<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been meaning to write on this topic for quite a while now, and have finally been inspired into action after watching NonStampCollector<\/a>\u2019s latest video, Bible Slavery \u2013 TOTALLY DIFFERENT<\/em>:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The video features a discussion between the biblical God and a group of angels, set around a table in the clouds.\u00a0 They are anticipating the kinds of wicked deeds humans will do, and discussing the commands God will give in order to reduce the damage.\u00a0 The angels are concerned about two main things: that God will make fair rules that will minimise suffering, and that he will make them clearly.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, however, the conversation morphs into the kind of frustrating dialogue I have had with several Christians regarding the biblical teachings on slavery.\u00a0 The Bible is very clear that slavery was not only <em>permitted<\/em> in ancient Israel, but was in fact\u00a0<em>endorsed<\/em> by God (see the verses below), so Christians will sometimes try and argue that the slavery the Bible speaks about is of a different kind to what we envisage (people being captured and\/or sold into slavery; humans owning other humans as property, possibly for life; violent and humiliating treatment; etc). \u00a0Christians often point to passages like Exodus 21:2 and Leviticus 25:39-40 (see below), and claim that by “slave”, the Bible really means a “hired servant” who must <em>not<\/em> be treated as a slave at all, and must be set free after 6 years. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bycommonconsent.com\/2006\/09\/20\/why-did-jesus-and-paul-not-condemn-slavery\/\">One site<\/a> even compares the master-slave relationship to the bond between a father and son! \u00a0But these conclusions could only be drawn from these verses by ignoring the ones that come directly after. \u00a0As we will see below, <em>foreigners<\/em> may be treated as slaves, only <em>male<\/em> Hebrew servants are to be set free after 6 years, <em><\/em>and slave owners are permitted to beat their slaves to within an inch of their life.<\/p>\n<p>The standard Christian apologetical tactics regarding slavery are most forcefully refuted in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.philrs.iastate.edu\/hector-avalos\/\">Hector Avalos<\/a>\u2019 comprehensive book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Slavery-Abolitionism-Ethics-Biblical-Scholarship\/dp\/1907534288\">Slavery, Abolotionism, and the Ethics of Biblical Scholarship<\/a><em>. \u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/\">Thom Stark<\/a>‘s treatment in his<em>\u00a0<\/em>(freely downloadable) book<em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/copan\/stark_copan-review.pdf\"><em>Is God a Moral Compromiser?<\/em><\/a><\/em> (pp165-208)\u00a0is also superb; in fact, I consider Stark’s book to be\u00a0the best general reference work concerning the terrible ethics of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>But NonStampCollector\u2019s video does an excellent job of summarising the basic ideas.\u00a0 As well as providing a humorous take on the kinds of frustrating debates that frequently occur (with the role of the Christian played by God himself), the video makes a number of serious points, which I’ll take as headings in the discussion that follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Bible is very clear about its commandments when it wants to be.<\/li>\n<li>There are very clear pro-slavery commandments in the Bible.<\/li>\n<li>There are no clear anti-slavery commandments in the Bible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>1. \u00a0The Bible is very clear about its commandments when it wants to be<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Here are a few biblical commands, all taken from Leviticus 19:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not steal.<\/li>\n<li>Do not lie.<\/li>\n<li>Do not defraud or rob\u00a0your neighbour.<\/li>\n<li>Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker\u00a0overnight.<\/li>\n<li>Do not show partiality\u00a0to the poor or favouritism to the great.<\/li>\n<li>Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour\u2019s life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, there are no blurry edges around these commandments.\u00a0 If you\u2019re wondering what God thinks about stealing, well, it\u2019s right there: \u201cDo not steal\u201d.\u00a0 Case closed.<\/p>\n<p>The above commandments seem very good to me, but there are also some fairly strange kinds of commands, some of which seem quite arbitrary.\u00a0 These are also from Leviticus 19:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not mate different kinds of animals.<\/li>\n<li>Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.<\/li>\n<li>Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.<\/li>\n<li>Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.<\/li>\n<li>Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is clear that God just finds some things abhorrent.\u00a0 These include: mules and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Labradoodle\">labradoodles<\/a>, cotton-polyester clothing, rare steaks, men without sideburns, and tattoos.\u00a0 Putting aside the question of why God might dislike these things, he certainly makes himself abundantly clear: Do not do them!<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>2.\u00a0 There are very clear pro-slavery commands in the bible<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Here are just three samples of the Bible\u2019s teaching on slavery.\u00a0 There are quite a few other passages that could be cited \u2013 a quick Google search will come up with plenty.\u00a0 In each example, it is God speaking.<\/p>\n<p>Exodus 21:2-11:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you buy a Hebrew servant,\u00a0he is to serve you for six years. \u00a0But in the seventh year, he shall go free,\u00a0without paying anything.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.<strong><sup> \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if the servant declares, \u2018I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,\u2019\u00a0then his master must take him before the judges.\u00a0 He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce\u00a0his ear with an awl. \u00a0Then he will be his servant for life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,\u00a0he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Leviticus 25:39-46:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>They are to be treated as hired workers\u00a0or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. <strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property\u00a0of their ancestors.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,\u00a0they must not be sold as slaves. <strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Do not rule over them ruthlessly,\u00a0but fear your God.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>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.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Exodus 21:20-21:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhen a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner\u2019s property.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Let’s just briefly summarise some of the clear teachings of these passages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A Hebrew may buy male or female Hebrew servants.\u00a0 (Ex 21:2)<\/li>\n<li>Male Hebrew servants are to be set free after 6 years. \u00a0(Ex 21:2)<\/li>\n<li>If the master provides his male Hebrew servant with a wife, the freed servant must either leave the wife behind (and any children she may have had) or else become a servant for life. \u00a0(Ex 21:3-6)<\/li>\n<li>Female Hebrew servants are not to be set free. \u00a0(Ex 21:7)<\/li>\n<li>Female Hebrew servants are expected to provide sex for their masters.\u00a0 (Ex 21:10)<\/li>\n<li>If a female Hebrew servant does not please her master (I wonder what that could mean), he may sell her back to her father, but may not sell her to foreigners. \u00a0(Ex 21:8)<\/li>\n<li>A master may designate a female servant for his son.\u00a0 (Ex 21:9)<\/li>\n<li>If a master of a female servant gets married, he must continue to provide for his female servant.\u00a0 If he doesn\u2019t, he must simply set her loose.\u00a0 There is no punishment for the master.\u00a0 (Ex 21:10-11)<\/li>\n<li>Hebrew servants must not be treated as slaves, but as hired workers.\u00a0 (Lev 25:39-40,42)<\/li>\n<li>Hebrew servants are to be set free in the year of jubilee (which occurs every 50 years).\u00a0 (Lev 25:40-41)<\/li>\n<li>Male and female foreigners (whether living in Israel or another nation) may be bought as slaves (as distinct from servants).\u00a0 (Lev 25:44-45)<\/li>\n<li>Such slaves are regarded as the property of the master.\u00a0 (Lev 25:45, Ex 19:21)<\/li>\n<li>Slaves are not only property for life; they may also be passed on to the master\u2019s children as an inheritance.\u00a0 (Lev 25:46)<\/li>\n<li>The above kind of treatment is considered \u201cruthless\u201d; it is deemed acceptable treatment for foreign slaves, but it is forbidden to treat Hebrew servants in this way.\u00a0 (Lev 25:46)<\/li>\n<li>A master is permitted to beat his slave, but not so hard that the slave dies immediately.\u00a0 (Ex 21:20)<\/li>\n<li>If a slave survives for a day or two, but then dies from the wounds inflicted by a beating from its master, the master shall not be punished.\u00a0 (Ex 21:21)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019d like to emphasise that these points are all taken directly from the Bible. \u00a0And in each case, it is said to be God himself issuing the pronouncements. \u00a0There is no exaggeration or clever interpretation involved.<\/p>\n<p>It should now be adequately clear that it is wrong to claim that “slavery” in the Bible really just means “indentured\u00a0servanthood”, a kind of employer-employee relationship based on mutual love and respect. \u00a0Although it is perfectly natural for a Christian to <em>want <\/em>to think this, nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>3.\u00a0 There are no clear anti-slavery commandments in the Bible<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>The heading says it all really.\u00a0 As Hector Avalos pointed out in his aforementioned book, the pro-slavery advocates had the upper hand over the abolitionists in the biblical debate over slavery in pre-war America.\u00a0 Here is what one pro-slavery advocate,\u00a0Rev. Alexander Campbell,\u00a0said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>There is not one verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is not then, we conclude, immoral.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many more such statements may be found in Avalos’ book, or by a simple Google search. \u00a0Here is how Vaughn Roste,\u00a0a 21<span style=\"font-size: 11px\">st<\/span>\u00a0century staff\u00a0member of the United Church of Canada, puts it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>If we apply sola scriptura to slavery, I’m afraid the abolitionists are on relatively weak ground. Nowhere is slavery in the Bible lambasted as an oppressive and evil institution.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course the simple absence of anti-slavery passages would not entail that God was pro-slavery (as many Christians are fond of pointing out). \u00a0But this is entirely irrelevant since, as we have seen, the Bible happens to contain <em>numerous<\/em> pro-slavery passages.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is still noteworthy that the Bible contains no clear anti-slavery teachings. \u00a0God is apparently against shaving sideburns, and he therefore gives very clear instructions against the practice.\u00a0 He is equally clear in countless other examples. \u00a0(Have you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy?) \u00a0If God really <em>was<\/em> against slavery, you\u2019d think he\u2019d follow his normal style and give some clear commandments.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019d have said something like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not force another person to work for you, or<\/li>\n<li>You must not own another person as property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But such commandments are conspicuously absent from the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Since there are no <em>specific<\/em> anti-slavery teachings in the Bible, Christians often point to <em>general<\/em>\u00a0biblical teachings in order to claim that the Bible presents an “overall” anti-slavery stance. \u00a0A favourite, of course, is found in Genesis 1:27-28 (and 5:1) in which it is said that man is made in the image of God. \u00a0Christians use other such general teachings (including Paul’s famous “neither slave nor free” passage in Galatians 3:28), but it won’t be necessary to list them here. \u00a0While there is much to be said about such verses (and I’ll leave that to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Slavery-Abolitionism-Ethics-Biblical-Scholarship\/dp\/1907534288\">Avalos<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/copan\/stark_copan-review.pdf\">Stark<\/a>), all they do is, at best, <em>contradict<\/em> the passages that give clear and specific teachings on slavery; I hardly see why Christians should see this as some kind of support for their case. \u00a0(It is also worth noting that these general teachings do not usually persuade the evangelical Christian to support gay rights or <a href=\"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/2012\/08\/30\/the-church-no-place-for-spirited-women\/\">appoint female clergy<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>But what about the New Testament?<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Christians also like to say things like “All those verses you quoted are from the <em>Old<\/em> Testament”. \u00a0True enough. \u00a0There are no verses in the New Testament in which God specifically tells his people where they may purchase slaves, or how hard to beat them.<\/p>\n<p>The New Testament brings about all kinds of reforms. \u00a0All of a sudden, it’s not necessary to circumcise male children, and it’s OK to eat ham and play sport on Sunday. \u00a0But there just don’t seem to be any verses that say <em>“It’s no longer OK to have slaves”<\/em>. \u00a0It’s not that slavery doesn’t get a mention. \u00a0Far from it. \u00a0Here are a couple of verses from the New Testament that mention slavery.<\/p>\n<p>Ephesians 6:5:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect\u00a0and fear, and with sincerity of heart,\u00a0just as you would obey Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>1 Timothy 6:1-2:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed.\u00a0 If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. \u00a0You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are more such verses and, again, a simple Google search will reveal them. \u00a0Christians will typically point out that these verses do not say “Go and get lots of slaves, and make them do lots of back breaking work, and then beat them”. \u00a0Again, this is true enough. \u00a0However, don’t you think it is noteworthy that there is not a <em>single<\/em> New Testament verse that speaks out against slavery, but several that speak about slavery as if it is the most natural thing in the world? \u00a0Even Jesus makes passing reference to slaves (eg, Luke\u00a012:47-48,\u00a0Matt 18:23-35,\u00a0Matt 24:45-51,\u00a0Matt 25:14-30). \u00a0While he doesn’t say “Slavery is great”, Jesus certainly does not indicate any negative feelings towards slavery nor any desire to stamp it out. \u00a0In fact, in Matthew 5:18-19, Jesus gives his personal endorsement of every single Old Testament law when he says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.\u00a0<sup>\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands\u00a0and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If the creator of the universe really had changed his mind about slavery (like he apparently did about <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Beefalo\">beefalos<\/a> and tattoos), Jesus’ ministry on earth was the perfect opportunity to point this out; modern Christians put a lot of stock in the “red letters”. \u00a0Christians often like to say that Western culture was shaped by Christianity and the Bible. \u00a0But imagine how much better the last 2,000 years would have been for a great many people if Jesus had unequivocally banned slavery.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>Am I being a modernist snob?<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>In discussions on biblical slavery, Christians will often finally remind me that my ethical standards have been informed by modern societal values, and that to judge people of another time and place by <em>our<\/em> standards is a form of cultural imperialism.\u00a0 This is true, and we should all remember that if we were born several millennia ago, we would most likely have different views about many issues, slavery being one of them. \u00a0The truth is, we are descended from animals that treated each other far worse than people did in Old Testament times; to get from there to here it was necessary to go through many intermediate stages as we gradually improved. \u00a0We should also keep in mind that future generations will\u00a0undoubtedly\u00a0look back on some of <em>our<\/em> practices with distaste (eating animals seems like a possible candidate, and maybe even keeping pets \u2013\u00a0interspecies slavery?). \u00a0Given this perspective, why should I propose to judge the people of biblical times for their views on slavery?<\/p>\n<p>Well, the answer to this question is simple.\u00a0 I am <em>not<\/em> judging the people of biblical times.\u00a0 I realise that they were operating in their own culture and time, and were influenced by the views they inherited from their ancestors.\u00a0 Surveys of the ancient Near East clearly show that slavery was a widespread institution in those days (and we know it persisted in the West until only a few short years ago).\u00a0 We also know that people of the time generally viewed their laws as the commands of their gods.\u00a0 So, although I do think slavery is completely immoral (and that there are excellent <em>reasons<\/em> to think so), it comes as no real surprise that the people of Israel thought slavery was fine, and believed (or claimed) that their God commanded it. \u00a0Although it makes me uncomfortable to say it, I don’t judge them for it any more than I judge them for thinking the earth was flat.<\/p>\n<p>What I\u00a0<em>do<\/em> find disappointing, <em>tremendously<\/em> disappointing, is that modern people would defend the abhorrent views on slavery we find in the Bible. \u00a0After all the progress we’ve made. \u00a0But they don’t just defend these views as the primitive ideas of people in an ancient society; they ascribe them to\u00a0<em><\/em>God. \u00a0God! \u00a0The\u00a0creator of the universe! \u00a0The unchanging, omni-benevolent designer of morality himself\u00a0wanted the Hebrews to own other people as property? \u00a0Wanted people to do hard labour and provide sexual services against their will, amid violent beatings that left them barely clinging on to life?<\/p>\n<p>And it is\u00a0Christians\u00a0who ask\u00a0<em>me<\/em> where\u00a0<em>I<\/em> get my morality from?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ak-ash4\/313760_340087942772870_1804697252_n.jpg\" width=\"637\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> I\u2019ve been meaning to write on this topic for quite a while now, and have finally been inspired into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,6,46,86,89],"tags":[211,191,197,91,201,214,90,228,49,230,84],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christianity","category-morality","category-old-testament","category-slavery","tag-bible","tag-christianity","tag-god","tag-hector-avalos","tag-jesus","tag-morality","tag-nonstampcollector","tag-old-testament","tag-old-testament-atrocities","tag-slavery","tag-thom-stark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The video features a discussion between the biblical God and a group of angels, set around a table in the clouds.\u00a0 They are anticipating the kinds of wicked deeds humans will do, and discussing the commands God will give in order to reduce the damage.\u00a0 The angels are concerned about two main things: that God will make fair rules that will minimise suffering, and that he will make them clearly.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, however, the conversation morphs into the kind of frustrating dialogue I have had with several Christians regarding the biblical teachings on slavery.\u00a0 The Bible is very clear that slavery was not only <em>permitted<\/em> in ancient Israel, but was in fact\u00a0<em>endorsed<\/em> by God (see the verses below), so Christians will sometimes try and argue that the slavery the Bible speaks about is of a different kind to what we envisage (people being captured and\/or sold into slavery; humans owning other humans as property, possibly for life; violent and humiliating treatment; etc). \u00a0Christians often point to passages like Exodus 21:2 and Leviticus 25:39-40 (see below), and claim that by “slave”, the Bible really means a “hired servant” who must <em>not<\/em> be treated as a slave at all, and must be set free after 6 years. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bycommonconsent.com\/2006\/09\/20\/why-did-jesus-and-paul-not-condemn-slavery\/\">One site<\/a> even compares the master-slave relationship to the bond between a father and son! \u00a0But these conclusions could only be drawn from these verses by ignoring the ones that come directly after. \u00a0As we will see below, <em>foreigners<\/em> may be treated as slaves, only <em>male<\/em> Hebrew servants are to be set free after 6 years, <em><\/em>and slave owners are permitted to beat their slaves to within an inch of their life.<\/p>\n<p>The standard Christian apologetical tactics regarding slavery are most forcefully refuted in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.philrs.iastate.edu\/hector-avalos\/\">Hector Avalos<\/a>\u2019 comprehensive book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Slavery-Abolitionism-Ethics-Biblical-Scholarship\/dp\/1907534288\">Slavery, Abolotionism, and the Ethics of Biblical Scholarship<\/a><em>. \u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/\">Thom Stark<\/a>‘s treatment in his<em>\u00a0<\/em>(freely downloadable) book<em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/copan\/stark_copan-review.pdf\"><em>Is God a Moral Compromiser?<\/em><\/a><\/em> (pp165-208)\u00a0is also superb; in fact, I consider Stark’s book to be\u00a0the best general reference work concerning the terrible ethics of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>But NonStampCollector\u2019s video does an excellent job of summarising the basic ideas.\u00a0 As well as providing a humorous take on the kinds of frustrating debates that frequently occur (with the role of the Christian played by God himself), the video makes a number of serious points, which I’ll take as headings in the discussion that follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Bible is very clear about its commandments when it wants to be.<\/li>\n<li>There are very clear pro-slavery commandments in the Bible.<\/li>\n<li>There are no clear anti-slavery commandments in the Bible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>1. \u00a0The Bible is very clear about its commandments when it wants to be<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Here are a few biblical commands, all taken from Leviticus 19:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not steal.<\/li>\n<li>Do not lie.<\/li>\n<li>Do not defraud or rob\u00a0your neighbour.<\/li>\n<li>Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker\u00a0overnight.<\/li>\n<li>Do not show partiality\u00a0to the poor or favouritism to the great.<\/li>\n<li>Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour\u2019s life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, there are no blurry edges around these commandments.\u00a0 If you\u2019re wondering what God thinks about stealing, well, it\u2019s right there: \u201cDo not steal\u201d.\u00a0 Case closed.<\/p>\n<p>The above commandments seem very good to me, but there are also some fairly strange kinds of commands, some of which seem quite arbitrary.\u00a0 These are also from Leviticus 19:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not mate different kinds of animals.<\/li>\n<li>Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.<\/li>\n<li>Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.<\/li>\n<li>Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.<\/li>\n<li>Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is clear that God just finds some things abhorrent.\u00a0 These include: mules and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Labradoodle\">labradoodles<\/a>, cotton-polyester clothing, rare steaks, men without sideburns, and tattoos.\u00a0 Putting aside the question of why God might dislike these things, he certainly makes himself abundantly clear: Do not do them!<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>2.\u00a0 There are very clear pro-slavery commands in the bible<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Here are just three samples of the Bible\u2019s teaching on slavery.\u00a0 There are quite a few other passages that could be cited \u2013 a quick Google search will come up with plenty.\u00a0 In each example, it is God speaking.<\/p>\n<p>Exodus 21:2-11:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you buy a Hebrew servant,\u00a0he is to serve you for six years. \u00a0But in the seventh year, he shall go free,\u00a0without paying anything.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.<strong><sup> \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if the servant declares, \u2018I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,\u2019\u00a0then his master must take him before the judges.\u00a0 He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce\u00a0his ear with an awl. \u00a0Then he will be his servant for life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,\u00a0he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Leviticus 25:39-46:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>They are to be treated as hired workers\u00a0or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. <strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property\u00a0of their ancestors.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,\u00a0they must not be sold as slaves. <strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Do not rule over them ruthlessly,\u00a0but fear your God.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>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.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Exodus 21:20-21:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhen a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished.\u00a0<strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner\u2019s property.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Let’s just briefly summarise some of the clear teachings of these passages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A Hebrew may buy male or female Hebrew servants.\u00a0 (Ex 21:2)<\/li>\n<li>Male Hebrew servants are to be set free after 6 years. \u00a0(Ex 21:2)<\/li>\n<li>If the master provides his male Hebrew servant with a wife, the freed servant must either leave the wife behind (and any children she may have had) or else become a servant for life. \u00a0(Ex 21:3-6)<\/li>\n<li>Female Hebrew servants are not to be set free. \u00a0(Ex 21:7)<\/li>\n<li>Female Hebrew servants are expected to provide sex for their masters.\u00a0 (Ex 21:10)<\/li>\n<li>If a female Hebrew servant does not please her master (I wonder what that could mean), he may sell her back to her father, but may not sell her to foreigners. \u00a0(Ex 21:8)<\/li>\n<li>A master may designate a female servant for his son.\u00a0 (Ex 21:9)<\/li>\n<li>If a master of a female servant gets married, he must continue to provide for his female servant.\u00a0 If he doesn\u2019t, he must simply set her loose.\u00a0 There is no punishment for the master.\u00a0 (Ex 21:10-11)<\/li>\n<li>Hebrew servants must not be treated as slaves, but as hired workers.\u00a0 (Lev 25:39-40,42)<\/li>\n<li>Hebrew servants are to be set free in the year of jubilee (which occurs every 50 years).\u00a0 (Lev 25:40-41)<\/li>\n<li>Male and female foreigners (whether living in Israel or another nation) may be bought as slaves (as distinct from servants).\u00a0 (Lev 25:44-45)<\/li>\n<li>Such slaves are regarded as the property of the master.\u00a0 (Lev 25:45, Ex 19:21)<\/li>\n<li>Slaves are not only property for life; they may also be passed on to the master\u2019s children as an inheritance.\u00a0 (Lev 25:46)<\/li>\n<li>The above kind of treatment is considered \u201cruthless\u201d; it is deemed acceptable treatment for foreign slaves, but it is forbidden to treat Hebrew servants in this way.\u00a0 (Lev 25:46)<\/li>\n<li>A master is permitted to beat his slave, but not so hard that the slave dies immediately.\u00a0 (Ex 21:20)<\/li>\n<li>If a slave survives for a day or two, but then dies from the wounds inflicted by a beating from its master, the master shall not be punished.\u00a0 (Ex 21:21)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019d like to emphasise that these points are all taken directly from the Bible. \u00a0And in each case, it is said to be God himself issuing the pronouncements. \u00a0There is no exaggeration or clever interpretation involved.<\/p>\n<p>It should now be adequately clear that it is wrong to claim that “slavery” in the Bible really just means “indentured\u00a0servanthood”, a kind of employer-employee relationship based on mutual love and respect. \u00a0Although it is perfectly natural for a Christian to <em>want <\/em>to think this, nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>3.\u00a0 There are no clear anti-slavery commandments in the Bible<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>The heading says it all really.\u00a0 As Hector Avalos pointed out in his aforementioned book, the pro-slavery advocates had the upper hand over the abolitionists in the biblical debate over slavery in pre-war America.\u00a0 Here is what one pro-slavery advocate,\u00a0Rev. Alexander Campbell,\u00a0said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>There is not one verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is not then, we conclude, immoral.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many more such statements may be found in Avalos’ book, or by a simple Google search. \u00a0Here is how Vaughn Roste,\u00a0a 21<span style=\"font-size: 11px\">st<\/span>\u00a0century staff\u00a0member of the United Church of Canada, puts it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>If we apply sola scriptura to slavery, I’m afraid the abolitionists are on relatively weak ground. Nowhere is slavery in the Bible lambasted as an oppressive and evil institution.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course the simple absence of anti-slavery passages would not entail that God was pro-slavery (as many Christians are fond of pointing out). \u00a0But this is entirely irrelevant since, as we have seen, the Bible happens to contain <em>numerous<\/em> pro-slavery passages.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is still noteworthy that the Bible contains no clear anti-slavery teachings. \u00a0God is apparently against shaving sideburns, and he therefore gives very clear instructions against the practice.\u00a0 He is equally clear in countless other examples. \u00a0(Have you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy?) \u00a0If God really <em>was<\/em> against slavery, you\u2019d think he\u2019d follow his normal style and give some clear commandments.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019d have said something like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not force another person to work for you, or<\/li>\n<li>You must not own another person as property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But such commandments are conspicuously absent from the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Since there are no <em>specific<\/em> anti-slavery teachings in the Bible, Christians often point to <em>general<\/em>\u00a0biblical teachings in order to claim that the Bible presents an “overall” anti-slavery stance. \u00a0A favourite, of course, is found in Genesis 1:27-28 (and 5:1) in which it is said that man is made in the image of God. \u00a0Christians use other such general teachings (including Paul’s famous “neither slave nor free” passage in Galatians 3:28), but it won’t be necessary to list them here. \u00a0While there is much to be said about such verses (and I’ll leave that to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Slavery-Abolitionism-Ethics-Biblical-Scholarship\/dp\/1907534288\">Avalos<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/thomstark.net\/copan\/stark_copan-review.pdf\">Stark<\/a>), all they do is, at best, <em>contradict<\/em> the passages that give clear and specific teachings on slavery; I hardly see why Christians should see this as some kind of support for their case. \u00a0(It is also worth noting that these general teachings do not usually persuade the evangelical Christian to support gay rights or <a href=\"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/2012\/08\/30\/the-church-no-place-for-spirited-women\/\">appoint female clergy<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>But what about the New Testament?<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Christians also like to say things like “All those verses you quoted are from the <em>Old<\/em> Testament”. \u00a0True enough. \u00a0There are no verses in the New Testament in which God specifically tells his people where they may purchase slaves, or how hard to beat them.<\/p>\n<p>The New Testament brings about all kinds of reforms. \u00a0All of a sudden, it’s not necessary to circumcise male children, and it’s OK to eat ham and play sport on Sunday. \u00a0But there just don’t seem to be any verses that say <em>“It’s no longer OK to have slaves”<\/em>. \u00a0It’s not that slavery doesn’t get a mention. \u00a0Far from it. \u00a0Here are a couple of verses from the New Testament that mention slavery.<\/p>\n<p>Ephesians 6:5:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect\u00a0and fear, and with sincerity of heart,\u00a0just as you would obey Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>1 Timothy 6:1-2:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed.\u00a0 If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. \u00a0You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are more such verses and, again, a simple Google search will reveal them. \u00a0Christians will typically point out that these verses do not say “Go and get lots of slaves, and make them do lots of back breaking work, and then beat them”. \u00a0Again, this is true enough. \u00a0However, don’t you think it is noteworthy that there is not a <em>single<\/em> New Testament verse that speaks out against slavery, but several that speak about slavery as if it is the most natural thing in the world? \u00a0Even Jesus makes passing reference to slaves (eg, Luke\u00a012:47-48,\u00a0Matt 18:23-35,\u00a0Matt 24:45-51,\u00a0Matt 25:14-30). \u00a0While he doesn’t say “Slavery is great”, Jesus certainly does not indicate any negative feelings towards slavery nor any desire to stamp it out. \u00a0In fact, in Matthew 5:18-19, Jesus gives his personal endorsement of every single Old Testament law when he says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.\u00a0<sup>\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands\u00a0and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If the creator of the universe really had changed his mind about slavery (like he apparently did about <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Beefalo\">beefalos<\/a> and tattoos), Jesus’ ministry on earth was the perfect opportunity to point this out; modern Christians put a lot of stock in the “red letters”. \u00a0Christians often like to say that Western culture was shaped by Christianity and the Bible. \u00a0But imagine how much better the last 2,000 years would have been for a great many people if Jesus had unequivocally banned slavery.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h3>Am I being a modernist snob?<\/h3>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>In discussions on biblical slavery, Christians will often finally remind me that my ethical standards have been informed by modern societal values, and that to judge people of another time and place by <em>our<\/em> standards is a form of cultural imperialism.\u00a0 This is true, and we should all remember that if we were born several millennia ago, we would most likely have different views about many issues, slavery being one of them. \u00a0The truth is, we are descended from animals that treated each other far worse than people did in Old Testament times; to get from there to here it was necessary to go through many intermediate stages as we gradually improved. \u00a0We should also keep in mind that future generations will\u00a0undoubtedly\u00a0look back on some of <em>our<\/em> practices with distaste (eating animals seems like a possible candidate, and maybe even keeping pets \u2013\u00a0interspecies slavery?). \u00a0Given this perspective, why should I propose to judge the people of biblical times for their views on slavery?<\/p>\n<p>Well, the answer to this question is simple.\u00a0 I am <em>not<\/em> judging the people of biblical times.\u00a0 I realise that they were operating in their own culture and time, and were influenced by the views they inherited from their ancestors.\u00a0 Surveys of the ancient Near East clearly show that slavery was a widespread institution in those days (and we know it persisted in the West until only a few short years ago).\u00a0 We also know that people of the time generally viewed their laws as the commands of their gods.\u00a0 So, although I do think slavery is completely immoral (and that there are excellent <em>reasons<\/em> to think so), it comes as no real surprise that the people of Israel thought slavery was fine, and believed (or claimed) that their God commanded it. \u00a0Although it makes me uncomfortable to say it, I don’t judge them for it any more than I judge them for thinking the earth was flat.<\/p>\n<p>What I\u00a0<em>do<\/em> find disappointing, <em>tremendously<\/em> disappointing, is that modern people would defend the abhorrent views on slavery we find in the Bible. \u00a0After all the progress we’ve made. \u00a0But they don’t just defend these views as the primitive ideas of people in an ancient society; they ascribe them to\u00a0<em><\/em>God. \u00a0God! \u00a0The\u00a0creator of the universe! \u00a0The unchanging, omni-benevolent designer of morality himself\u00a0wanted the Hebrews to own other people as property? \u00a0Wanted people to do hard labour and provide sexual services against their will, amid violent beatings that left them barely clinging on to life?<\/p>\n<p>And it is\u00a0Christians\u00a0who ask\u00a0<em>me<\/em> where\u00a0<em>I<\/em> get my morality from?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ak-ash4\/313760_340087942772870_1804697252_n.jpg\" width=\"637\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> I\u2019ve been meaning to write on this topic for quite a while now, and have finally been inspired into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,6,46,86,89],"tags":[211,191,197,91,201,214,90,228,49,230,84],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christianity","category-morality","category-old-testament","category-slavery","tag-bible","tag-christianity","tag-god","tag-hector-avalos","tag-jesus","tag-morality","tag-nonstampcollector","tag-old-testament","tag-old-testament-atrocities","tag-slavery","tag-thom-stark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/reasonablyfaithless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}