The Bible condones slavery

(1) "In Matthew 19:3-10, the Pharisees came to Jesus, attempting to trap Him with questions about the Old Law. They asked: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" Jesus informed them that divorce was not in God"s plan from the beginning. Thinking they had trapped Him, they inquired: "Why, then, did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away?" If it was in the Old Law, they suggested, then it must be God"s ideal will. But Jesus" answer quickly stopped that line of thinking. He responded: Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery. Jesus" point was crystal clear"some things permitted in the Old Testament did not necessarily represent the ideal. Due to the hardness of ancient Israel"s heart, God tolerated (and regulated) some things under the Old Law that He did not endorse. As He did so, however, He progressively revealed His divine will to mankind, clarifying that will more fully through Christ. Many of the injunctions found in the Old Testament pertaining to slavery fall into the category of regulating something that was "less than ideal." Even in the Old Testament, God desired that all people love their neighbors as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Yet, in a time when God used the children of Israel as His arm of justice to punish evildoers, certain questions arose. What was to be done, for example, with the survivors of those wicked nations? What was to be done with a man who was so far in debt that he could not repay his lender? These issues, and others like them, necessitated that God institute some form of humane regulations for "slavery." Often, those who attack the Bible skirt the real crux of the slavery issue. They point to verses in the Old Testament that offer a particular regulation for slavery. From there, they proceed to argue that the Bible is a vile book that does not condemn, but actually condones slavery. And, they argue, since all slavery is morally wrong, the Bible must not be the product of a loving God. However, those who take such a position fail to consider that certain types of slavery are not morally wrong. For instance, when a man is convicted of murder, he often is sentenced to life in prison. During his life sentence, he is forced by the State to do (or not do) certain things. He is justly confined to a small living space, and his freedoms are revoked. Sometimes, he is compelled by the State to work long hours, for which he does not receive even minimum wage. Would it be justifiable to label such a loss of freedom as a type of slavery? Yes, it would. However, is his loss of freedom a morally permissible situation? Certainly. He has become a slave of the State because he violated certain laws that were designed to ensure the liberty of his fellow citizen, whom he murdered. Therefore, one fact that must be conceded by anyone dealing with the Bible and its position on slavery is the fact that, under some conditions, slavery is not necessarily a morally deplorable institution." In response to your first quote, from Leviticus, I would like to point out that the slaves it refers to are the ones mentioned in the previous chapters. Thieves, murders and prisoners of war. Back then, they didn't have a prison system, like we do today. I would also like to point out that it does not endorse slavery. It regulates it. Nothing more. There is a BIG difference. It does not say that it is OK to own slaves. Now, consider this. At the time this verse was written, Israel was surrounded by pagan nations, who committed crimes against humanity, including child sacrifice. These are the nations that the verse refers to. Slavery was an alternative to genocide. Would you have them kill all of the women and children, after they have defeated their armies? Of course not! Old Testament Law also went out of it's way to ensure the humane treatment of these slaves. The second verse you quoted was referring to such slaves, as mentioned earlier. This did not apply to those who sold themselves because of debt or because they could not provide for their families, due to famine or war. They were rarely, if ever, beaten. These slaves were also released after seven years, or during the year of Jubilee. Whichever came first. All of their debts paid. In the first round, my definition of slavery referred to chattel slavery, as it was practiced from the 17th to the 19th century. This is what this debate is all about. As I have shown, Israel did not engage in, nor does the Bible condone such slavery. It condemns it, calling for the death penalty for whoever engages in such practice. (1) http://www.apologeticspress.org...