Question about the Bible and Slavery...

[battleknight24]

I here a lot of people that talk about homosexuality being wrong because the bible says so.

For purposes of my question, I am going to assume or ignore a few things (but this is definitely up for you guys to discuss)...

- Let us ignore the fact that there is nothing in our laws or constitution that says all US citizens have to follow the bible.

- Let us assume the passages in the bible condemning homosexuality are accurate translations and not misinterpretations taken out of context, etc...

My question-

What does the bible say about slavery? Owning slaves? Treatment of slaves?

Obviously, the bible forbids slavery...

Right?

By the way, I would really like it if some of you could post quotes, links, or citations.

[Journeyman]

1. Here's a nice place to start your research. . .

www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/


There's a search function you may find useful.

[mcctatas]

2. A small sampling for your viewing pleasure....

If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)


However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)

When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

good link-----> http://www.evilbible.com/Slavery.htm





Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)

[Wizard777]

3. Which Bible are you refering to? There are many.

Zend Avesta was the first. Then came the Torah. The Duay is used by catholics. The Koran. The King James version. The Book of Mormon. I could go on. But I can tell you this much. The enslavement of the jews in Egypt is now being disputed. The only account is from the jewish perspective. We now know enough about the ancient Egyptian culture and traditions to look at that through the eyes of the ancient egyptians. One of the things in this new theory explains why the Pharo went after the Jews when they left. It is now believed that they stole many of the provisions they would need for their trek through the desert.

[ismnotwasm]

5. That's a bunch of crap

And I don't think you need to bring up "enslavement of the jews in Egypt" into a general question about biblical attitude toward slavery.

Which bible. For gods sakes. Slavery is condoned in every book you mentioned by reason of biblical law.

[Wizard777]

13. No it's not. Not in the Zend Avesta.

Before the Africans. The Jews were the most famous of slaves. There is also the Babylonian captivity. When Cyrus the Great conquored Babylon. He paid the Jews that were slaves in Babylon for any work they did for him.

[Richard Steele]

12. That's not a "theory", it's anti-Semetic crap straight from the Aryan Nation handbook.

nm

[Wizard777]

14. No actually I saw that on the history channel.

[dkf]

4. One of the ten commandments is that you not covet your neighbor's slave.

Which says to me that the bible is okay with slavery.

This was one of the reasons I "lost my way"...

http://www.bible-researcher.com/decalogue.html

[yurbud]

6. My favorite slavery passage includes genocide too, Deuteronomy 20:10-16

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes...

[Beregond2]

7. This is why

neither traditional Judaism nor Christianity ever regarded the scriptures as inerrant. Obviously, they were written by and for men of a particular time, place and culture. In Judaism, a tradition of interpretation grew up over centuries, embodied in the Talmud and Mishnah, and in Christianity, final authority resided in the living church as guided by the holy spirit. The need for ongoing reinterpretation and application of the underlying principles to changing social situations and mores was accepted.

One of the motives behind the 19th century push toward inerrancy (fundamentalism) in America was the desire to use the Bible as justification for slavery. Today, the same mentality is applied to the issue of sexual orientation.

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. To the point. Nicely summarized. nt

[noel711]

9. As has been said in many exhausting conversations on DU..

The Bible as we know it today (and not the countless translations and editions)
is a collection of ancient writings that is used as the basis of faith for most
Christian denominations.

Those writings reflect several ancient civilizations, most of which cannot speak
to us today. Most educated denominations know that interpretation (sometimes spoken of as 'hermenutic') is necessary to glean a contemporary understanding of the scripture.
Most denominations try to see beyond the cultural baggage of the past to find the wisdom and guidance of the traditional past. WE are not THEM. But we still share some commonality.

In the ancient civilization, there was a detailed understanding of the strata of society-
slavery was simply part of the culture, as was patriarchy. Looking back, its easy for us to judge, but society was structured for survival. The Bible does not forbid slavery; it was a part of life, but scripture presents ways of living with it for the good of the people. Scripture had strong prohibitions against abuse. People of means were commanded to care for their property (i.e. slaves and women) with compassion. I'm on my way out the door this morning, so sorry, no quotations for now. But scripture is full of them; my suggestion: google a concordance... a concordance is a vehicle to find specific quotations by typing in just one word: slave/slavery...you'll get bible quotes.

Through science and technology, the human race has advanced in many ways. Socially, we have grown to a more equitable culture, social boundaries are not as clearly defined in western culture, but there still exist some culture that reflect the same hierachies present in the biblical culture of old: slavery, patriarchy, etc.

P.S... as to homosexuality... the so-called biblical laws forbidding homosexuality aren't about what our culture considers homosexuality. There were laws against 'homosexual' rape; laws against masturbation; laws against bestiality (basically, to a culture fighting to survive, they felt that sperm was precious, and anything that caused sperm to flow without causing a baby was a waste... they were all about propagation and survival)... laws against using temple prostitutes (men and women) as a way of expiation of sin. None of these laws apply to our contemporary view of committed gay relationships. That's because there was no biblical interpretation of romantic love, which evolved during the middle ages. What we may see as romance in the bible is really erotic love.. but that's another thread to post..

[bryant69]

10. This belongs in the religion forum.

But obviously a lot of the abolitionists were also what we would consider Evangelical Christians, so they apparently didn't see the bible is proscribing slavery.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[dysfunctional press]

11. whenever the word "slave" is used in the bible, there are two possible meanings...

when it's talking about the jews(the good guys) being in bondage, slave means "slave"-

BUT-

when it's talking about the jews having slaves, slave means "indentured servant"- the good guys don't have slaves.

that's how some religio-crazy actually tried to justify it to me.

the bible has to be one of the biggest banes to humanity in the entire history of the world, and i wish that it's followers would just dry up and go away...and leave the rest of us in peace.