(October 12, 2021 at 11:52 am)ayost Wrote: Exodus 21:16 “Now one who kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall certainly be put to death.
So there is a clear distinction here that kidnapping and selling/buying people is a capital offense. So now, as we read the rest of what Moses wrote about owning slaves in the later books, this would be the assumed context under which buying/selling slaves was immoral. But there are other contexts, like selling yourself into slavery to pay a debt.
There's also a clear distinction between those kinds of slaves who are paying off debts and those who are non-Israelites. And, hell, maybe those laws in Leviticus may have been progressive in their time. But anyone who looks at that and sees a moral standard that holds up today is bonkers.
Slavery used to be a fact of life. It is no longer a fact of life. We have (nearly) rid the world of it. Slavery is one of the worst evils to ever have existed. Your "morally perfect" holy book fails to recognize that.
I'm sure someone has pointed this out, but "slave of Christ" is a metaphor. It simply means that you want to serve Christ and attend to his desires as a slave would a master.
But this has no bearing on the rightness or wrongness of enslaving someone. Because being a "slave of Christ" is VOLUNTARY.
You aren't forced into it. You aren't subjected to beatings and abuse. Your children aren't taken away from you and sold.
Hello!? It's just a metaphor.
