The Bible and Slavery

Some of the modern Bible critics claim that the Old Testament of the Bible endorsed the practice of slavery, a practice that is considered a great evil in our world.  However, I found this to be a bit problematic.  Why would the Old Testament Book of Exodus's central theme was about God delivering the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt then turn around and endorse slavery?  In order to understand this you have to examine both the Old Testament the the world around us.  

In his book Race and Culture, African-American Scholar Thomas Sowell correctly points out that every major world culture until the modern period had slavery, no exception.  At times slavery was tied to military conquest.  Ancient Rome for example, enslaved untold thousands from lands that they conquered, and those enslaved were of various cultures and backgrounds.  Slavery also served as an economic function.  In ancient times, there was no such thing as "Bankruptcy Laws."  As a result, people who were unable to pay off their debt would sell their children, or even themselves, into slavery.  Slaves in numerous ancient societies such as Rome, Greece, Babylon, etc. were simply considered to be property, nothing more, and they were treated as such.  In these societies, there were seldom any rights afforded to a slave.  

However, the Old Testament took a much different approach to slavery.  The only type of slave practice that was permitted was that of what we would term as "debt slavery."  When an individual fell into debt, they were required to work to the debtors for seven years.  The Mosaic Laws protected slaves from physical abuse and stated that if abused, a slave could be freed.  In addition, once the seven years of servitude was complete, the slave was then freed.  Now one may point out that this seems inhumane, but for the society that of the time and region, Mosaic Law was actually very generous in regards to slavery.  One must also consider that it takes time for societies to change.  Take America for instance, we abolished slavery after the Civil War, but spent another 100 years fighting for equal rights, a fight that is still ongoing.  Racial prejudice did not end with the Civil War War.  The Near East wise likewise very different from ours.  It took time to change it.  One must also realize that the Old Testament admitted that Mosaic Law was inferior and future looking.  All humans in the Old Testament were confirmed to have been made in the image of God and God ensured us of a New Covenant would eventually be made, one that was ushered in by Jesus, who sought to free all of mankind from sin.  The goal of Jesus, and God, was to transform us so that people love God with all our hearts, and to express that love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.  

Critics make a serious mistake to try and compare Deep South Slavery in the years prior to the Civil War to the Indentured Servitude described under Mosaic Law.  Firstly, in America prior to the Civil War, only Africans were enslaved.  This is what created a society with views of "racial inferiority" that is still being fought against to this day.  Under Deep South Slavery, slaves were property and at the whim of their owners, with no rights.  Indentured Servants in Bible had rights and servitude was to only last for 7 years, and it was not a system made to doom generations of people into the slave system.  In the Bible, abused slaves were granted freedom.  In addition, kidnapping people & selling them into slavery was a serious crime under Mosaic Law.  In fact, engaging in this practice was a death sentence (Exodus 21:16, 20, 26-27 & Deuteronomy 23:15-16 & 24:7).  The Trans-Atlantic slave trade clearly proved that the Africans who were brought to the Americans as slaves were acquired through a system of kidnapping and selling.  All of this shows that Deep South did not follow Old Testament Laws in regards to slavery.  

One must also realize that while the "Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade" between Africa and the Americas was most definitely a "crime against humanity," but it was not the only slave trade going on during this time period.  To provide one example, from the 16th-19th century, hundreds of thousands of Europeans were abducted by Barbary Pirates from North Africa and sold into slavery.  History Professor Robert Davis actually puts this number at over a million.  There is also ongoing slavery in numerous areas of the world, including Pakistan and Sudan.  When studying these slave trades and the Bible, nobody could make a logical claim that the Old Testament inspired any of these slave trades.  However, would would instead make a much different conclusion: The Bible was the first document in in history to grant rights to slaves, and the Christian nations are the first in the world that have pushed for a worldwide effort to end the practice of slavery everywhere.  It was a strong Christian movement that eventually brought about an end to slavery in America.   John Newton for instance, was a former slave trader in the Tran-Atlantic Slave Trade.  After coming to Christ, John Newton finally came to the realization that this practice was an abomination and had to be stopped.  He spent the final 20 years of his life campaigning to end slavery, and lived to see Britain pass laws doing so in the year 1807.  To this day, Christian organizations all over the world are still fighting to end the slave trades that are still in existence.  The Bible is not a book that endorsed slavery, it is in truth a book that has been instrumental in the fight to end slavery.  

Sources:

Copan, Paul.  Is God a Moral Monster?  Making Sense of the Old Testament God.  Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Books, 2011.

Strobel, Lee & Mark Mittelberg.  The Case for Christ: Daily Moment of Truth.  Grand Rapids MI, Zondervan, 2016