# How do Biblical literalists deal with slavery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 23, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023 "2013-12-23T17:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/21 "2013-12-23T21:40:26Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Spiritual, > > Are school children allowed to leave their desk? Children are meant to run and play. What happens in a school child when a child trieds to do this??? Are they not chained to their desk as slaves are chained? No, they are not. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Also look at those who are slaves to their jobs, also those who are slaves to drugs and alcohol. The former are free to leave, and the latter are free to get treatment. > [@kanicbird](#): > > If you think the issue as to how we should treat slaves is not a modern day issue God bless your solitary existence on the moon. The only way to “treat” slaves is to free them, immediately. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Now the issue of how to treat slaves, the bible as I ready it, gives 2 options, one that you can abuse them within defined limits, or you can love them unconditionally - your choice and your destiny. Biblical cite for those two choices, please. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/22 "2013-12-23T22:02:57Z")
Saying slaves were treated more like indentured servants isn’t saying much unless you tell us what those differences were. Especially when we know in history, indentured servants were often treated like slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/23 "2013-12-23T22:17:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Would you call him a Christian? Yes, of course. He may not be a very good Christian; he may not be a Christian on the road to heaven; but I think anyone who believes in Christ deserves the title. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/24 "2013-12-23T22:33:54Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > Yes, of course. He may not be a very good Christian; he may not be a Christian on the road to heaven; but I think anyone who believes in Christ deserves the title. I was under the impression that anyone who believed in Christ as savior was definitely a Christian and definitely heaven bound. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/25 "2013-12-23T22:37:18Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > but I am sure He is very happy that we no longer feel the need to keep slaves. Are you sure of that? Because he seems to be okay with a lot of really bad things. It would make sense to me that if he was okay with slavery purely for reasons of keeping the economy going strong, he wouldn’t have been okay with the way he condoned treating them (see video below). I’m pretty sure an omniscient being could come up with a better system for keeping a strong economy than promoting the keeping of slaves? Is keeping a good economy more important than morality? Where does it say to let slaves go once the economy is thriving? > [@](#): > > Besides, anyone who has studied their Bible History knows that slaves back then were more like what we called indentured servents or prisoners of war being used as labor, and NOT very similar at all to the chattel slavery as practiced against our African brethren in the American South. Matt Dillahunty’s rebuttals to that claim. I can back up any of the Biblical claims if you like. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7ycVwZ3gaAM/hqdefault.jpg "Biblical Slavery") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ycVwZ3gaAM) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ARj-ixhRGeA/maxresdefault.jpg "Slavery, the Bible and Kindergarten theology") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARj-ixhRGeA) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/26 "2013-12-24T04:46:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No, they are not.The former are free to leave, and the latter are free to get treatment.The only way to “treat” slaves is to free them, immediately. Biblical cite for those two choices, please. Not sure if these answer your request, but here are a bunch of verses pertaining to all kinds of slave references in the bible: > **[What Does the Bible Say About Slavery?](http://www.openbible.info/topics/slavery)** > > Bible verses about Slavery ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/27 "2013-12-24T12:12:38Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > God is atemporal and immutable. > Can he act diachronically and situationally? > I think not, that’s all. If you think not, then you don’t exist, according to Descartes. :: duck :: ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/28 "2013-12-24T15:51:33Z")
Do Biblical literalists actually live their lives according to what the Bible says? It seems to me that they, like almost any Christian, generally pick and choose from The Bible according to what they already believe in. I doubt they hate gays because the Bible tells them to. The Bible contains many rules that are no less prominent than the “God hates fags” one that no one bothers to follow. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/29 "2013-12-24T15:56:57Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > If you think not, then you don’t exist, according to Descartes. :: duck :: Well, yeah… you’re too fast for me. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/30 "2013-12-24T16:19:26Z")
Now i’m pondering what Carl Barks would have done with “Descartes Duck.” ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/31 "2013-12-24T17:04:45Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I was under the impression that anyone who believed in Christ as savior was definitely a Christian and definitely heaven bound. Depends on your denomination ;). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/32 "2013-12-24T17:10:52Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Okay. What verses condone “cannibalism or incest”? The story of the Last Supper. The story of Lot’s daughters. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/33 "2013-12-24T17:25:56Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Besides, anyone who has studied their Bible History knows that slaves back then were more like what we called indentured servents or prisoners of war being used as labor, and NOT very similar at all to the chattel slavery as practiced against our African brethren in the American South. Right. Hebrew slaves were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/34 "2013-12-24T17:42:22Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Do Biblical literalists actually live their lives according to what the Bible says? It seems to me that they, like almost any Christian, generally pick and choose from The Bible according to what they already believe in. Ever read A. J. Jacobs’s [The Year of Living Biblically](http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-J-Jacobs-ebook/dp/B000SEPAYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387906735&sr=8-1&keywords=a+j+jacobs+year+of+living+biblically)? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/35 "2013-12-24T18:06:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Ever read A. J. Jacobs’s [The Year of Living Biblically](http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-J-Jacobs-ebook/dp/B000SEPAYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387906735&sr=8-1&keywords=a+j+jacobs+year+of+living+biblically)? I haven’t. Is it worth reading? It looks like it might illustrate my point/question (it was somewhere in between) quite well. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/36 "2013-12-24T18:17:37Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The story of the Last Supper. The story of Lot’s daughters. There’s no cannibalism in the Last Supper. :rolleyes: Slavery and it’s rules is also mostly OT, not NT, Jesus gave the gentiles a new covenant. Thus the original rules for the Jews are largely superseded by His sacrifice. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/37 "2013-12-24T18:22:05Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The story of the Last Supper. The story of Lot’s daughters. You have an idiosyncratic definition of “condone.” ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/38 "2013-12-24T18:27:45Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I was under the impression that anyone who believed in Christ as savior was definitely a Christian and definitely heaven bound. The New Testament only used the word “Christian” three times, and none of those gives a specific definition of the term. So it’s up to us to define it, and I think the most helpful definition is the simplest one. Anyone who believes in Christ is a Christian. For the scriptures are quite clear that mere intellectual belief is not sufficient for salvation: _Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble._ - James 2: 19 _And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God.”… And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him._ - Mark 1: 23-24, 34. \*Not every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’ \*- Matthew 7: 21-23 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/39 "2013-12-24T20:48:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The story of the Last Supper. The story of Lot’s daughters. Actually, the story of Lot’s daughters was a way for the Hebrews to come up with a scandalous origin for some of their neighbor (enemy) nations. If you read further, you will find that the progeny of that incest became IIRC (I’m not going to bother to look it up) were the Moabites. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023/40 "2013-12-24T21:29:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Slavery and it’s rules is also mostly OT, not NT, Jesus gave the gentiles a new covenant. Thus the original rules for the Jews are largely superseded by His sacrifice. Largely? Can you say for certain which rules no longer apply because of His sacrifice? Is there a list? Or does one simply pick and choose which are still damnable offenses and which are silly and outdated? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-biblical-literalists-deal-with-slavery/677023.md?page=3)