I have been told by a Xtian that I misunderstood this. I took it to mean that slaves must obey. I was told ...

Question

that I took it "out of context" Can you explain how?

Slaves, Respect Your Masters

Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse. (1 Peter 2:18 NAB)

Answer 1

You are making life hard for these believers. Keep up the good work. Perhaps at least some of these sheep can be saved from a life of hatred. Burn the bible, old testament, koran, torah and any other abrahamic-junk. Be a humanist.

Answer 2

"You took it out of context' is the standard Christian response when someone exposes an inconsistency or contradiction in the Wholly Babble. That's code, meaning that they have no way of explaining it or reconciling it.

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 3

Look, it's clear (if you had bothered to study the Bible, which you clearly haven't, just preferring to pick and choose to try and discredit it) that the New Testament isn't advocating slavery as a good thing, but reiterating the commandment which Jesus gave of not resisting an evildoer, turning the other cheek and blessing enemies. Now that we don't have slavery, this verse isn't literally applicable but the underlying principles are still present and very much applicable to Christianity.

Answer 4

In Jesus time - people owned slaves - the passage was telling the slaves that now they were a Christian - they were to serve their masters - right or wrong and do it in a Christian way - for their reward is in Heaven not on this earth.

Answer 5

No you didn't take it out of context, read "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." 1 Peter 2:18-21/It is impossible to take this out of context! God is telling you that you should submit to those that are in charge and not fight back like Jesus did (yeah, and look how it worked out for him). Also read "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft." Exodus 22:2-3 /Again God is telling us that if we kill a thief before sunrise it's OK if it's after sunrise it's not (wtf?!) and that we can sell the thief if he has no money to pay us back...so basically God is an adept of slavery but he urges us to "Love thy neighbor...", he commands "Thou shalt not kill..." but he says that we can kill thieves before sunrise...God sure is indecisive for an omniscient being.

Answer 6

Are there still slaves now? Were slaves common in those days when that was written? Yes. You need to get with the times.

Answer 7

That's CHRISTian to YOU.

What a turd you are. I think the Bible is saying Jesus suffered ,....and if you suffer and put up with stuff without opening your mouth, you are doing as Jesus did, and suffering the way Jesus suffered.

Did you keep on reading in the Bible---or quit when you saw fit to?

Answer 8

Because Christians have to re-interpret the Bible in order to justify their belief in a fairytale.

Answer 9

SLAVES WERE PRISONERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!!!
One more person that says "God condoned Slavery" My head is going to explode!!

Answer 10

Whoever told you that is a loony.