How come they went from supporting slavery to opposing it? According to the Bible (both "Old" and "New" testaments), there's nothing wrong with slavery... the Jews owned slaves, and so did the Christians in late Roman times and early America (Paul tells the slavemasters not to be cruel to slaves, but never says they may not HAVE slaves!) Now, either slavery is morally wrong, or it isn't. If it is morally o.k. as per the Bible, then the Civil War was fought for nothing. But if it is morally wrong (and it IS), then it was just as wrong back then as it is right now! There's no getting around it... Apparenty the God of the Bible made sure to include verses about the evils of eating pork, but couldn't be bothered to outlaw slavery...
2007-09-11 14:34:28 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yadda, Yadda, Yadda ... If people in general believed in the complete and UTTER righteousness of George W. Bush, then how come THEY'VE changed their minds? I never have.
By the way ... you can question God all you want, but the simple truth is that you will never and CAN never be HIM! He created the world, man ... and He has the right to sanction what He sees fit. If you truly want to understand His way of thinking, then I suggest you pick up a Bible and start going to church ... anything other than try to bait people who believe in Him. If that's all you've got, then you need to come up with another argument.
2007-09-13 13:29:15 · answer #1 · answered by Jewels 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
All over the world from who knows when there have been slaves. People were born poor and this was the way for them to have a roof over their heads, food on their plates, ect. For whatever reason, there were slaves. Now, I am not an authority on slaves throughout human history, so I don't know why slavery was a common or accepted practice, but it was apparently an accepted practice throughout history. If the arrangement is a symbiotic one, for the benefit of landowner and slave, then why should it have been outlawed? God said to be kind to your servants, and who could disagree with that? When slavery became cruel, and people were being treated like cattle, we as human beings had the Civil War and did away with the practice, and there may not have been a Civil War without our religious and moral backbone telling us that people need to be treated with dignity...if we didn't have that morality, would there have been a Civil War? Or would people have just looked out for their own best interests and not cared about the plight of the slaves, enough to lay their lives down for their freedom?
2007-09-11 14:44:49 · answer #2 · answered by The Nag 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Different type of slavery. In the times of the Bible slavery was more like the concept of indentured servitude and would be freed upon completion of a contract or were military prisoners whose children would then be citizens of the empire. Chattel slavery practiced in America was condemned by the Bible and not allowed.
On another note, do not confuse the Civil War with being about slavery. The conflict was about states rights as opposed to what the Union controlled.
2007-09-11 14:46:41 · answer #3 · answered by mrglass08 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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.
2007-09-11 14:39:07 · answer #4 · answered by Freedom 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
for your information the civil war was fought over state's rights( Robert E. Lee didnt even have slaves) the end of slavery came as a result of the civil war. and the law changed when Jesus died and rose again and also if all you read what Paul said then you you havent searched the entire Bible, and there are circumstances where you have done something very very very important for someone (like saving someones life) then they had to repay somehow they could become indentured servants which is where you are there slave for however many years to pay off the debt and that is not wrong
2007-09-11 14:51:10 · answer #5 · answered by akidwithaclub 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Slavery is acceptable in the Bible as well as the Koran.
The Civil War was not fought over slavery. It was fought over keeping the union. "So that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth," as President Lincoln said.
Freeing the slaves was a byproduct of the war, not the reason for the war.
2007-09-11 14:41:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Slavery is not bad. It was only harsh on the african americans. If you are a merciful master and are considerate of your slave than they can live a fair and fulfilling life. Just because the slaves from africa were beaten and whipped does not mean that all slaves were. If the master of a slave is a christian, he will respect the slaves right as a human, so while the slave must submit to the masters will, the master must make decisions in what he feels is best and most fair for the slave (love thy neighboor as thyself). If that means giving the slave free time to themself then so be it. Again, taht all comes down to what your definition of a slave is.
2007-09-11 15:52:08 · answer #7 · answered by bboykombo4 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sigh
In our modern "enlightened" and "politically correct" times, EVERYTHING from the far past is "morally" wrong. Obviously, culture and times have changed.....
No, wait; women in Islamic countries still have fewer rights than a dog, so I guess slavery is still here, after a fashion.
But you hit it right: God did order fair and just treatment of slaves (most of whom, by the way, were slaves by choice. If the master had no male heirs, guess who got the inheritance? You got it; the "slave")
Oh, and you just conveniently forgot to mention the Israelites being under the cruelest form of bondage and slavery in Egypt. How convenient for your self-righteous rant.
2007-09-11 14:51:09 · answer #8 · answered by RIFF 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because back then Slavery was necessary and was an inevitable part of the advancement of mankind. Every civilization had slaves.
The Bible says not to be cruel to slaves because cruelty and abuse are wrong.
2007-09-11 14:44:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Biblically speaking, slaves had rights and obligations and masters had obligations and responsibilities to their 'slaves'.
The Bible gives us insight into different types of 'slavery' - some examples where a master-slave relationship flourished as managed under the laws and examples where master-slave relationship had adverse affects on slaves.
I don't see having servants or slaves as being a moral issue in and of itself but rather HOW they are treated as being morally right or wrong.
2007-09-11 14:45:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well in the old testament god said that using slaves for doin other peoples work was wrong n that it wasnt right n thats y he took the israelites out of slavery b/c it was wrong n well maybe the jews n christians used slaves later on but god was never content with it b/c its torture to the people he made
2007-09-11 14:43:26 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋