BIBLICAL ERRANCY
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SLAVERY--The Indianapolis Star, one of the most conservative newspapers
in the Nation, has always quoted 2 Cor. 3:17, "Where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty," on the front of each and every issue. Yet,
if the Bible were, indeed, the Word of God as apologists allege, it
would be difficult to find a comment more at variance with the facts.
All of the following verses clearly show the God of the Bible
sanctioned, indeed, instituted slavery-the absence of liberty. "Then
thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and
he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou
shalt do likewise (Deut. 15:17, KJV)." (In order to minimize the Bible's
support for slavery, the King James translators used "servant" instead
of "slave" in this verse and others. The RSV translators used
"bondman." Any knowledgeable authority knows slaves are being discussed
and several versions, e.g. the NWT and the Living bible, are honest
enough to admit as much.) But to continue: "Your male and female slaves
are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.
You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and
members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your
property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and
you can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your
fellow Israelites ruthlessly (Lev. 25:44-46, NIV)." "If a man beats his
male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result,
he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up
after a day or two, since the slave is his property (Ex. 21:20-21,
NIV)." "I (the Lord-ed.) will sell your sons and daughters to the
people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far
away (Joel 3:8, NIV)." (See also: Ex. 21:2-6, Deut. 15:12, 28:68, and
Jer. 27:8, 12).
Apologists attempt to gloss over the situation by alleging these
verses came from the God of the Old Testament and his laws, while the
New Testament's God is supposedly one of love, liberty, and compassion.
If so, sombody forgot to tell Peter and Paul. The latter said:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with
sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only
to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ,
doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you
were serving the Lord, not men....(Eph. 6:5-7, NIV)." "All who are
under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full
respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered
(1 Tim. 6:1, NIV)." "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything;
and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but
with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord (Col. 3:22, NIV)."
"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to
please them, not to talk back to them,....(Titus 2:9, NIV)." Paul not
only sanctions slavery but equates serving one's master with serving
God. To serve one faithfully is to serve the other faithfully. Peter
agrees with Paul: "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all
respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to
those who are harsh....Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example,
that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:18, 21, NIV)." Clearly,
according to the Bible, the Spirit of the Lord has little to do with
liberty. If they were inseparable, God wouldn't be supporting the
slavemasters. Confederate leaders during the Civil War were quite
correct when they contended the Bible supported slavery. "...Let the
gentleman go to Revelation to learn the decree of God-let him go to the
Bible,....I said that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible, authorized,
regulated, and recognized from Genesis to Revelation....Slavery existed
then in the earliest ages, and among the chosen people of God; and in
Revelation we are told that it shall exist till the end of time shall
come. You find it in the Old and New Testaments-in the prophecies,
psalms, and the epistles of Paul; you find it recognized, sanctioned
everywhere ("Jefferson Davis" by Rowland, Vol. I, p. 316-317)." The
well-known reverend Alexander Campbell contended: "there is not one
verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is
not then, we conclude, immoral." However, biblical support justifies
nothing. Slavery was no more right in 2,000 B.C. than in 2,000 A.D.
Morality has not changed that much, regardless of cultural difference
and time differentials.
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