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Biblical Slavery - How Could A Loving God Condone It?

Maximilian

Energetic proclaimer of Jehovah God's Kingdom.
You could buy one, perhaps from a neighbor, or from professional slavers.

Given that a slave is "someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay," referring to the labor system used by the ancient Israelites as slavery is unscrupulous, dishonest.
 

Maximilian

Energetic proclaimer of Jehovah God's Kingdom.
You continue to ignore actual slavery, which is not voluntary servitude



At the outset, “awful” meant precisely what it sounds like : “full of awe.” Individuals employed it in the 13th century to depict something ““worthy of reverence.” It derives from Old English aghe, an earlier form of “awe” signifying “fright, terror,” in addition the suffix -ful.

Although something “awful” could frighten you, the prevalent meaning these days, “very bad,” was started in 1809.

“Defecate” derives from Latin defaecatus, the past participle of dafaecare, which means “cleanse from dregs; purify.” The Latin verb is a version of the phrase “de faece,” meaning to say “from dregs.”

“Dregs” denotes any fluid remaining in a container along with other sediment — for example left-over java with coffee grounds. At first,” defecate” meant to get rid of the undrinkable bits from a liquid.

There is certainly a definite association, however the excretory sense was initially seen in 1830.

Traditionally, “inmate” was often associated with “roommate.” It is actually a compound expression of “in” (inside) and “mate” (companion), initially showing up in English in the 1580s.

The meaning of an individual kept in an institution came into being in 1834.



Exactly why am I showing all this to you? To make obvious that vocabulary is not fixed but continuously changing. It could actually morph so substantially that definitions may completely transform.

In this case, you're giving the biblical term “slave” a modern, anachronistic meaning instead of recognizing the expression the way it had been employed in the framework of ancient culture.

“Guterbock refers to ‘slaves in the strict sense,’ apparently referring to chattel slaves such as those of classical antiquity. This characterization may have been valid for house slaves whose master could treat them as he wished when they were at fault, but it is less suitable when they were capable of owning property and could pay betrothal money or fines. The meaning ‘servant’ seems more appropriate, or perhaps the designation ‘semi-free’. It comprises every person who is subject to orders or dependent on another but nonetheless has a certain independence within his own sphere of active.” [A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law:1632] (Emphasis mine.)


“However, the idea of a slave as exclusively the object of rights and as a person outside regular society was apparently alien to the laws of the ANE.” [Anchor Bible Dictionary s.v. "Slavery, Ancient Near East"]
 

Maximilian

Energetic proclaimer of Jehovah God's Kingdom.
It depends.

Property (Oxford Dictionaries):

1) A thing or things belonging to someone; possessions collectively.
1.2) propertiesShares or investments in property.
1.3) The right to the possession, use, or disposal of something; ownership.

Which one is applicable to members of your family?

Ciao

- viole

You tell me.
 

Maximilian

Energetic proclaimer of Jehovah God's Kingdom.
Kidnapping:
to seize and detain or carry away by unlawful force or fraud and often with a demand for ransom (MerrianWebster)

Slavery:
the state of a person who is a chattel Of another (Same source)

Obviously two very different things. You can be kidnpped without being a slave, for instance.


Slaves aren't held in captivity against their will?
 

viole

Ontological Naturalist
Premium Member
All who oppose Jehovah God his Christ, Jesus, or his Holy Word, the Bible.

Oh, I am the antichrist? Cool.

Wait, does thinking that God his Christ, Jesus and his Holy Word the Bible are just figments of the human imagination count as “oppose”?

Ciao

- viole
 

viole

Ontological Naturalist
Premium Member
Slaves aren't held in captivity against their will?

Yes. And?

I am sure they also have a nose, like people working in circuses. I doubt anyone would confuse clowns with kidnapped people.

You are making so non-sequiturs that it is almost embarassing.

Ciao

- viole
 

viole

Ontological Naturalist
Premium Member
How did they come to be held in captivity against their will?

Lost a war? I dont know.

However, Leviticus seems to be happy to prescribe how to buy them and treat them as a property that can be inherited.

Do you think that those purchases involved discussing what those people really wanted? The Bible won’t say.

Ciao

- viole
 
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sooda

Veteran Member
All who oppose Jehovah God his Christ, Jesus, or his Holy Word, the Bible.

The Bible's definition of the antichrists is much narrower. They first had to leave the church after having been a follower of Jesus.. which leaves out the Roman Emperors.
 

SkepticThinker

Veteran Member
When it comes to the OT, I think Orthodox Jewish scholars have the most accurate insider knowledge.

The Orthodox Jewish perspective is that an Oral Torah was delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai along with the Written Torah. This Oral Torah was protected and passed down generation to generation along with the Written Torah. I think that in order to understand what the OT is saying about this topic ( what is commonly called slavery ), a person would need to learn the Oral Torah along with the written Torah.

The problem with having an intellectual discussion about it is this: If skeptics don't think the written Torah is credible, there is no point even bringing the Oral Torah into the discussion.

Besides, the whole "slavery" issue as it is presented in the OT is irrelevant. I think if you look into the Jewish Law regarding "slavery" you will find it is functionally very different almost the opposite of the conventional English definition of "slavery".


Again, this will never be accepted as credible by a skeptic because believing the the OT is cruel and the Abrahamic God is at best aloof and at worst a villain fits their preconceived notions.
It won't be accepted as credible by skeptics because its just apologetic nonsense that attempts to minimize the immorality of some supposedly loving god condoning slavery.
 

Dan From Smithville

Monsters! Monsters from the id! Forbidden Planet
Staff member
Premium Member
The Bible may have been inspired by God, but it was written by people and includes the prejudices and ignorance of people. Inspired does not mean dictated. I do not consider that the Bible is evidence that God condones slavery, but it is evidence that the men who wrote the Bible did. There is no way to dress it up or ignore the fact that the Bible gives rules about who can be a slave, how they can be acquired and how they are to be treated.

Slaves taken in war are the spoils of war and not considered kidnap victims, so claiming that there was no slavery, because kidnapping was illegal is a fiction created to hide the truth. The Bible is clear on describing how one can acquire slaves this way and how they are property. To say otherwise is to lie.
 
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