Does the Bible Endorse Slavery?

August 29, 2006 by
Brian Tubbs  
Brian Tubbs
Brian Tubbs
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Leviticus  |  Deuteronomy  |  Colossians  |  Secular Humanism  |  Philemon

Confronting One of the Most Controversial Attacks on Christianity

The website EvilBible.com has some rather provocative things to say about the book Christians regard as God's Word. According to the site's authors, slavery is "rampant throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments" and that
the Bible "clearly approves of slavery in many passages."

"Christians should perhaps consider admitting that their Bible was written in a primitive, barbaric age and as such represents the primitive, barbaric attitudes of that age," says Austin Cline, a regional director for the Council for Secular Humanism and About.com's Guide for Agnosticism and Atheism.  

Critics are correct that the Bible contains numerous references to slavery (Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon), and many of these references imply an acceptance of the institution. The danger is that when Americans think of "slavery," they conjure up an image of whites enslaving Africans - the institution of slavery that our nation experienced. This is NOT the type of slavery referred to in the Scriptures. 

The only sane, valid way to interpret and understand the Bible is the historical-grammatical method. You must understand the historical context of the Bible's references, determine the timeless principle, and go from there. The Bible's matter-of-fact or sympathetic references to slavery do not automatically mean a comprehensive and complete endorsement for all forms of slavery throughout all of time. Slavery in the Bible is mostly of the indentured servitude variety, and was almost always on a term basis - 7 years, 14 years, and so forth.

It is true that 18th century southern plantation owners used the Bible to excuse slavery and talk their slaves into submission, but this does not make their twisted interpretation valid. Permanent, race-based, comprehensive slavery is NOT endorsed by the Bible. 

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Takeaways
  • Critics are correct that the Bible contains numerous references to slavery.
  • The only valid way to interpret the Bible is the historical-grammatical method.
  • The Bible is often twisted to mean something it does not in order to undermine it.
 
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Even if it was temporary, it was still OK to beat them to death if they didn't succumb to their wounds within two days.
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Posted on 01/14/2009 at 5:01:52 PM

Quick response to "Critical Thinking," you're incorrect about nothing ever being rescinded. The Old Testament mosaic code no longer applies in its specific terms and methodology. Paul makes this pretty clear in his epistles. Certainly, the principles underlying much of the OT carry over, such as the prohibition on adultery, honoring one's parents, and so forth, but the specific laws about stoning adulterers and rebellious teens do not.
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Posted on 09/25/2007 at 9:09:00 PM

So its okay to enslave someone as long as it is only for 14 years? What the heck kind of reasoning is that? Also since nothing is EVER rescinded from the Bible, this law is STILL to be followed, is it not? Show me an amendment to this slavery section and it better be in the New Testament .. far far in the back.
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Posted on 09/21/2007 at 11:09:00 AM

Quick response to 'A Thinking BUM' - I don't think the Bible is obligated to speak on democracy. You're incorrect that it doesn't address the equality of the sexes (Galatians 3:28), although I will grant it assigns different roles for husbands and wives in the family (and THAT is perceived by many as sex discrimination). The mosaic law did permit slavery for the ancient Hebrews (with certain conditions and restrictions), but the Bible emphatically condemns the type of cruelty that characterizes most forms of slavery the world has experienced SINCE the Bible was completed.
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Posted on 09/01/2006 at 11:09:00 AM

Read Leviticus 25:44-46. It's very clear: 44 " 'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 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. 46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly. (NIV)
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Posted on 08/31/2006 at 12:08:00 PM

"They are not interested in condemning slavery so much as they are in undermining the Bible..." The Bible fails to say a word toward the equality of the sexes, not a word against slavery, not a word for democracy, not a word for religious tolerance. Those facts alone should be enough to convince a modern person that the Bible does not have the last say in morality.
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Posted on 08/31/2006 at 4:08:00 AM

What makes Jefferson Davis' interpretation of the Bible correct and Reverend Henry Ward Beecher's wrong? (Beecher, of course, a staunch abolitionist minister).
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Posted on 08/30/2006 at 9:08:00 PM

"It [Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." ~Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America Genesis 16 1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. Genesis 17 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17
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Posted on 08/30/2006 at 5:08:00 PM

"A Thinking BUM" :-) argues that the absence of any condemnation of slavery in the Bible leaves open the possibility that God or the human authors of the Bible are tolerant or even supportive of the type of slavery that occurred well after the Bible was written and the canon was closed. Specifically, "BUM" writes that the Bible "does not imply a condemnation of the forms of slavery carried out thousands of years later." I disagree. One of the components of African slavery, as practiced in North America, was that it was originally based on the African slave trade - a practice that involved kidnapping people from their homeland and transporting them against their will to America. Kidnapping and theft are clearly condemned in Scripture. Another aspect of slavery as practiced in America is that it was race-based. The Bible clearly teaches that God is no respector of persons. So, at the least, one has to acknowledge that race-based slavery is inconsistent with biblical princip
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Posted on 08/30/2006 at 8:08:00 AM

I will do a follow-up article on the types of slavery found in the Bible. Thanks for the motivation to do so. :-)
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Posted on 08/30/2006 at 8:08:00 AM

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