Slavery and the Bible (The Bible’s Answer for Racism, Part 7)
By Ben Quine
**This article is part of a series helping us navigate this issue of racism in our world from a Biblical perspective. To read all of Ben’s articles on this subject - click on his name above by the date published and it will sort all of this articles in one place.
Slavery, like all other vices, has been around since early human history – at least as far back as the Ancient Egyptian Empire, but likely reaching back to Noah and the tower of Babel. Sinful man has always used the mistreatment of his brothers to vault himself into personal power, and oppressive slavery has been used again and again to further that end. Mistreatment and oppression ultimately stem from pride (self-centeredness), which is unceasingly opposed by God in Scripture, who calls instead for humility (God-centeredness). Throughout history those who love and understand God’s Law have always taken a stance against the oppression caused by slavery. And in 1864 the United States became the second society in human history to turn against the worldwide institution of slavery (after Great Britain’s abolition of slavery in 1833).
So why does God’s Word give biblical guidelines for slavery?
During the time of America’s participation in the international slave trade, Scripture itself was abused to support and promote the enslavement of people, through books such as the Slave Bible, which was used to teach that God supported the evil practices of the 1600-1800s. As a result, one tragic but common stance held by churches in America today is, “Christians are not permitted talk about racism because the Bible was once used to support slavery. Therefore we no longer have the moral high ground to teach on this topic.”
But we must remember that in the Church there has always been a struggle between those who wish to mislead the Christian flock and those who would present the truth of the Bible, the truth about Jesus Christ, and the truth of how Scripture applies to our lives. Satan’s spiritual warfare rages nonstop against the true teaching of the whole counsel of God. And perverting and twisting God’s Word is a key weapon in the Enemy’s arsenal, beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, (“Did God really say…?”).
God has very harsh condemnation for those who would alter Scripture:
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)
Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:5-6)
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:26-27)
We MUST study and understand the Bible’s stance on slavery. The truth is that the Bible did allow for a specific institution of slavery. But it was NOT the same as, or even remotely compatible with, the type of slavery practiced in America and the rest of the world before the 1860s.
Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:16)
God established an absolute prohibition on all kidnapping, human trafficking, and generational slavery. In God’s society, there was to be NO third-party human trafficking of slaves and no purchasing of trafficked slaves. The world-wide practice of slavery, particularly the kind which occurred in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas until the 1800s was a horrific sin and a great injustice. It is not condoned by Biblical teaching — in fact, the opposite is the case — under Biblical law those in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas who enabled this injustice, (anyone who kidnapped, sold, transported, or bought slaves) would all stand guilty of a capital offense, facing the death penalty. Furthermore, since “race” is not a category recognized by scripture, slavery based on “race” is utterly incompatible with Biblical teaching.
If the Bible doesn’t allow for human trafficking or generational slavery, what kind of slavery did it allow for?
If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God. (Leviticus 25:39-44)
In God’s Law, an individual suffering extreme financial debt could choose to sell himself as a slave. But it would only be for a limited time. DEBT is the key to understanding Biblical slavery. Since there were no prisons in the Old Testament system, debts had to be paid through labor. The money that would otherwise be paid to the servant as his salary is kept to pay off his debt. The “slavery” defined within Scripture, therefore, was akin to being in the service of another, as God’s solution to extreme debt! So vastly different was the Old Testament institution of slavery (as God wanted it practiced) from the 21st Century image of “slavery,” that some Bible translators have preferred to use the word “bondservant” instead of the word “slave” in their texts.
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly. If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, then after he is sold he may be redeemed. (Leviticus 25:44-48)
God allowed Israel to buy slaves from the immediately surrounding countries (those specific countries that were under His divine judgement), or those foreigners who had been born in the land. But since the general rule of Exodus 21:16 also applied to foreign slaves, they were not to be kidnapped or trafficked either. Their enslavement was to be related to debt, including redeeming their life for war crimes against Israel. And Scripture specifies that the slave himself could be bequeathed generationally, but does not authorize enslavement for his children. Once again, biblically, all slaves were to be treated well:
When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth. (Exodus 21:26-27)
If a slave suffered permanent physical harm after being struck by their master they must be set free. This is above and beyond the basic protection of the law (an eye for an eye, Exodus 21:23-25). Killing a slave was a capital offense (Exodus 21:20).
In humanity’s sinful state, the violent and ruthless oppression of the weak, the theft of belongings, and even the theft of people is all too common, but God detests this kind of behavior. The Torah attempted to regulate slavery, diminish its occurrence only to extreme debt, and even transform it into blessing:
And when you let [your slave] go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. (Deuteronomy 15:13-14)
God was never authorized cruelty, devaluing people, or being barbaric. In fact, He put progressive safeguards in place against cruelty, allowing slaves to go free when abused. He placed great (and equal) value on all human life and gave slaves higher levels of protection than other social groups. Far from endorsing cruelty, all of Scripture requires individuals to treat others well:
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)
When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:34)
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
The writers and staff of Answers for Difficult Days and Christians Engaged strongly oppose all forms of slavery, racism, and oppression. The slavery permitted in the Bible was a limited-time payment for a debt, where the main stipulation is that masters must treat their slaves well. This mandate is repeated many times in both the Old and New Testaments.
The Christian view is that perpetual slavery based on skin color is injustice, oppression, and theft, since wages are withheld from the servant indefinitely. We are not to oppress or take advantage of the poor or the weak, but we are to treat everyone justly under the law, with no distinction based on color or social groupings.
We are also not to psychologically or emotionally manipulate or enslave those around us, but we are commanded to take care of our neighbors — we are to think of them more highly than we do ourselves and to treat them as we would like to be treated. This is the foundation of justice – which we will look at more in the next article!
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ABOUT BEN
Connect with him at Cornerstone Curriculum
Ben Quine, the second son of David and Shirley Quine, was blessed to grow up with a Charlotte Mason/Dr. Schaeffer/Biblical Worldview education -- a tremendous gift! Through the years, Ben has served as a Cornerstone consultant, assistant, and co-author. He has written several Bible studies for the Answers for Difficult Days series, which equips churches to address the issues our culture is wrestling with today, from the foundation of Scripture. Ben is also the editor of The Worldview Library, editions of classical literature with student helps that afford the reader a deeper understanding of the concepts presented in each work.
Trained as a classical pianist and instructor, Ben is committed to inspiring his students with the love of great music and equipping them with the tools to perform at the highest level. This training has resulted in his students' successful performances from local festivals and competitions to Carnegie Hall.
Ben loves Shakespeare, Dickens, photography, listening to recordings of "the great pianists", running, biking, and spending time with his wife Julie and their three sons.