How come for thousands of years Christians accepted slavery as ok?

Question

It just seems odd to me that slavery is now considered evil by most religious people when for the longest time it was not.

Answer 1

WOW! This is a very good question and I had not thought of this before! You are right though! The sad part is that there are STILL many who consider themselves as Christians, but secretly do not approve of worshipping with those of other races.

It is unfortunate too because Christ is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle and I would say that racism is a BIG wrinkle.

Answer 2

Slavery falls into the same category as war. It is undesirable, but it is not inherently evil--the difference lies in how it is practiced.

For thousands of years, it was a fact of life. Christians were instructed to be a good master--or a good slave--depending on which circumstances they found themselves in. The point was to be Christlike.

If you will turn your question around, you will notice that if slavery existed for thousands of years, then the abolition of slavery is a very, very recent thing--perhaps even an aberration. Studying history always contains an inherent trap: in looking back, we sometimes think backward.

The people that we examine in history only knew the world as it existed then and before. We shouldn't judge them based on what has happened in the interim or based on the prevailing opinions of today.

Answer 3

For the same reasons they accepted that women had no rights (the bible, koran and countless other books said so) btw we have just gotten rights recently, but make no mistake this was not just a christian thing this was and in some countries still is an acceptable human birthright practice. It was based on birthright, you were either a slave or you were aristocracy when you were born and nothing else......you fit where you were born to fit sort of speak

jesus was the one person to speak out about slavery and look what happened to him...........now you know why no one said anything........fear is a pretty good way of controlling things

Answer 4

There are people from all walks of life that believe in slavery, not just religious people. But yes, some of them did, and maybe some that still do, I don't know. But you can't put all religious people in to that category, because even back then, there were some religious people who did not like slavery just as there were non religious people who did not believe in it. I have never believed in slavery. I don't think that any race, religion, culture, etc, is higher then any other, that they have a right to enslave any body. And those people who use to think it was ok, well none of them was me.

Answer 5

This may sound strange, but imagine if the concept of slavery never existed. You have no preconception of it, and have never once thought of any condition other than every person on the planet having the same rights you do. Do you think you would be able to even conceive of slavery given such conditions? Probably not, since nothing would have prepared you to ask such a question.

The Hebrews lived in a worldwide society where slavery was not only common, it was seemingly ubiquitous. There was virtually no place in their world where slavery did not exist. Now, as you might not have been able to conceive of slavery existing, it was likely not possible for them to imagine it NOT existing. Given that premise, it may be the reason God gave them Laws to govern the handling of those slaves, to treat them fairly.

The situation was much the same in the early Christian world. It is hard to judge people of bygone eras too harshly, especially considering we are judging them by our standards. Imagine if you were being judged by people from Bible times, how do you think they would think of our lifestyles?

You may not agree with this explanation, but it is the best one I can rationally come up with.

Answer 6

Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Jews, etc. all accepted slavery as okay, for thousands of years. Why single out Christians?

We all accept dog ownership. At some point will we decide that dogs have the right to freedom, etc.? I'm not comparing dogs to slaves, per see. All I'm trying to do is show that something we take for granted today as being okay, down the road, may be looked upon with a dim view.

Answer 7

I wasn't there, so I can't tell
you the exact truth, but I can
say that when money and power become paramount, even the most staunch "christian" will bend the known rules.
Of course they knew slavery
was wrong, they had an
erroneous belief that these black people were sub-human. the point I find
interesting tho is that most
plantation owners made it a special point to teach Christianity to their slaves.
What kind of a paradox is that?

Answer 8

The same goes for everyone. Slavery has always existed in human history, regardless of culture or religion.

Answer 9

All religions did,so far as I know. I see no point in singling out western religion. As society has evolved away from slavery,so religious bodies have followed suit. There is nothing amazing about it.

Answer 10

Many Christians don't actually emulate Jesus, who would not support slavery, but instead they follow the bible which presents many contradictions and is open to interpretation.