Is slavery Ok, according to the Bible?

Question

“When you buy a Hebrew slave, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh shall he go out free, for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto God, and he shall bring him to the door or unto the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

—Exodus 21:2-6.

Answer 1

The bible was used to JUSTIFY slavery. The Christian church's main justification of the concept of slavery is based on Genesis 9:25-27. According to the Bible, the worldwide flood had concluded and there were only 8 humans alive on earth: Noah, his wife, their six sons and daughters in law. Noah's son Ham had seen "the nakedness of his father." So, Noah laid a curse -- not on Ham, who was guilty of some type of indiscretion. The sin was transferred to Noah's grandson Canaan. Such transference of sin from a guilty to an innocent person or persons is unusual in the world's religious and secular moral codes. It is normally considered highly unethical. However, it appears in many biblical passages. The curse extended to all of Canaan's descendants:

Genesis 9:25-27: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. He also said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japeth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave'. "
Christians traditionally believed that Canaan had settled in Africa. The dark skin of Africans became associated with this "curse of Ham." Thus slavery of Africans became religiously justifiable.

The call for the abolition of black slavery came not from Christians but from atheists generally. Slavery was abolish in France in 1791, not by the church, but by the atheistic founders of the revolution. In the U.S. the early critics of slavery, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), were all either atheists or Deists. Later the abolitionist cause was taken up by such people as Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), a Deist, Raplh Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), a Unitarian minister turned atheist, and William Lyold Garrison (1805-1879), an atheist. In England, the battle for the abolition of slavery was fought mainly by such as Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) - atheists all.

The majority of the OPPOSITION TO ENDING slavery came mainly from the churches and religious groups. For them it was not important whether slavery was inhumane, it was more important whether it was permitted by the Bible.

Answer 2

Is a buttler ok? This form of slavery is not the slavery that most Americans know of today. Back in Hebrew times slavery was for a set number of years by a master and his slave. It's also a contract by the two. The slave is working for the master and will earn a wage while he is a slave. The slave has the right to leave after six years and if he wishes to stay is then able to become a slave for life. You also have to remember that these slaves were treated a lot better and not worked to death.

Answer 3

Why is slavery permitted in the Bible?


Slavery was permitted in the Bible because of sin in the world. It existed before the Jews were formed as a nation and it existed after Israel was conquered. God allows many things to happen in the world such as storms, famine, murder, etc. Slavery, like divorce, is not preferred by God. Instead, it is allowed. Where many nations treated their slaves very badly, the Bible gave many rights and privileges to slaves. So, even though it isn't the best way to deal with people, because God has allowed man freedom, slavery then exists. God instructed the Israelites to treat them properly.

The Bible acknowledged the slave’s status as the property of the master (Ex. 21:23; Lev. 25:46),
The Bible restricted the master’s power over the slave. Ex. 21:20).
The slave was a member of the master’s household (Lev. 22:11)
The slave was required to rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10; Deut. 5:14)
The slave was required and to participate in religious observances (Gen. 17:13; Exodus 12:44; Lev. 22:11).
The Bible prohibited extradition of slaves and granted them asylum (Deut. 23:16-17).
The servitude of a Hebrew debt-slave was limited to six years (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12).
When a slave was freed, he was to receive gifts that enabled him to survive economically (Deut. 15:14)
The reality of slavery cannot be denied. Slaves were "slave labor played a minor economic role in the ancient Near East, for privately owned slaves functioned more as domestic servants than as an agricultural or industrial labor force."1

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1. Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.) 1985.

P.S. Do not listen to DuckP he does not know what he is talking about!
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam005.html

Answer 4

No, slavery is not okay. The bible say that all man are of one blood so one isn't higher up then the other. y do u think god got the Israelites out of Eygpt and slavery? These verses were dealing with the year of jubilee in which slaves were set free. These verses plainy say that If he came in by himself as a slave he will be released by himself: if he was married then his wife will be released with him but If his master has given him a wife and she had kids with him the wife and the children will stay with the master and the man will leave by him self after his 7th year is up. If a slave refused to leave on the year of jubliee in which they where set free, he would get his ears pierced and would be a slave forever. The bible is against slavery but slavery happens through men so god just made some laws in regard of the freeing of slaves.

Answer 5

For me, you question brings up an interesting issue.

Human relations and the state of civilization was very different in the times addressed in the scriptures.

Many things which we take for granted today, such as the unacceptability of slavery, were not conceived of in those times.

Cultural attitudes and systems of societal interactions are reflected in the Bible and mixed with religious concepts.

Over time, they evolved, sensitivities changed and you can see this reflected in the differences between the Old and New Testaments.

St. Paul complained to certain churches of the men wearing their hair long. He said words to the effect, "Doesn't nature teach you that it is a shame for a man to wear his hair long?".

The idea of a man keeping his hair short came from Paul's Roman background, not from God's opinion on hairstyles.

What does the length of a man's hair have to do with his spirituality?

The early Christian leaders were not above inserting their own prejudices into their religious messages.

My point is that human culture changes, but the basic message of the scriptures, to me at least, is about the heart of humankind and his relationship to the Creator while he is on this plane.

Even in the scripture quoted, you see a mitigating of the treatment of slaves, a progression toward the way things are in our times.

Answer 6

As said above, slaves in their times were bondservants, and they were all freed every seven years. The Bible tolerates slavery for the time, though the Apostle Paul taught Philemon to treat his slave as his brother. Also, Christians like St. Patrick and William Wilberforce were among the first to speak out against slavery.

Answer 7

What do you mean by OK? It is acknowledged and regulated, in the same way that, say, the Bible also says that prostitutes should not use their hard-earned money to give to the temple (Deut 23.17) but the Bible is not "OK" with prostitution. So don't think that something regulated in the Bible is "OK."

Although slavery at the time was akin to indentured servitude, the Bible is not against slavery like you might think; however, you can make a good case against American slavery of Africans, particularly since kidnapping is unBiblical.

Answer 8

Slavery is treated as an evil to be freed from in the Bible, but it is also tolerated as an unavoidable result of a society that hates God. Slavery was induced for failure to pay debts and for various forms of greed. So the greater sin was of the one delivering a person into slavery than of the one purchasing.

According to scripture great righteousness is attributed to the one who purchases slaves and sets them free.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:14-18

As long as there is evil in the world there will be slavery...but slavery is more often the result of evil rather than the actual evil itself, and in some cases is found to be a refuge from evil.

Answer 9

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: The slavery of the Bible is not like what you would think of as slavery. It is like the indentured servitude of the 1600's and 1700's that allowed thousands of people to find a new life in a new world.

Answer 10

Slavery is ok, biblically speaking. The verses you mentioned above pertains to the hundreds of rules and guidelines that people living from that particular age, to follow.

However, slavery as I mentioned, is ok if you are a slave to righteousness. This is what the Bible tells us: to be slaves to righteousness. All other interpretations of slavery is misguided and untrue.