One of the most emotionally-powerful and common objections to the Bible from modern people is the fact that the Bible does not seem to care about abolishing slavery. Whether opponents appeal to instructions in the New Testament for slaves to bear with their masters or the allowance of slavery in the Old Testament, this topic is a very serious concern in the eyes of new atheists, laypeople, and Christians alike.
However, it is explicitly obvious from reading the Old Testament (yes, far more clear than in the New Testament) that God abhors certain types of slavery and that he does not ignore abuse of slaves. God specifically legislated against:
--Kidnapping someone to force them into slavery.
In addition to the general prohibition of theft that is repeated numerous times throughout Exodus and Leviticus, twice God attaches the death penalty to kidnapping another person with or without the intent to sell or enslave them.
Exodus 21:16--"Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death."
Deuteronomy 24:7--"If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you."
Upon this principle alone the entire American slave trade would have been annihilated had God's law been practiced. This is very important to establish early in a Biblical discussion of slavery because the kind of "slavery" God permitted and codified was not even constructed on the same foundation as other forms of it. Fascinatingly, I have even encountered the claim that the Decalogue's prohibition of theft in Exodus 20:15 ("You shall not steal") originally referred to theft of a person and should therefore accurately read "You shall not kidnap". These two laws from Exodus and Deuteronomy, and possibly the two separate listings of the ten commandments in addition (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 respectively), universally condemn the slave trade (also strongly denounced in 1 Timothy 1:8-10), human trafficking, and involuntary slavery of one's neighbor. Anyone who participates in the perpetuation of these vile acts deserves death.
--Racism-based slavery.
Another fact that must be observed at once is that God never allowed for mistreatment of foreigners. Genesis 1:26-27 is clear that ALL people, male and female, slave or free, bear God's image and are imbued with innate, inextinguishable value because of it. Multiple times in Mosaic Law God specifically informs people that racism is an evil to be universally avoided.
Exodus 22:21--"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt."
Exodus 23:9--"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."
Leviticus 19:33-34--"When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God."
Leviticus 24:22--"You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the Lord your God."
Deuteronomy 10:19--"And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt."
It does not require a sophisticated study of the Bible to quickly reveal that racism of any kind is detested according to numerous passages. Again, no manifestation of slavery remotely resembling that of many in history would have survived the application of these laws.
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| The type of slavery endorsed and codified by the Bible does not resemble the kind of slavery many people think of when the word is mentioned. On every level the differences are drastic, obvious, and distinct. |
--Murder of a slave.
It is a great evil to think that just because someone is a slave that their life possesses less value than that of a free person.
Exodus 21:12--"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death."
Exodus 21:20-21--"If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property."
I know exactly what the minds of many readers will jump to. Isn't that last verse absolute proof that the Bible actually does show indifference towards abuse of slaves?
No, actually. Allow me to elaborate. First of all, Exodus 21:20-21 is a case law prescribing what to do IF something specific occurs. It is not necessarily even condoning beating slaves even as punishment for legitimate offenses. Second of all, even if it were, corporal punishment still had explicit limitations explained further in Deuteronomy 25:1-3 [1]. In any case of corporal punishment FOR AN ACTUAL OFFENSE, no one was to ever receive more than forty lashes so that the man or woman would not be degraded during the beating. Even the most seemingly harsh Biblical penalties do not even begin to approach the gratuitous brutality and unjustifiable inhumanity and dehumanization of other historical punishments. So even if disciplining a slave with a rod was permitted, it would only be allowed in certain situations where the slave had committed some immoral act and it would be explicitly limited to forty lashes or under, depending on the severity of the offense. Third of all, to assume that the Bible ignores or fails to condemn physical abuse of slaves one must neglect to read or acknowledge Exodus 21:26-27, which I will explain in a moment. The immediate point of Exodus 21:20-21 was to extend punishment for murder mentioned in Exodus 21:12-14 to those who callously and cruelly beat their slaves to death.
--Rape of a slave.
Rape is another depravity that God never tolerated, even in the case of a slave.
Deuteronomy 22:25-27--"But if out in the country a man happens to meet a virgin pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor, for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her."
While these three verses particularly address the rape of an engaged free woman, they contain more than enough information to convey that all rape is like murder and is something that must never be done. Since it is undeniably mentioned that such a "case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor", all rape is as morally abominable as murder and must never be tolerated. It does not matter whether the victim is male or female or engaged or not. Many people cite the following verses of Deuteronomy 22:28-29 to support the mistaken belief that if the victim is a single woman she must marry her rapist, but clarification of this frequent misunderstanding will be reserved for a future post.
Contrary to the view that some people hold about rape, it was something that received at least condemnation equal to that of murder. God did not say that the victim should be told not to dress a certain way so that she wouldn't "ask for it", or that rape is terrible but the suffering it inflicts is not as evil as acts of murder, or that rape was excusable in any way.
Slaves would be protected from all forms of rape and would be able to seek justice like any other victim were it to occur to them. Again, God did not neglect to express care about abuse of a slave.
--Physical abuse of a slave.
Finally, I will present verses pertaining to physical abuse of a slave in particular.
Exodus 21:26-27--"If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth."
Oh, what's this? The abuser did not have his own eye or tooth removed as punishment? Maybe the Bible has been misunderstood more than we thought [2]!
If a slave was mutilated or permanently injured he or she was to be emancipated. This would compensate for the lost organ or body part and would remove the slave from a situation which might endanger them further. It is verses like these which demonstrate that Exodus 21:20-21 does not condone physical abuse of slaves.
There is also a part in Exodus (21:5-6) where it is mentioned that if a slave desired to remain with his master longer than the legally allowed duration of six years, the master would "pierce his ear with an awl", and then he would "be his servant for life". I have seen accusations that this is slave torture, but it is explicitly declared in the text that this can only happen if the slave voluntarily requested it. And it shouldn't be too unexpected that some slaves might wish to live with their masters for a lifetime. Remember, it generally wasn't some abusive relationship the two shared, after all, and if it was the slave could flee.
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| At the end of seven years all Jewish slaves were to be freed (Exodus 21:2) and supplied with great material abundance (Deuteronomy 15:12-18). Does this have anything in common with the brutal slavery found in the ancient world? |
--Returning a fugitive slave.
Not only did Mosaic Law ensure that slaves possessed full legal and human rights in matters of abuse or exploitation, but it also forbade people from returning slaves to cruel masters from whom they had escaped.
Deuteronomy 23:15-16--"If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him."
Contrasted with laws of the surrounding nations, such as that of Hammurabi, which fastened the death penalty to the crime of aiding a runaway slave, Israel's proved to be an immense improvement, and this passage on fugitive slaves does not disappoint in that regard.
Conclusion
In addition to all of these wonderful laws, the Bible grants slaves a day of rest on the Sabbath just as it does to everyone else (Exodus 20:8-10, 23:12), criticizes threatening slaves (Exodus 6:9), and prohibits treating them unfairly (Colossians 4:1). It even says in more than one location to release a slave every seven years (Exodus 21:1-3, Deuteronomy 15:12-15) and to supply them with material abundance upon liberation. Yes, if a master provided a slave with a wife and the slave was freed, his wife would remain a slave, but that does not mean the marriage was dissolved. The Jews lived in the same community and traveled together, so this law by no means separated the married man and woman. Upon even a superficial examination, it becomes very clear that the Bible does not endorse, defend, command, or excuse mistreatment of slaves or entire illicit systems of slavery in any manner.
So what were some of the reasons someone might become a slave? Economic poverty might mean that serving a master who would provide food and shelter might be a more appealing option than enduring poverty alone. Temporary slavery is also offered as a way for a thief who is unable to make restitution to repay his or her victim (Exodus 22:3). If a thief truly has nothing and cannot repay for his or her theft, the thief likely stole just to survive and eat. The restitution method in Exodus 22:3 would mean that the thief would not have to starve but would receive food and clothing and protection as he or she works to pay off the debt for their crime. It should also be observed that God delivered Israel from abusive slavery in Egypt and that this theme of liberation is constantly recalled throughout almost the entire Old Testament and that Exodus 21, the very first chapter of Mosaic Law after the Ten Commandments are presented, opens by declaring the rights and moral treatment of slaves. I find these two facts very intriguing.
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| The Egyptian society that God delivered the Jews from practiced types of slavery which contradicted direct commands in Mosaic Law. |
There is nothing objectively wrong about one person serving another person in the cases described here. This system equated a form of provision for poor people willing to enter it and was a solution to punish a thief who had nothing. A thief who temporarily became an indentured servant received all of the legal protection extended to all Jewish slaves and would possibly obtain knowledge he could use to sustain himself without resorting to stealing upon his release. Instead of being incarcerated in a prison where he or she would be exposed to monsters, learn from them, and possibly be assaulted, exploited, murdered, or raped, the male or female thief would be able to provide restitution to the victim and would still keep all the human rights God legislated for all people.
There is another thought I must explain. Our society lives in an amusing state of contradiction where it, on one hand, falsely accuses the Bible of defending or endorsing evil, while simultaneously denying and insisting as a culture that no objective moral truths exist. This is hypocritical and inconsistent.
Just because someone doesn't feel comfortable with Biblical slavery does not make it immoral; that commits the logical fallacy of appeal to emotion. Simply because large quantities of people conclude together that the slavery I have explained here is wrong does not make it so; that commits the fallacy of appeal to popularity. The slavery advocated in Mosaic Law is not evil because it is not what our modern society chooses to practice currently; that is an appeal to novelty. It was never harmful to society or slaves, and it is actually quite irrational to label Mosaic slavery immoral while defending the modern prison system, which amounts to a different form of slavery with many negative side effects that is legally protected.
It is important for both non-Christians and Christians to comprehend the true meaning of the slavery passages and it is crucial that they see that the God of Christianity does not shrug at evil and did not fail throughout the course of several millennia to acknowledge and condemn all the evils illicit slavery has carried with it. With such information available here, I hope those who read this post find relief at the recognition that the Old Testament does not abuse slaves and that there are forms of restitution far superior to our current prison system.
[1]. http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2016/08/corporal-punishment-part-1.html
[2]. http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2016/07/eye-for-eye-part-1.html
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