Debate: God loves you.
Side: He died to save you from Hell.

This is going to be long, but since I hear the same apologetic over and over again I want to be thorough. This message will give you an overview of slavery in the Bible. I will respond to your arguments in a separate post. There are two different types of servitude described in the Bible, voluntary servitude to pay off debt and chattel slavery, which is equivalent to modern day slavery. Leviticus chapter 25 describes both. It begins with, “The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying:…” So, if we are to believe the text, these are direct quotes from God. VOLUNTARY SERVITUDEStarting at verse 39 he describes voluntary servitude, which only applies to Israelites. Leviticus 25:39-43 “If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall NOT make them serve as slaves. They shall remain with you as hired or bound laborers. They shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. Then they and their children with them shall be free from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold. You shall not rule over them with harshness, but shall fear your God.”Notice how he makes it very clear that they are not to be treated like slaves or ruled over harshly. Why would he need to say that if slaves aren't treated harshly like apologists often claim? CHATTEL SLAVERYIn verses 44-46 god talks about chattel slavery. I applies to non-Israelites and the person is treated as property. These people are slaves for life and cannot buy their freedom. God doesn’t say not to treat these slaves harshly and later on says you can beat them with a rod.Leviticus 25-44-46 “As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.”That last verse is a clear indicator that slaves are treated harshly, otherwise there would be no reason to include the second half of the verse.Verses 47-55 describes how if an Israelite falls on hard times and sells themself as a servant to a non-Israelite, the servant has the option of buying their freedom. No such option is available to non-Israelites or women.Deut 24:7 "If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die." This shows us two things about slaves. First, they are kidnapped, it's not voluntary. Second, treating an Israelite like a slave is such a horrible thing that the penalty is death. Yet as we've already seen, god is okay with slavery as long as it is done to non-Israelites.RULES FOR HEBREW/ISRAELITE SERVANTSNow let’s jump to Exodus 21 where god outlines some rules for keeping servants and tells people how they can exploit a loophole in his rules to force someone into a lifetime of servitude.Exodus 21:1-6 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 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. 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. But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life."So here we have god saying that Hebrew servants are to be set free after 7 years. However, if you give your servant a wife and they have kids, you can hold the wife and kids hostage in order to get the servant to serve for a lifetime. Also note that the women and children are never set free, unlike male servants who can leave after seven years.SLAVES ARE WORTH LESS THAN FREE PEOPLEContinuing on to verses 28-32 god says if someone has a bull that frequently gores people and the owner doesn't keep the bull penned up, if the bull kills someone both the bull and the owner are to be put to death. However, if the person that got killed was just a slave the owner only has to pay 30 shekels. Remember, these things are supposedly direct quotes from god, so god clearly doesn't think people are equal.SLAVERY IN THE NEW TESTAMENTColossians 3:22 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.”Titus 2:9 “Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back.”CONCLUSIONThe god described in the Bible clearly doesn’t object to slavery. He even defines the rules for it. So as I see it we are left with two possible conclusions. 1. God condones slavery and is therefore not benevolent.2. The Bible was written by men who claimed god said those things, but god never really said those things or he just doesn’t exist.APOLOGETICSThe following verses are often cited by apologists as proof that god is against slavery. --------------------------------------Exodus 21:16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.”I believe this verse is only referring to the kidnapping of Israelites. Why do I think that?1. The same rule is restated in Deut 24:7 but this time with added clarification. “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die." If it's wrong to kidnap anyone, why would he add "any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel" to it. There would be no need to include that part.2. Moses tells god's followers to enslave all the non-Israelites cities in the area. Deuteronomy 20:10-15.3. It contradicts many of the verses we talked about earlier, but that contradiction is resolved if this verse only applies to Israelites.--------------------------------------Eph 6:9 "And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him."Since god has already stated there is no punishment for beating your slaves with a rod, either Jesus is not god, god changed his mind, or this is only referring to Israelite slaves.--------------------------------------Col 4:1 "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven."What is right and fair is to not be a slave!--------------------------------------Deut 23:15-16 “You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him."That passage is talking about slaves from other nations, not slaves from within their own nation, as indicated by the second verse. Remember, god already said, "you may acquire male and female slaves." So, either god was lying when he said that, or this verse only applies to slaves fleeing foreign nations. It's also possible that it is talking about Israelite who were enslaved by foreign nations, because there are some indicators throughout the chapter that he is speaking about how Israelites should treat each other, such as "the daughters of Israel", "your countrymen" and "your neighbor." However, that part is not crystal clear.