Why is Slavery condoned and regulated in the Bible?

Question

Doesn't most everyone agree that slavery is amoral? And if we can agree that slavery is amoral, who, with this beleif, could possibly follow a religion which condones slavery?

And don't give me that "Those were different times poppycock, the bible says that "GOD, is the same, yesterday, today and tommorow"

Answer 1

because slaves were treated better then, than employees are now?

Answer 2

Of course slavery is amoral, but your interpretation is flawed. The Bible is, among other things, an historical record that depicts life in Europe & the Middle East thousands of years ago. Slavery was a very common practice in those days, and has only in the last hundred years or so become outlawed in most, though not all, of the civilized world. The Bible records many events that we, with our modern ideals, view as tragic or obscene. But that doesn't mean that Christianity, or any other religion based on the Bible, condones slavery.

Answer 3

Morality, like everything else, changes over time. At the time the bible was written, slavery was a large part of peoples lives and considered moral as long as it was done a certain way. Hence the rules in the good book. Having those rules in the current bible doesn't make christianity wrong, just old.

The real question is, why do so many christians cling to some out-dated parts of the bible and let go of others?

Answer 4

Because the Bible was written during the Iron Age and not the Industrial Age. The Bible condones animal sacrifices to appease God and civilized people don't practice that anymore either. And how about that New Testament injunction against eating meat sacrificed to idols? Who does that today, either?
I think you are trying to write immoral, not amoral. Immoral means it's wrong, as slavery is. Amoral means something is neither right or wrong.
It was Christians who brought about Abolition. It was also Christians and Jews who brought about Civil Rights. Nuf said.

Answer 5

Old Testament stuff.

FAQ: Why different testaments and books in the Word?


"As regards the Word particularly, it has existed in every age, though not the Word we possess at the present day. Another Word existed in the Most Ancient Church before the Flood, and yet another Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood. Then came the Word written through Moses and the Prophets in the Jewish Church, and finally the Word written through the Evangelists in the new Church. The reason why the Word has existed in every age is that by means of the Word there is a communication between heaven and earth, and also that the Word deals with goodness and truth, by which a person is enabled to live in eternal happiness. In the internal sense therefore the Lord alone is the subject, for all goodness and truth are derived from Him" (Arcana Coelestia n. 2895).

Answer 6

the bible does not condone slavery, it only regulates. nowhere does it say "thou must keep slaves." it simply recognizes that slavery was part of ancient society, and their economy would probably have collapsed without it. the bible sets conditions on slavery, ie slaves must be set free after 7 years, or if you permanently injure them (the example from the bible is you must set them free if you knock out their tooth), that if a slave runs from his master and comes to your home you must not return him but let him live free among you, and slaves also were given a day off of work just as everybody else were (the sabbath). biblical laws regulating slavery were probably revolutionary at the time, although now of course we hate that slavery is in the bible at all.

Answer 7

Slavery is definety immoral..not amoral. And nowhere in the Bible is slavery denounced. They whitewash this and think of crazy excuses, often saying that the verses don't mean what the plain text says. If they read the same verses, but they were in the Quran they would denounce them. It's those rose colored glasses that they wear when they read the Bible.

"And that servant [slave], which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." - Jesus (Luke 12:47)

"...Let the gentleman go to Revalation to learn the decree of God--let him go to the Bible,.... I said that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible, authorized, regulated, and recognized from Genesis to Revelation.... Slavery existed then in the earliest ages, and among the chosen people of God; and in Revelation we are told that it shall exist till the end of time shall come. You find it in the Old and New Testament--in the prophecies, psalms, and the epistles of Paul; you find it recognized, sanctioned everywhere (Jefferson Davis by Rowland, Vol. I, p. 316-17)."

"There is not one verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is not then, we conclude, immoral." [Rev. Alexander Campbell].

"People who are bitter and hateful about slavery are obviously bitter and hateful against God and his word, because they reject what God says and embrace what mere humans say concerning slavery. This humanistic thinking is what the abolitionists embraced." [Alabama State Senator Charles Davidson, citing biblical defenses of slavery, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 May 1996]
"[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." [Jefferson Davis, President, Confederate States of America].

"There was no place in the land where the seeker could not find some small budding sign of pity for the slave. No place in all the land but one-- the pulpit. It yielded last; it always does. It fought a strong and stubborn fight, and then did what it always does, joined the procession-- at the tail end. Slavery fell. The slavery texts [in the Bible] remained; the practice changed; that was all." ["Mark Twain and the Three R's, by Maxwell Geismar, p.109]

"The writers of the Bible had slight concern for the principles of morality. They were more concerned with rape, murder, robbery, slavery,licentiousness, brutal ignorance and degrading superstition. If the ministers of the Gospel are too dense and stupid to realize the moral mischief resulting from the perverse teachings of the Bible, then it is about time to bring them to their senses." [Joseph Lewis].

Answer 8

I don't believe God condoned slavery. Different people were mentioned in the scriptures where they owed money to the landowner and had to work it off. Or...were poor and went into slavery for a place to live and meals. God did not do this, mankind did. But...God told them how to treat the slaves, with fairness etc.

Answer 9

There has been slavery though the history of man and there is still slavery today in various places. Even today one could compare our economic slavery in mim wage, because one has no real freedom since they can't afford to do anything

But the bible is not a polictical book, it does not tell us how to run governments, what type of government to have. What it does tell tell us is how to behave no matter what our situation in life is. And part of that we can also relate the position of the slave master to that of a boss in a job also, since it tells us to over see with the love of God.

Answer 10

The word slavery is used, but, it really was not slavery-as we know it.

It was more like an indentured servant. A person who had bad debts, and could not ''make it on his own'' at the moment would give himself to someone, to work off the debt, and perhaps save money. After 7 years, that person was released of his obligations and set free. It he did not want to leave, he did not have to.

Answer 11

i love the rationalization so many people use...
MEN wrote the bible folks, and at the time it was written slavery was acceptable. slavery is even in the NEW TESTAMENT. If you believe in god remember the ultimate law from the new testament-do unto others as you would have them do to you.
THINK FEEL DECIDE don't follow blindly!