As a religious reformer, Jesus did introduce change. The principles he stood for were clear: You must love God with everything you've got, and you must love your neighbor as yourself. I think that's quite clear.
The Bible's approval of slavery (including Jesus)
by rebel8 23 Replies latest jw friends
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Phizzy
Simon put it succinctly " The simple reason is that the Bible is not inspired and is simply a product of its time."
And that is why nobody in their right mind should base their beliefs, attitudes or actions upon it, or any ancient book.
These pre-enlightenment religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam etc need to ditch all that old cobblers and get into the 21st Century, benighted fools.
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steve2
Slavery was once an unthinking role in life, an accident of birth so to speak. It is ironic that none of the so-called signs of "the last days" have nothing to do with improvements in human rights. Indeed, the strict Biblical mentality was a product of its times, echoing the main ideas and views that were current. -
Jonathan Drake
the kind of slavery condoned in the bible is not vastly different from the slavery we still have today. I.e, we are all our employers slaves.
The bible did not allow the Israelites to mistreat their slaves. Some of the references made in the OP article I'm fairly certain aren't even correct.
if this thread is still going tomorrow I'll be sure to post a more informative reply, but it's late and I'm very tired.
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Village Idiot
Vidqun: "If you attempted to liberate a Roman slave,..."
I did not say that Christians should be liberating the slaves of non-Christians, I simply said that they could have told a person wanting to become a Christian that they had to liberate their own slaves as a precondition to joining the Christian community. That would not effect the Roman empire at all since slave masters had the right to liberate their own slaves.
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millie210
Jonathan Drake3 minutes ago
the kind of slavery condoned in the bible is not vastly different from the slavery we still have today. I.e, we are all our employers slaves
I wondered if anyone would point this out. Very good point Jonathan Drake!
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Jonathan Drake
Don't get me wrong it IS different. But not vastly so. I.e., no employer is laying a hand on you to discipline you when you do something wrong or are a terrible employee. Whereas a master in the bible is allowed to beat the slave.
But the bible has very strict rules about how slaves are treated. Since I'm posting again I'll include why the awl throuh the ear bit isn't as bad as it sounds. A slave WHO CAME WITH his wife took his wife when he left. The only time the master kept the wife and kids is when he was the one who provided the wife, and the slave didn't bring his wife originally. So, there is a huge difference here that isn't explained at all in that article. This tells me there are likely many other things they either left out on purpose, or missed because they are ignorant.
also it should be pointed out that though the master COULD keep the wife and kids, that doesn't mean he always did. This was a guideline, a law showing the masters rights but that didn't mean this is how they ALWAYS chose to proceed.
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Village Idiot
Yes, we're all wage slaves. And it will get worse with Republicans in power. We may see the day when workers will be sleeping in crowded dorms provided by their employers and eating expired food from supermarkets in order to justify paying them wages so low that they will not be able to rent. China already has those. -
Village Idiot
Jonathan Drake:
"The only time the master kept the wife and kids is when he was the one who provided the wife, and the slave didn't bring his wife originally."
And what happened to the woman who did not have a seven year limit like the men did. And the children who could be kept as slaves - for how long even if it's a child? The age of seniority? Indefinitely?
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Jonathan Drake
@ village
I'll look at this more tomorrow. i think that's a very good question. I would say from what we've considered so far, as a preliminary guess, that the master would still keep them. Because it sounds like the scenario in your question is exactly what has happened in that scripture. I.e., I'm a Hebrew, my wife is not, we have kids. 7 years go by, I'm free, wife isn't, kids aren't. The master can choose to free them, or I can choose the awl. If they are Hebrews as well, a third choice exists of waiting for their freedom.
but again, that's a guess. I'll read over the requirements tomorrow.