Does the Bible Condone Slavery?

Skeptics often relate the Bible's supposed support of slavery as one of their arguments for not embracing the Christian faith. I emphatically disagree with this assertion. There are four Scriptures often quoted by those who accuse the Bible of supporting slavery. I will openly address those occurring in the New Testament. They are:

Ephesians 6:5 "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ."

Colossians 3:22 "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God."

Titus 2:9 "Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again (talking back)."

I Peter 2:18 "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward."

"Wow," you might say, "it sure seems like God is condoning slavery to me!" It is important to note a few things before you make a determination about these verses.

First, you have to study the context of the verses. The context is not only the surrounding verses, chapters and books of the Bible, but also the cultural context. We all tend to view verses like these through our own modern culture and society. When we think of slavery we tend to think of the white man standing over the black man with a whip in the cotton field. That is truly a travesty and completely indefensible. However, that was not the form of slavery which occurred in the Bible. Surely, that type of cruel enslaving and maltreating did occur, but that was not what Paul and Peter were addressing in these verses.