for those who interpret the bible literally?

Question

do you own slaves?

because the bible says it ok.

so if someone does keep a slave, then we have no right to punish them for it?

cool.

my whole point is, for the literalists, you can't pick and choose. if you read some of the bible literally, you have to read the whole thing that way.

i am educated actually. i've read the bible many many times, and many different versions of it, at that.

Matthew 18:25: "But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made."

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward" (1 Peter 2:18). "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ" (Ephesians 6:5).

“A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer” (Proverbs 29:19). “And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake” (Exodus 21:26-27).

“And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money” (Exodus 21:20-21).

this is my favorite. it's ok to beat the slaves as long as they live for a day or two after.


anywho, yes parts of the bible say slavery=bad, but other parts are all for it.

how can you interpret it literally with all these conflicting ideas?

btw-i'm not condeming anyone, i'm honestly just curious because personally, i don't get it.

but i like to hear what other people have to say.

Answer 1

The Bible says "A new commandment I (Jesus) give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you." (John 13:34)

Do you suppose you might be missing something?

Answer 2

The Bible does not command people to own slaves, and it talks about slavery under very specific conditions. You're also ingoring the New Testament.

Even literalists, of which I am not, could not own slaves and still be literalists.

EDIT: Jesus also made a point about obeying local authorities, so even if the Bible tells you do to something, you can still be prosecuted under the law for it. Read the Bible before you try and "catch us" on something in it.

Wait a sec, all those passages mention a master/servant relationship, which is significantly different than a master/slave relationship. I mean, if we're going to be literal about things.

Answer 3

It may say it's OK but you have to understand that at the time it was written that was how most governments punished people was to make them slaves to pay off a debt or crime. If it weren't for slavery back then rapists child molesters, thieves and murderers would have all been running around free. Harming innocent people who just wanted to live in peace. Slave equaled criminal most of the time. Some of them were impoverished people who did it as a means to have a roof over their heads.
Aside from that the Bible tells us to obey the laws of our country, so if the country you live in tells you that slavery is illegal you shouldn't do it. The bible doesn't say go buy slaves it says IF you own slaves. It gives guidelines on fair treatment of criminals.
If you read and re read and study and pay attention to little words like if than you can interpret it literally without a problem and without confusion.

Answer 4

You will have to study this out a little more and find out why there is slavery in the first place. Read Jeremiah 15:1. It is not God's desire that any man be in slavery, because God is a God of freedom. But there is a such thing called "judgement". God moves in a sphere of judgement and whatever people feared that's what came to pass on them. When the Israelites came through the land of Caanan, some of the nations which had the opportunity to befriend them, chose to fight them. When they chose to fight them, those nations brought into existence whatever fears were in their heart. Whether is be death by the sword, famine, pestilence, or slavery. Since, people came under the judgement of slavery, God gave Moses laws concerning the treament of slaves. But now that Jesus Christ has came and is the fulfillment of the Law. And one of the fulfillments of the Law was that a man love his neighbor as himself. That's why Christians do not take people as slaves today. When was in the Old Testament was appropriate for that time. But Christ has ushered in the Covenant of grace. And grace allows all men to be free through Christ.

Answer 5

Ummm..no. I also live in a country in which slavery was once legal...that doesn't make me a slave owner either.

I believe in the Bible, and I do interpret it literally, but I also know that there is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I live by the "law" of the New Testament which basically says that because Christ died on the cross for my sins, I am no longer a slave myself to the laws of the Old Testament.

Become educated before you ask questions you do not understand.

Answer 6

The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw the practice altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many people fail to understand is that slavery in Biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was more of a social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their family. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their master.

The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. Black people were considered slaves because of their nationality – many slave owners truly believed black people to be “inferior human beings” to white people. The Bible most definitely does condemn race-based slavery. Consider the slavery the Hebrews experienced when they were in Egypt. The Hebrew were slaves, not by choice, but because they were Hebrews (Exodus 13:14). The plagues God poured out on Egypt demonstrate how God feels about racial slavery (Exodus 7-11). So, yes, the Bible does condemn some forms of slavery. At the same time, the Bible does seem to allow for other forms of slavery. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries.

Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside-out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God, receiving His salvation – God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, he will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.

Answer 7

Your definition of fantasy is faulty. From a Christian factor of view a fantasy is a narrative which teaches a religious fact. listed right here are different definitions: "A fantasy, in its least complicated definition, is a narrative with a meaning connected to it except it type of feels to have at first; and the actual undeniable actuality that it has the type of meaning is often marked through a number of its situations being awesome, or, interior the common use of the observe, unnatural." John Ruskin, in 1869, in "The Queen of the Air" "A regularly classic tale of ostensibly historic activities that serves to spread element of the international view of a human beings or clarify a custom, perception, or organic phenomenon." Merriam-Webster Dictionary So, a fantasy isn't immediately pretend. a good looking good party is the introduction memories present day in Genesis. There are 2 diverse tellings of ways God created the international and its inhabitants. they are each and each and every relaying a particular reason as to why God created the international. So, if i'm taking the Bible actually do I take the first tale or the 2d tale actually? OR! Do I take actually the message that God created us to entice close Him, love Him, stay in unity with Him, one yet another, and the international round us?

Answer 8

Where does the Bible say it's okay? The Bible does condemn the trade:

"We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders" (1Timothy 1:9-10).

Slavery was also different then, and you could sell yourself to someome for periods of time to pay off debts.

Joseph was sold to Egypt as a slave, and the Bible says that was an evil on the part of his brothers.

Additional: as an educated person, then, you know that "literal" means "by the letter" (ie, as intended). When Jesus said, "I am the door," we stupid literalists are quite certain that Jesus literally meant that he was the one passageway to God, not a literal 3x5 hollowcore with knocker and peephole. C'mon!

Answer 9

That was the culture. The Bible doesn't condone slavery. God even commands that every 7th year that slaves were to be set free. If they stayed a slave, it was by their choice. In the New Testament, God even demands that those who are slaves should be treated like a brother.

Your question needs to be more specific, like a chapter and verse. Not just, "The Bible says..."

Answer 10

The Mosaic Law was done away with when Jesus died.

Colossians 2:13, 14 "He kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us; and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake."

Galatians 3:24, 25 "Consequently the Law has become our tutor leading to Christ, that we might be declared righteous due to faith. But now that the faith has arrived, we are no longer under a tutor."

Answer 11

Everyone is a slave to something, if you have a job you are a slave to the company you work for, they have rules and regulations to follow, if you are in debt you are a slave to who you owe.
Christ was a slave for us, he lived and died for us.
We all have Masters of one kind or another.