As a Christian, how do you reconcile biblical condoning of slavery with the modern attitude that it is sinful?

Question

Do you see it as virtually every person on Earth sees it today, as one of the most sinful practices in all of human history? How do you deal with such discrepancies? Do you ignore it and just go on, business as usual, somehow justify it as proper and moral or try to present it as consensual servitude? Personally, I have a difficult time with being labeled as immoral as a non-believer by anyone who is not absolutely outraged at a god who can condone this in any form. Does it appear that mankind has evolved to a greater morality than God?

Opinions please? You certainly don't have to agree with me, please just be sincere and not flippant.

Good point, Suzanne, but still the same God.

Answer 1

Well, Slavery is a HUMAN condition. It is not something instituted by God. It is something that Man did. It is referred to in scripture, simply because it was a portion of daily life that was lived by all in those days. There were many men that owned slaves that converted, and the concept of slave ownership, was only a business practice. It was a HUMAN institution, a HUMAN practice, and could only be changed through the desire of HUMANS to be different. Keep in mind that Slavery was a part of life, and was deemed a good business practice by the Romans, and Egyptians, who controlled most of the world at the time most of the things in the bible were written.

As for me, personally, I don't have a need to either justify it, or debunk it, because I have never been a slave, nor have I owned them. What has happened in history has happened, yes, but it is a matter of history, and must be kept in perspective. As for modern slavery in the world, I am as outraged as you, and think that modern slave owners ought to be dealt with swiftly, harshly, and with appropriate force.

Hope this helps...

Answer 2

Well slavery then was quite different than slavery in America. Back then they had what is called indentured servants. Basically if you fell into debt to someone, and had no way to repay it, you would "sell" yourself as a slave into service of that person until your debt is re-payed. This is not an immoral type of "slavery", it is merely one way to pay debts when you cannot write a long-term IOU.

Also the Jewish law was strict, you could not keep someone as a slave after their debt is re-payed, you had to let them go. Also in the New Testament there is never any endorsement of slavery, they just talk about how masters should be kind to their slaves and how slaves should be honest to their masters.

Its not really immoral. Besides, wage labor is just as brutal as slave labor. If you do not work as a slave, you get punished. If you do not work as a freeman, you starve. But the Bible teaches kindness to slaves.

Answer 3

To the answer above, calling all Christians bigots is a pretty bigoted opinion. But as to the question, I think humans have gained greater morality in some areas, but they have also lost a lot of morality in some other areas. And for what the Bible says, I know I haven't read the whole thing, but what I've seen talks about treating servants correctly and decently, not like the slave owners in our country back before it was illegal were in the habit of doing.

Answer 4

Slavery in the way we think of it today is not condoned in scripture. Yes, Old Testament folks had slaves, it was a fact of life at the time, and God gave strict rules regarding their treatment.

For some reason, the Bible never comes out and says that slavery should be banned... but if you follow the moral code of the Bible out to it's logical conclusion I think that's where it leads us.

Great question!

Answer 5

Well, if you would read the WORD OF GOD, you would find out that the slaves were treated as family. as a matter of fact, to be a slave of Israel was fantastic compared to any other nation on earth.. and after a time a slave was made free and offered the opportunity to become an Israelite.. so from a slaves point of view it was deliverance from oppression and death..so you see it pays to read before you hang yourself..In that time in history it was a pathway to freedom..hmmm. GOD IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 6

A small volume of concepts without context can foster lack of wisdom. God under no circumstances condoned slavery. yet He normally gave instructions on a thank you to handle the imperfect international we are residing in.

Answer 7

God is the Judge of our life, not man. Man's opinion is weak and beggarly.
Most employment and contract situations are slavery. Exchanging labor for necessities. What is the difference? Most slaves had it better than working men in factories and mines.

Answer 8

God allowed slavery, as well as many other things in the Bible. Part of that whole free will thing, you know. That doesn't mean God didn't think it was wrong. There were consequences during life for many of the things man did in the Bible and there's always the eternal consequences.

Answer 9

The Bible tells slaves and masters how to act. It's not necessarily condoning what we know as slavery. If all slaves and masters lived what Jesus taught, it'd be more like a employer-employee relationship than what it became in US history (and other countries).

Answer 10

Hi, and thanks for your respectful Christian. As far as I know, the Bible doesn't condone slavery. There was slavery in the Old testament, but after Jesus came, there was none.

Remember the plagues that God sent upon Egypt? He was trying to get the Egyptians to let His people go. They were holding them as slaves.

Yes, some of God's people had slaves. You are correct.