Moral Issue of Slavery 0 Christians may not see or even think about a potential contradiction 0 It is a pivotal argument for many who try to discredit the scriptures 0 Can be a major stumbling block if misunderstood 0 Articles and books have been written using slavery to discredit the Scriptures

“Slave, Slavery, Bondservant” 0 Many Hebrew and Greek words were translated as “slave” or “slavery” 0 Hebrew 0 `ebed 0 slave, servant, man-servant 0 servants, worshippers (of God) 0 servant (in special sense as prophets, Levites etc) 0 'amah 0 maid-servant, female slave, maid, handmaid

“Slave, Slavery, Bondservant” 0 Greek 0 Doulos 0 a slave, bondman, man of servile condition 0 devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests a servant, attendant 0 Andrapodistes (only used in 1 Tim. 1:9-11) 0 a slave-dealer, kidnapper, man-stealer 0 of one who unjustly reduces free men to slavery 0 of one who steals the slaves of others and sells them 0 Douleia 0 slavery, bondage, the condition of a slave 0 Used 5 times in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews

Bible Slavery ≠ American Slavery 0 Israelite slavery was NOT for life without freedom 0 Exodus 21: Deut. 15: Slavery was a way to relieve debt or simply survive 0 No welfare or bankruptcy laws 0 Leviticus 25: Israelite slavery was very similar to indentured servitude 0 Year of Jubilee

Bible Slavery ≠ American Slavery 0 Masters were held accountable for the way that they treated their slaves 0 Exodus 21:20, Slaves were given rights even during servitude 0 Mistreatment of a fellow Israelite had consequences regardless of their status 0 Slavery as practiced in America was punishable by death under the Old Law 0 Exodus 21:16 0 I Tim. 1:9-11 – “kidnappers” or “menstealers”

Slavery as Punishment 0 Bible had more than one type of slavery 0 Leviticus 25: Israel was in captivity many times because of their sin 0 God in turn allowed Israel to enslave pagan nations to show His displeasure with their sin

0 Argument: The Bible mentions sinful events and does directly condemn them, thus it must be alright. 0 Mark 10:2-9 0 Jesus added to many of the OT commands 0 We have to take the entirety of God’s commands to decide if a practice is lawful or not