Do Christians support Gods acceptance of slavery?

[Sir Kyle of Elsewhere]

Here are ten passages from the Bible that clearly demonstrate God's position on slavery:

Genesis chapter 17, verse 12:
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised. In this passage God understands that people buy other people and, quite obviously, is comfortable with the concept. God wants slaves circumcised in the same way as non-slaves.
Exodus chapter 12 verse 43:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it. God again shows that he is completely comfortable with the concept of slavery and singles out slaves for special treatment.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 1:
Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for life. Here God describes how to become a slave for life, and shows that it is completely acceptable to separate slaves from their families. God also shows that he completely endorses the branding of slaves through mutilation.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 20:
If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property. Not only does God condone slavery, but he is also completely comfortable with the concept of beating your slaves, as long as you don't kill them.
Exodus Chapter 21, verse 32:
If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned. Not only does God condone slavery, but here God places a value on slaves -- 30 shekels of silver. Note that God is not sophisticated enough to understand the concept of inflation. It is now 3,000 years later, and a gored slave is still worth 30 shekels of silver according to God's word.
Leviticus Chapter 22, verse 10:
No one outside a priest's family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food. Here God shows that the children of slaves are slaves themselves, and that he is completely happy with that concept.
Leviticus Chapter 25, verse 44:
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly. Here God states where you may purchase your slaves, and clearly specifies that slaves are property to be bought, sold and handed down.
Luke, Chapter 7, verse 2:
Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well. Here Jesus shows that he is completely comfortable with the concept of slavery. Jesus heals the slave without any thought of freeing the slave or admonishing the slave's owner.
Colossians, chapter 3, verse 22:
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, work heartily...
Here God shows that he is in complete acceptance of a slave's position, and encourages slaves to work hard. This sentiment is repeated in Titus, chapter 2 verse 9:
Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to be refractory, nor to pilfer, but to show entire and true fidelity.

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

[ratgirl34]

The word 'slave' was replaced with 'servant' and its variants 1250 times in the English version during the 1600's. The entire Bible is a testament to God's acceptance of slavery.

[Xiam]

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

Ohhh s**t, really looking forward to the responses here. emotion_awesome

I think the only ones who will have trouble, though, are the "God's Word cannot be changed, gays/women should be subjugated" nutjob types.

Unless they stick to this bullshit too. Hrm...

[ratgirl34]

Xiam

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

Ohhh s**t, really looking forward to the responses here. emotion_awesome

I think the only ones who will have trouble, though, are the "God's Word cannot be changed, gays/women should be subjugated" nutjob types.

Unless they stick to this bullshit too. Hrm...

Those who believe that God's word can't be changed had better have copies of the text in its original language. Otherwise they can go suck a bag of dicks.

[Sir Kyle of Elsewhere]

Xiam

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

Ohhh s**t, really looking forward to the responses here. emotion_awesome

I think the only ones who will have trouble, though, are the "God's Word cannot be changed, gays/women should be subjugated" nutjob types.

Unless they stick to this bullshit too. Hrm...

Well, maybe the contradiction will make them think logically for once.

[ratgirl34]

The Legendary Guest

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Xiam

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

Ohhh s**t, really looking forward to the responses here. emotion_awesome

I think the only ones who will have trouble, though, are the "God's Word cannot be changed, gays/women should be subjugated" nutjob types.

Unless they stick to this bullshit too. Hrm...

Well, maybe the contradiction will make them think logically for once.

The psychological results of childhood indoctrination are often what prevents them from seeing that logically, though.

I was raised in a Christian household. We went to church and everything.

I think what started my path to leaving was realizing that I didn't like anyone else in the congregation outside my family and the pastors daughter. She was the only kid that was in any way fun to play with, the rest were all bullies. Well, the pastor was pretty cool too, he had an awesome way of explaining things in a kid friendly way without making it feel like he was talking down to kids. His wife was... Well, I didn't like her at all. And various other members were just crazy enough to make me uncomfortable.

[ratgirl34]

The Legendary Guest

ratgirl34

The Legendary Guest

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Xiam

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Do Christians really support this? This is straight from their "benevolent" creator. If you truly follow God, then I hope you are happy following his sadistic side.

Ohhh s**t, really looking forward to the responses here. emotion_awesome

I think the only ones who will have trouble, though, are the "God's Word cannot be changed, gays/women should be subjugated" nutjob types.

Unless they stick to this bullshit too. Hrm...

Well, maybe the contradiction will make them think logically for once.

The psychological results of childhood indoctrination are often what prevents them from seeing that logically, though.

[.spoiler]
I was raised in a Christian household. We went to church and everything.

I think what started my path to leaving was realizing that I didn't like anyone else in the congregation outside my family and the pastors daughter. She was the only kid that was in any way fun to play with, the rest were all bullies. Well, the pastor was pretty cool too, he had an awesome way of explaining things in a kid friendly way without making it feel like he was talking down to kids. His wife was... Well, I didn't like her at all. And various other members were just crazy enough to make me uncomfortable.

Indoctrination is a unique tactic, though, it's more than just going to church and being raised with religion. I was raised with religion and clergy in the family, but I can look back now and understand that I was not successfully indoctrinated, not even close. If it isn't successful, it's much easier to question things.
I guess that makes sense. Sort of makes me wonder how that church expects to maintain its numbers without anything to encourage anyone to keep going. So many churches in my area are closing down.

Although I hear that the one that supposedly preaches fire and brimstone is doing well, I imagine that the one that's got the amazing sound system and has events coming out the congregations ears is also doing well... And the mosk also seems to have a consistently full parking lot.

All the others are dwindling in numbers. Although I think the Catholic church will hang on by sheer force of will.

[King Shining Heaven]

If you're willing to do a long read, this will probably answer your questions

http://christianthinktank.com/qnoslave.html

[IronySandwich]

The responses I've gotten on that vary from denial, including outright refusal to read the bible passages while insisting I was lying about them, a sort of "yeah well that slavery was different" excuse, and a bunch of quibbling about how that was just "part of the times" as though the morality of a perfect being is subject to the limitations of 0th century shepherds.

I once had someone talk about how both slavery and the slaughter of children was "ultimately a moral good" in a debate about how morality without God is meaningless as without God it can be manipulated to excuse atrocities. This person never saw the disconnect no matter how bluntly it was shoved in his face. There's a lot of truth to the saying that good people do good things and evil people do evil things, but to get good people to do evil things you need religion (although realistically nationalism and a lot of other -isms work as well).

[Sir Kyle of Elsewhere]

Young King under Heaven

If you're willing to do a long read, this will probably answer your questions

http://christianthinktank.com/qnoslave.html

First off. Voluntary slavery is still wrong. Regardless of said person being willing, it would be wrong for the recieving person to accept the offer, and second off, the Bible shows that God has a list of logistics to buying, selling, capturing, and even beating your slaves. The man who wrote this article is a ******** quack.

[IronySandwich]

Sir Kyle of Elsewhere

Young King under Heaven

If you're willing to do a long read, this will probably answer your questions

http://christianthinktank.com/qnoslave.html

First off. Voluntary slavery is still wrong. Regardless of said person being willing, it would be wrong for the recieving person to accept the offer, and second off, the Bible shows that God has a list of logistics to buying, selling, capturing, and even beating your slaves. The man who wrote this article is a ******** quack.

Yeah, the "pay off period" in particular is an outright lie. There was a set period of servitude for male Hebrew slaves who were born free. Females were slaves permanently, foreigners were slaves permanently, children were slaves permanently, and even that male Hebrew born free slave was a slave permanently unless he was willing to abandon his family when he left (biblical family values).

And to talk about how they weren't mistreated they cite a law that a slave holder will be punished for beating a slave to death outright, but not if the slave takes a day or two to die from the beating. Yeah, that's real humane there.

[Lady Vizsla]

These verses do not encourage or support slavery as we often perceive it. It’s important to remember that the type of slavery mentioned in Leviticus was different from the harsh slavery to which the Israelites were subjected. It was also different from the harsh slavery endured by African Americans in the United States and United Kingdom. The type of slavery mentioned in Leviticus was typically a way for people to pay off their debts. If they were deep in debt, they could sell themselves for a period of time in order to become free of debt.

There were times, however, when a debt could never be paid off, such as when one nation conquered another and made slaves of the captives (1 Sam 17:8–9). Even under those circumstances, Israelites were not allowed to impose harsh slavery upon their captives. In verse 38, God reminded the Israelites that He delivered them from harsh bondage under the Egyptions. He certainly wanted them to remember the horrible years of suffering that they endured, and to treat their servants/slaves in a way that is kind.

Typically, things that are considered good do not need rules or limitations. For instance, there is no limit on how kind you can be to others. There is no limit on how much fruit of the Spirit you can cultivate. God places limitations, or laws, on things that can be harmful to ourselves and others (see Galatians 5:19–25). The Bible is full of limitations placed on harsh slavery. In Exodus 21:16, God condemns kidnapping and forced slavery. In this verse He says, “He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.”

Verse 44 discusses slaves that they may already have from nations around them. They can be bought and sold. It doesn’t say to seek them out or have forced slavery. Hence it is not giving an endorsement of seeking new slaves or encouraging the slave trade. At this point, the Israelites had just come out of slavery and were about to enter the Holy Land. They shouldn’t have had many servants. Also, this doesn’t restrict other people in cultures around them from selling themselves as bondservants. But as discussed already there are passages for the proper and godly treatment of servants/slaves.

For a New Testament example of slavery, let’s look at the story of Paul and Onesimus. Onesimus, a slave, had escaped from Philemon, his owner. Paul shared the gospel with Onesimus, who became a Christian! Over the course of time, Onesimus returned to Philemon with a letter from Paul. In the letter, Paul pleads with Philemon to receive Onesimus back as if he were Paul himself, not as a slave but as a brother. Paul also takes the responsibility for any debt that Onesimus might owe upon himself personally.