Slavery

[Mr_Skeptic]

Hello, all!

Where do we derive the moral foundation that slavery is wrong? Is it from the Bible?

 

[Newbie2]

Hello, all!

Where do we derive the moral foundation that slavery is wrong? Is it from the Bible?

Indirectly, yes. There are all sorts of references in Scripture that would seem to accept slavery as normative and acceptable, though.

The moral foundation for slavery being unacceptable is that of the dignity of the human person. Slavery places people in the catagory of “things” that can be bought and sold and done with however and whatever the owner pleases.

 

[Jerusha]

The early Christians who held slaves regarded them as fully human. If slaves were treated as fully human, there would be no problems with it, However, given the tendency, as a result of original sin, to treat slaves as less human (unrighteous domination), this becomes impossible to regulate. Therefore, the elimination of slavery.

In addition, in NT times, slavery was not based on race, and children of slaves were free. This structure of slavery reduced the potential for abuse. This is not the kind of slavery that was practiced in the United States before. 1860

 

[Brendan]

There has also been a change in how we use the term “slavery”. Slavery, in Biblical times, was also the term used for penal (prison) labor and what we call today “indentured servitude”, where a person contractually commits their labor for a period of time.

Both of those are not prohibited by the Church.

Chattle slavery, where the slave is not viewed as a human person with human dignity, has always been prohibited by the Church.

 

[AntiTheist]

The early Christians who held slaves regarded them as fully human. If slaves were treated as fully human, there would be no problems with it

Uh, no. I have a problem with the concept of one human being owning another human being, no matter how nicely the slave is treated.

Slavery, in Biblical times, was also the term used for penal (prison) labor and what we call today “indentured servitude”, where a person contractually commits their labor for a period of time.

You do realize that there are rules in the Old Testament for beating slaves nearly to death, right? (You’re not allowed to beat a slave to death outright, but if you come close and it takes a few days for the slave to die, that’s ok) [Ex 21:20-21]

Further, there are instructions in some passages for the Israelites to take the women of conquered lands as slaves. Sounds like a lot of dignity is going on, eh?

 

[Publisher]

The Bible is lacking on many ethical issues. It has no clear cut sexual ethic…it has no clear cut war ethic…it has no clear cut slavery ethic…it has no clear cut ethic concerning women’s role as a complete human being. In the OT women were little more than a comodity to be purchased…“bride price”…if a woman was raped the rapist had to pay the father of the woman a “fee” for raping his daughter.

The Bible displays the progression of faith and belief, culminatiing in the man Jesus. Slavery was never condemned in scripture…but in light of the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth…slavery eventually after millenia…was finally seen as wrong.

 

[Jerusha]

Right, Publisher. The Bible represents the evolution of human thinking, in terms of defining behaviors which please God. Therefore, some issues are not adequately treated. That is why we have revealed tradition and the CCC.

This discussion perhaps belongs somewhere else in the forums, but I am happy with it here.

In addition, the issue is also relevant to the discussion of a transformation of the penal system, and rehabilitation of (fully human) transgressors, rather than punishment.

 

[MelanieAnne]

It would appear, here, that some are drawn to philosophical discussions of slavery but distinguish it from their own situation since, at least in our lives, we believe slavery no longer exists, that it is something that may exist “somewhere else” in the world, perpetrated by others not known to us.

This is a false assumption. Whenever the earnings from of the work of one person is extracted by force (through taxation by the State ~ whether local or federal) and transferred to another person who did not earn it, that is a form of slavery. That’s just a fact. It may be an unhappy fact, but it is still a fact. And it happens all the time.

As such, slavery is alive and well in the USA. It simply exists in far more pernicious forms elsewhere in the world. Unless and until slavery is eliminated everywhere, in all its forms, the world can never claim to be free of this sort of evil. We may wish to start with the elimination of the more pernicious forms, but we should certainly STOP instituting other forms, or else we cannot truly advocate the elimination of slavery.

 

[Thyme]

Hebrew slaves were usually criminals who could not pay back their fines. It was also a last resort for escaping poverty. Back then, they didn’t have a government giving them job seeker’s allowance!

Slavery against will was forbidden, and anyone caught selling a slave would have been executed.

“He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16)

rationalchristianity.net/slavery_ot.html