaves and masters.
An example of this kind of heart transforming work would be the letter Paul wrote to a Christian name Philemon. The letter revolves around a slave named Onesimus who had who had stolen money and eventually ran away from his owner, Philemon. During his flight from slavery, Onesimus eventually found his way to the city of Rome, where he met Paul and accepted Christ. The apostle quickly grew to love this runaway slave and wanted to keep him in Rome. Philemon However, Paul knew that Onesimus had broken Roman Law and that he had to deal with it. So Paul sent Onesimus back to Colosse with a letter he wrote to his master Philemon. Paul urged Philemon to forgive Onesimus Philemonon and welcome him back as a slave and a brother in Christ. Now if slavery was wrong this would have been a perfect opportunity for the great apostle to condemn it. But he doesn’t, he actually urges a slave to go back and serve his master.
Now I personally believe the concept of Slavery is a very deep one, and the very nature of slavery characterizes the relationship that every human being has either with God or with the Evil One. All people are slaves and it is either to sin that we are enslaved or to Romans 6:16 If God would had condemned slavery in the Scriptures, then the very message of the gospel itself would have been robbed of its meaning for us. If slavery is wrong, wives should not submit to their husbands, children should not obey parents, and no one should call Jesus his master or submit to the authority of God. It is my opinion that this is the reason the Bible does not condemn slavery, because the whole concept of Christians serving God would be meaningless.
In serving God we need to remember that it is His will we should be following. When asked how we should pray, Jesus tells us to ask for the Lord’s will to be done over ours. Matthew 6:10 We are also told to deny ourselves and love God even before our own families, and we do this by taking up our cross daily and following Christ.Luke 14:26-27 When I read the New Testament, it sounds like slave talk to me, and if you are a Christian you will understand what it means to be bought and to be a slave. I realize that this is and always will be a very contentious topic and that even many Christians will disagree with me on this. However I cannot reconcile the idea in my head that God just forgot to mention that slavery was wrong, because that implies God does not know everything. Those who do not understand the true concept of slavery, not only misunderstand the very nature and character of God, but they also do not understand what it means to be a Christian.
After Mary was greeted by her cousin Elizabeth, she sang a beautiful song unto the lord, and in the song are these words, “for he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant”. Luke 1:46-55 The Greek word used by Mary for maidservant is “doulos”, which actually means “slave” or more appropriately “bond-servant”. Here we see the very mother of Jesus referring to herself as a female slave of her master, God. Mary understood perfectly what it meant to be a slave of God, and anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior should not consider the concept of slavery insulting or evil, but should be . Mary understood perfectly what it meant to be a slave of God, and anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior should not consider the concept of slavery insulting or evil.
I pray that those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of the lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
Amen to that, brother. You can't morally "sell" yourself into slavery any more than you morally sell yourself into prostitution. Slavery is worse, in fact, due to the irrevocability of it (a hooker can change her mind day to day provided she hasn't simultaneously been enslaved also). And unlike a hooker, a slave condemns his or her offspring to the same lack of freedom. There is no moral way to sacrifice one's freedom irrevocably. That is as evil as taking one's freedom. Ayn Rand, unbeliever though she may have been during her natural life, was miles ahead of some of these goofball theologians in her excplicit condemnation of involuntary servitude or of the voluntary abidication of one's essential rights.
Slavery was not a monolithic institution, but had many forms. Glenn M. Miller has extensive page on this. http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html “Does God condone slavery in the Bible?”
“The entire NT is strongly subversive to the practice.”
I disagree
Ephesians 6:5 (NIV) “Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart just as you would obey Christ.”
Historically, whites owned whites, blacks owned blacks. Slavery in the ancient world was not dependent on race.
And each of these slaves, facing the same choice, decided they would rather live as a slave than die. They each had the choice, at any time, of ending their slavery through death (either self-inflicted or by rising in rebellion). They each took the option they preferred out of a set of admittedly lousy choices.
Similarly, millions of people left rural areas to work in the "dark satanic mills" of Dickensonian 19th Century England, under conditions so terrible that book after book was written condemning the system -- a system that provided BETTER conditions and reliable access to food than the rural areas these people left.
And in modern days, people have condemned the overseas "sweatshop" factories that "exploited" Third World people -- sweatshops that people flocked to because they provided better conditions than the alternative.
Incidentally, I don't think anyone ever asked Jesus about slavery, so you can't blame Him for not opposing it. He did meet with soldiers and never rebuked them or told them to change professions, which destroys the Leftist claim that Christians must be pacifists and that war is always evil.
for the weak and ignorant it's no different than socialism(or 0bamamerica) no decisions no responsibilities... for the rest of us, it's NOT an option.
Ayn Rand also she condemned altruism as “moral cannibalism.”
Anyway, I am not so sure you cannot sell yourself into slavery, at least the kind that means you bind yourself under contract for a time, with a penalty for breaking that. If so, then no one should be married, or serve in the military. Even O.T. slavery offered no penalties for escaped slaves, but just the opposite, (Deuteronomy 23:15-16)
The opposition of commitment is sometimes driven by rebellion to authority, and which fosters anarchy.
I read the whole thing. Allow me to summarize:
Slavery is tragic.
But it’s kinda like marriage, sort of, I guess, if you really think about it.
But yes it is tragic.
But if you condemn it you are foolish because it’s kinda like God’s plan, like, you know, ‘cause we are supposed to be slaves to Christ. Or something.
But yes, it is tragic.
But don’t condemn it. It’s not evil.
But it is tragic.
(Add more words)
Mary was the maidservant (i.e., a slave, or something) of the Lord.
If it was good enough for Mary, it’s good enough for us. Amen.
So, if you become enslaved, is it okay to kill your jailers and free yourself? I mean, that wouldn’t exactly be “obeying,” would it?
Mindless altruism is evil, IMO. That is, sacrificing your essense as a free person for a lesser value. She was correct about that. Many mistook that admonition for condemnation of altruism such as the soldier who dives on a live grenade. But that isn’t sacrifice for a lesser value, and is thus not mindless. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t make the distinction as clearly as she could have.
LOL.. Good one.
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