The Ten Commandments

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New Testament's Attitude Towards Slavery


Luke 12:46-47 Jesus said: The lord of that slave will come one day when he did not look for him, and at a time when he is not aware, and the lord will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. That slave, who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

 

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Was Jesus racist and pro-slavery?

Luke 17:7-10 Jesus said in a parable: Your slave just came in from labor. Say: Prepare something for Me to eat. Wait on Me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished. Are you grateful the slave did all he was commanded? When you have done all that you have been commanded, say: We are unprofitable slaves; we have done what we are obliged to do.

 

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Luke 17:7-10

Jesus projected that He and all masters of slaves are entitled. God wants disobedient slaves beaten.

 

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This evil model has, by historical evidence, rubbed off on the american south and every racist Christian con-man and crook serving time in the joint

 

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Luke 17:7-9
Jesus said: Which of you, having a slave plowing or feeding cattle, will say to your slave when he comes in from the field, Go and sit down to meat? Would you not rather say to him, make ready that I may eat, and gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward you shalt eat and drink?

Jesus obviously does not and will not eat with His slaves.

 

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1 Corinthians 7:21-22
Are you called to be a slave? You care not for it? But, if you may be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a slave, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's slave.

Confusing double talk huh?

 

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Ephesians 6:5
Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed.

God wants slaves to be fearfully obedient to their masters.

 

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Slavery- New Testament

Colossians 3:22
Slaves, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.

 

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Titus 2:9
Exhort slaves to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again.

 

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1 Peter 2:18
Slaves, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward.

 

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Slavery and obedience are the main themes in all of the Bibles -Old Testament and New Testament.
Authoritarians capitalize on that dogmatic master / slave mentality so to take advantage of the gullible, the ignorant, the superstitious and the fearful(of hell & heaven).

 

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For many centuries slavery was perfectly acceptable to Christians. Christians had no doubt that it was divinely sanctioned, and they used a number of Old and New Testament quotations to prove their case. Looking at the relevant passages quoted in this thread, it is clear that the Bible does indeed endorse slavery.

 

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If Jesus had opposed slavery he would, slave masters claimed, surely have said so.

 

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Church Fathers instructed the faithful not to let slaves get above themselves, and the Church endorsed St Augustine's view that slavery was ordained by God as a punishment for sin. Augustine called on the free to give thanks because Christ and his Church did not make slaves free but rather made bad slaves into good slaves.

???

 

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In pre-Christian times and in non-Christian countries people expressed doubts about slavery and sought to improve the lot of slaves — the Stoic philosophers provide a notable example. In pagan times slaves who escaped and sought sanctuary at a holy temple would not be returned to their masters if they had a justifiable complaint. When the Empire became Christian, escaped slaves could seek refuge in a church, but they would always be returned to their masters, whether they had a justifiable complaint or not.

 

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When Christian slaves in the early Asian Church suggested that community funds might be used to purchase their freedom, they were soon disabused of their hopes, a line supported by one of the greatest Church Fathers (Ignatius of Antioch.).

 

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Father Ignatius declared that their ambition should be to become better slaves, and they should not expect the Church to gain their liberty for them.

 

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His orthodox approach followed the words of St Paul (1 Corinthians 7:20-21): "Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don"t let it trouble you — although if you can gain your freedom, do so."

 

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The evilness of christian slavery:

Soon the christian Church would become the largest slave owner in the Roman Empire. Bishops themselves owned slaves and accepted the usual conventions. So did other churchmen. Slave collars dating from around AD 400 have been found in Sardinia, stamped with the sign of the cross and the name "Felix the Archdeacon"*. Pagan slaves who wanted to become Christians required permission from their masters. For many centuries, indeed right up to recent times, servile birth was a bar to ordination, and the Church confirmed the acceptability of slavery in many other ways. For example, the Church Council of Châlons in 813 decreed that slaves belonging to different owners could not marry without their owners" consent. It had been common for pagan Greeks and Romans to emancipate their slaves, but the emancipation of the Church's slaves was declared impossible, on the grounds that the slaves were owned not by the clergy but by God himself, and only the slave owner could legally dispose of his goods.

 

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Church slaves were thus inalienable property. This principle would be enshrined in canon law. Church law contained other provisions regulating the marriage of slaves.

A few examples:
To eject a slave girl from one's bed and take one free to become a wife does not produce a second marriage but advances decency.