Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

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SLAVERY and the BIBLE1

Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty - - 2 Cor. 3:17


Louis W. Cable

There is no morality outside of the Holy Bible! We hear this cliché repeated ad nauseam by Bible believers. But is the Bible itself morally flawed? Take, for example, the institution of human slavery. Could anything be more immoral than the buying and selling of fellow human beings into a life of involuntary servitude? What does the Bible have to say about it? Well, we'll see. But first, let us briefly review the history of slavery in America.

The importation of African slaves into the New World began shortly after Columbus’ famous “discovery” in 1492. In 1517 the Bishop of Las Casas, a high official in the Roman Catholic Church, encouraged immigration to the New World by permitting Spaniards to import twelve Negroes each2. So Christianity and African slaves were introduced into the New World at about the same time. In what was later to become the United States of America it begin in 1619 when twenty Africans were unloaded from a Dutch ship at Jamestown, Virginia and sold into slavery3. From these humble beginnings the slave trade blossomed into a hugely profitable venture.

Many of our revered founding fathers were slave owners. George Washington, the father of our country, owned slaves as did the great Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Patrick Henry, the great orator who coined the famous slogan, “Give me liberty or give me death,” was, ironically enough, a slave owner. The slaver trade was recognized as a legitimate commercial enterprise, and slave markets operated openly. The rights of slave owners were protected by law while the slave, of course, had no rights. Although President Lincoln's famous Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1,1863, slavery did not officially end in this country until the thirteenth amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified in 1865.

Slavery was legal in the United States for almost two hundred and fifty years. Why so long? Isn’t this a Christian nation founded on God’s word, the Holy Bible? That’s what many Christians tell me. Well, if that’s so, maybe that’s where the rub comes in because the Bible not only condones slavery, it actually encourages that cruel institution and has, in fact, been effectively used to promote and preserve it. Here, for example is a quote from Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederacy4, "It (slavery) was established by decree of Almighty God and is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments from Genesis to Revelation."

God approves of slavery. In Exodus 21:1-6 he sets forth the guidelines for the buying, selling and treatment of slaves. He says that if a male slave marries, his wife and children shall remain with the master when the slave departs because technically speaking they belong to the master. Now if the slave is imprudent enough to protests because he loves his wife and children God tells the master to, "Take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe unto the door." This is all repeated in Deut. 15:17 accept here it says, "Do likewise to your maid slaves." In Exodus 21:7-9 God even instructs men how they are to go about selling their daughters into slavery.

Concerning family values, in Joel 3:8 God warns that, “I will sell your sons and your daughters to the Judians, and they shall in turn sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off.” In case you are still unconvinced, try 1 Tim. 6:1-2; “Let slaves regard their masters as worthy of all honor ." Matthew 10:24 and John 13:16 remind us that slaves are never better than their masters. Women take note that in Titus 2:9-10 slaves are ordered to, “Be submissive to your master and give satisfaction in every respect." Also check Eph. 6:5 and Col. 3:22 which say, “Slaves obey your master." Of the venerated Ten Commandments, numbers four and ten recognize and, therefore, give tacit approval to slavery. In fact, neither the Old or New Testament contains an outright condemnation of slavery.

What did Jesus have to say about slavery? Well, in the cherished Sermon of the Mount, allegedly given by him and recognized as a prescription for Christian living, the institution of slavery, so prevalent at the time, is never mentioned. However, in Matthew 8 Jesus heals the Roman centurion's slave while (v10) praising the centurion for his exemplary faithfulness. Why didn't Jesus seize this opportunity to condemn slavery and forbid it? But the most astounding pro-slavery statement in the Bible is made by Jesus himself in Matthew 10:24-25. Here he not only reminds slaves that they are never above their master, he actually recommends that they strive to be like him. Throughout the gospels Jesus ignores countless opportunities to condemn slavery. Doesn't this amount to an endorsement of that infamous institution?

What are some other Bible commentaries concerning slavery? Peter, Jesus' favorite disciple, directs slaves to obey and fear their masters without question, even if he is cruel and unjust (1 Peter 2:18). This directive is repeated in Ephesians 6:5. In Exodus 21:26-27 and Proverbs 29:19 God tells the masters how to punish their slaves. In Leviticus 25:44-46 God instructs his chosen people on how to treat their slaves. Here he sets a more lenient standard for the Israelite slaves than for those who are not Israelites. But, God is not totally without a sense of justice because in Exodus 21:20-21 he says that if the master beats a slave to death, he shall be punished. But, if the severely beaten slave lingers on for a day or two, the master is off the hook. God says in Exodus 21:28-32 that if an ox gores a slave, the owner shall give their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. In Deuteronomy 20:13-14 God tells the Israelites what they should do with the inhabitants of a concurred city, "Whereas the men must be killed, the women and children are to be taken as slaves."

While the Bible may be morally correct in some cases, it's unrelenting endorsement of slavery is certainly immoral. It is the secular state, not the Bible, which we have to thank for ending slavery. Also, it is the secular state, not the church, which stands as the guarantor of freedom and human rights. The truth is that human rights were (and are being) achieved today not because of the Bible but in spite of it.
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1 Compiled by Louis W. Cable

2 Franklin, John H., From Slavery to Freedom - A History of Negro Americans, Vintage Books, 1969, page 49.

3 Ibid, page 71.

4 Rowland, Dunbar; Jefferson Davis, vol. 1, page 286.

http://home.inu.net/skeptic/slavery.html