The Judæo-Christian GOD on slavery

July 23, 2008

Let make it very clear that I think slavery to be one of the most horrific actions in the history of mankind, yet strangely it is a crime that has been committed by religious men as well as secular society.  Another conflicting point is that slavery is approved of by the Judæo-Christian GOD, and quotes from the Bible were used to justify the enslavement of Africans around the world.  The GOD of the Bible condones selling humans as property, beating slaves almost to death, braking up slave families (unless the male slave chooses to serves his master for life), agrees with keeping children as slaves, places a monetary value on human property (30 Shekels of silver), encourages slaves to obey their slave masters and this list goes on.
In the Bible GOD gives instructions on slave treatment and protocol:
Genesis chapter 17, verse 12: [Circumcise your slaves.. Shows GOD approves of slavery.]
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.

Exodus chapter 12 verse 43: [Feed your slaves.. Again GOD is okay with slavery.]
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.

Exodus Chapter 21, verse 1: [Freed slaves, break up the family, keep the wife and children unless the slave stays for life]
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.

Exodus Chapter 21, verse 20: [Its okay with GOD if you beat slaves almost to death, and you are only punished if a slave dies.]
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.

Exodus Chapter 21, verse 32: [GOD places monetary value on human lives]
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.

Leviticus Chapter 22, verse 10: [Children born into slavery]
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.

Leviticus Chapter 25, verse 44: [Humans can be property to be bought, and God okays the buying of humans]
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.

Luke, Chapter 7, verse 2: [Jesus (the Christians' son of GOD) never admonishes the slave master for having a slave, and appears to be just fine with it as if its the norm!!!  Probably because his father was just fine with it himself.]
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.

Colossians, chapter 3, verse 22: [God commands slaves to obey their slave masters]
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task..

Titus, chapter 2 verse 9: [God commands slaves to be submissive to their slave masters]
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.

As you can see GOD does not admonish anyone for taking humans as property, and in fact gives man instructions on how to effectively do so.  One thing to point out is that there is nothing said in code here, and everything quoted is quite literal.  So if the Bible is the word of GOD, and GOD approves, instructs and forgives slavery, how do you then as me to worship him?  Jesus/GOD seems to be a very big advocate of one of the most heinous human rights crimes ever committed on earth, and by today’s standards may even qualify for a trial for crimes against humanity!

Entry Filed under: Religion. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2 Comments Add your own

  • 1. themisses1  |  July 25, 2008 at 7:30 pm

    I am in no way for slavery either and I am just responding because I find this to be a topic of interest.
    I believe that when using the term slave in the bible, you have to remember that the bible was translated from Greek wording; slave for instance comes from the word “DOULOS”. Now when this word was translated it converted in two words in the English meaning one word being “slave” and the other being “servant”. In the times of the bible the Greeks did not differentiate between words as we do today. Meaning the way the word was use it was interchangeable. The word slave in the bible can mean indenture servant, which usually Kings had because of there power. When I think of indenture servant I think of someone who is not a hired servant but work for one because of some gratitude owed from a debt that was paid (not necessarily financial). We are talking about a time where people were stoned to death. Another way to see it In the bible God is All Knowing, he knew slavery would occurred that people would have indenture servants hired help and or slaves if you will in needed to setup some type of guidelines for people to abide by. Some even say that slavery was punishment for sin…I don’t say that I agree or disagree with this I have to do a little more thinking before I choose a side. Understand, what seems harsh to us may not have been considered harsh during that time. Today is a different culture than it was than. I think that with discussion like this you have to have an open mind and hear the other person views without getting lost.
    Take note that when the bible speaks, it does differentiates between hired servants (get paid for their services in some form) and the word slave (indentured servant) which are own by someone due to a debt resolved or brought because they are already own by someone they owe.
    From wikipedia….Christianity does not have a clear position regarding slavery, in favour or against. As a religion, it neither promotes slavery nor condemns it. In the early years of Christianity, slavery was a normal feature of the economy and society in the Roman Empire and well into the Middle Ages and beyond. Well into the modern era, groups who advocated abolition of slavery invoked Christian teachings in support of their positions, and those opposed to abolition invoked their own interpretation of Christian teachings in support of their positions

    Please tell what is your take on this theory.

  • 2. khammau  |  July 29, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    Check out part 2 to see my reply at: http://khammau.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/the-jud%c3%a6o-christian-god-on-slavery-part-2/

Leave a Comment

Required

Required, hidden

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed


Calendar

July 2008
M T W T F S S
     
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

Most Recent Posts