Does Christianity condone Slavery?

Question

Please don't get all offended. It's just a question.

To spnkitman: I don't know if all religions condone it but Islam says you can't have slaves. It says you can have servants (meaning they can leave at anytime they want to). In Islam it's a considered a good deed if you give money to slave owner to set free the slave. It also says you can't make servants do degrading things.

Answer 1

"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." (1 Peter 2:18)

Answer 2

At the time the Old Testament was written, slavery was a standard way of life, and in most countries other then the ruler, everyone was a slave and the king had life and death powers over them. Because of that, you will find mentions of slavery in the Bible. 99% of people during that fime were slaves.

The Bible does have laws about slave ownership. But they vary greatly from what was the norm of that day. The major one being that no one was considered the king's slave. Rather each man was the property of God. People were allowed private ownership, including land, and the right to pass that on to their children. This was very different from most other countries, where the government owned everything.

If a person found themself in financial trouble, they had the right to place themselve into slavery for a period of no more than seven years. The master was required to pay off all their debts as the price of their slavery. And at the end of the seven years they received wages for the time they worked. It allowed people in bad situations to make a fresh start in their lives.

While a slave, the law required that they be treated as part of the family, receiving the same food, clothing, etc. as a member of the family. If they were female, they protected against being raped. Before a master could sleep with a slave girl, he had to marry her, set her free, and give her all the rights of a free born wife. He was also unable to divorce such a wife (as she would have no where to go, having been a slave).

If a master killed a slave, the master would be tried for murder. If he wounded a slave, he had to pay for the cost of medical treatment, lost wages, etc.

This is a far different thing from what most people think of as "slavery".

When you reach the New Testament, slavery was still in eistence (and would be until the late 18th and early 19th century). So in his instructions to Christians on how to live, Paul acknowledged that the majority of them were living in slavery. He told them that if they were in that situation to submit to their masters, do their work well, and try to win their favor. Good ractical advise for the time in which they lived.

As for the issue of slave ownership, none of the major heroes of the Bible are stated to have been slave owners. (A couple, however, were slaves). Paul does talk about one minor Christian who was a slave owner. He writes to him in the letter to Philemon (which was the man's name).

Philemon had a slave who everal years before had stolen some money from Philemon and run away. Paul meet him in Rome, and converted him. The slave now wanted to return to Philemon and repay the money he had stolen. But under Roman law, Philemon could have him executed. Paul writes to Philemon and ask him to receive the run away back, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. While it is not recorded in the Bible what Philemon did, the tradition is that he received the run away as a brother, forigving and freeing him.

So the Bible's state on "slavery" is that there is nothing wrong with having a position in which a person in financial need can receive assistance in exchange for a time of service. That is you are in a situation where you are a servant (or employee) for someone, do an honest job for them. But that in the end, all Christians are brothers, and one should not "own" another.

Answer 3

The epistles seem to accept the de facto situation. There were large numbers of slaves/servants in the Roman empire who did the chores we now have machines to do; attempted revolutions like Spartacus' led to hideous State retribution. So Peter and Paul advised slaves to accept their undesirable lot just as Christ had to put up with his irksome task (of paying for our sins, and going through a brutal death to accomplish this).

However Paul says that if a servant/slave can buy his freedom he should (as sometimes this option was available.)

Paul also identifies slave-trading as a job befitting the unsaved wicked person, the kind of behaviour a true believer should shun.

One of Paul's letters was to a chap whose servant ran away, met Paul, and converted. Paul sends him back, but asks the chap to treat him properly, and suggests he should go further .. seemingly suggesting that he should be freed.

Of course slavery is totally against the principles Jesus taught - love of God and love of neighbour.

(Mind you if you are moslem you can't really try to act superior - one of Mohammed's wives was a christian slave, and he would not release her from her slave status, which a good man would have done.)

Answer 4

It did condone slavery in the 1860's - at least the South used the Bible as an excuse to have slaves. Oddly, the North also used the Bible to say that slavery wasnt right...

Answer 5

In some interpretations, yes. Keep in mind that in some ancient societies slavery could be entered into voluntarily if someone owed a huge financial debt. It would be as if we volunteered to serve credit card companies to pay off our debt. We would be considered property, but would also have certain rights. Philemon deals with some of these issues as they relate to slavery in the Roman Empire.

Answer 6

The Bible recognized slavery as part of the culture but never condoned it.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 7

Christianity accepts and condones what benefits them at that particular time...and they will find a verse to back them up and when what they accepted becomes unacceptable they will find a verse to say the others were wrong...its a no win situation!

Answer 8

They did use the term "slave" but it had a different meaning.

These "slaves" that you speak of were mainly indentured servants.

Answer 9

My kids would answer "YES" to this question......


Because they think I'm a slave driver.

Answer 10

Absolutely! That is why Jesus like to tell so many slavery stories, the people's ears really perked-up when he told those slavery stories!