The Bible condones slavey as seen in colonial America

Israelite vs. Non-Israelite Slaves While it is true that Israelite slaves have special laws protecting them, it has nothing to do with racism or nationality. They have more rights because they are the citizens of Israel. Much like how citizens in the United States can vote, run for office, protection from the Bill of Rights. There are laws in the Old Testament that state that foreigners should be treated as fairly as their Israelite counterparts. Leviticus 19:34 states: “But the stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 24:14 reads: “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren, or one of the aliens who is in your land within thy gates.” The slaves you refer to in Leviticus 25 come from Israel’s pagan neighbors which I have pointed out have committed wicked atrocities such as burning children as human sacrifice to their gods. Enslavement is a rather humane option to the alternative of slaughtering them all. They waived their rights to freedom by committing such atrocities. These slaves weren’t purchased from some foreign slave trader as the Bible is clear in condemning such people by grouping them together with murderers, sexually immoral and such as in 1 Timothy 1:9-10: Beating Slaves This is no different than corporate punishment with children. It is only recently that such practices have become a topic of huge controversy. If the slave recovers from the beating after one or two days, one can conclude that such beating is not severe at all. Step into the shoes of a master. You have an Israelite slave that is in debt to you. Note that both have the right to run away and the law forbids them being returned in Deuteronomy 23:15-16. The Israelite has a debt that would be forgiven no matter how well he/she performs and he/she slacks off. What other option do you have? Protective Laws Well looking at how slaves were treated in the South, it is clear that these laws weren’t enforced and broken all the time. The Southern slave owners were hypocrites and the Bible reserves some of its greatest criticism for hypocrites. Take for example Matthew 7: 3-5 Pro makes a logically fallacious argument that the hypocrisy of the Southerners somehow reflect on the Bible negatively. Anti-Slavery Bible Verses: This argument is irrelevant as I am arguing that slavery in the Bible was much more humane as to how African American slaves were treated. The treatment of African slaves would break biblical laws. The use of the Bible to justify slavery: This quotes are again irrelevant as we are looking if the Bible itself, condoned the kidnapping and treatment of African slaves. Do hypocrites who cherry-pick verses from the Bible without taking in the context truly represent Biblical values? As with your latter assertion that Christianity expanded and persisted the practice of slavery I can refute. “here were probably far more people enslaved (tens of millions) under Christian empires than in all pre-Christian empires combined….” Nothing more than a bare assertion without numbers to back it up. But such claim could be easily refuted. Around 12.5 million African slaves were sent to the New World between 1525 and 1866. However, the number of modern-day slaves in India easily exceeds that with 14 million slaves.[1] [2] Slavery isn’t exclusive to Christian nations as slavery has existed in some shape or form on all continents. From Babylon to Rome, Oceania to India and China, slavery has existed [3]. If you look at the abolition of slavery timeline from wikipedia, Christian nations have been at the forefront of the movement [4]. 1215: Magna Carta signed. Clause 30, commonly known as Habeas Corpus, would form the basis of a law against slavery in English common law.~1220: The Sachsenspiegel, the most influential German code of law from the Middle Ages, condemns slavery as a violation of God's likeness to man.[9]1256: The Liber Paradisus is promulgated. The Comune di Bologna abolishes slavery and serfdom and releases all the serfs in its territories.1274: Landslov (Land's Law) in Norway mentions only former slaves, which indicates that slavery was abolished in Norway1290: Edward I of England passes Quia Emptores, breaking any indenture to an estate, on the sale or transfer of the estate.1315: Louis X, king of France, publishes a decree proclaiming that "France signifies freedom" and that any slave setting foot on the French ground should be freed. However slavery continued till the 17th century along France's Mediterranean coastline, the Provence.[11]1335: Sweden (including Finland at the time) makes slavery illegal. An abolition of slaves setting foot on Swedish ground does not occur until 1813. (In the 18th and 19th Centuries, slavery would be practiced in the Swedish ruled Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy.)1347: non-free people were emancipated in Poland under the Statutes of Casimir the Great issued in Wi"7;lica1368: China's Hongwu Emperor establishes the Ming dynasty and would abolish all forms of slavery. However, slavery continued in the Ming dynasty. Later Ming rulers, as a way of limiting slavery in the absence of a prohibition, passed a decree that limited the number of slaves that could be held per household and extracted a severe tax from slave owners.[14]1416: Republic of Ragusa (modern day Dubrovnik, Croatia) abolished slavery and slave trading1435: In Sicut Dudum, Pope Eugene IV banned enslavement of Christians in the Canary Islands on pain of excommunication. However the non-Christian indigenous Guanches could be and were enslaved during the Spanish conquest.[11]Slavery Timeline1500–16991537: Pope Paul III forbids slavery of the indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as of any other new population that would be discovered, indicating their right to freedom and property. However, only Catholic countries apply it, and state that they cannot possibly enforce what happens in the distant colonies (Sublimus Dei).1542: Spain enacted the New Laws, abolishing slavery of Native Americans in 1542. But replaced it with other systems of forced labor such as repartimiento. Slavery of Black Africans was not abolished.[11]1569: An English court case involving Cartwright, who had brought a slave from Russia, ruled that English law could not recognise slavery.1588: The Third Statute of Lithuania abolishes slavery.1595: A law is passed in Portugal banning the selling and buying of Chinese slaves.1590: Toyotomi Hideyoshi bans slavery in Japan. However, it continued as a punishment for criminals.19 February 1624: The King of Portugal forbids the enslavement of Chinese of either sex.1683: the Spanish Crown legally abolish the slavery of indigenous Mapuche prisoners of war in Chile. Pro also stated that the movement away from Christianity with the Enlightenment 1775 and 1900 is what lead Christian nations to turn from slavery. A quick look at Wikipedia’s timeline that I posted would show that many acts of abolition of slavery long predate this time period. Take the fact that the Declaration of Independence stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Note also that some figures that Pro has pointed out such as William Wilberforce were influenced by devout Christians like Thomas Clarkson and John Newton along with his own conversion to Christianity. Here is what John Newton said to William Wilberforce: “God has raised you up for the good of the church and the good of the nation, maintain your friendship with Pitt, continue in Parliament, who knows that but for such a time as this God has brought you into public life and has a purpose for you.” [6] Sources: http://www.debate.org...