What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Randy Carson]

Randy,

Nobody missed the point that slavery was limited to six years ( as if that makes it ok). Yes the slave could leave after 6 years unless the slave owner gave him a wife which they always would do, If he chose to leave he would leave his wife and family behind who would remain slaves. If he chose to stay with his family he would remain a slave for life as well as his children and their children and so on and so on. What slave owner did was make a slave chose between his family and his freedom, which is incredibly sick. If you are going to defend this disgusting mistreatment of human beings then let me be the first to say, Fuck You!

Not to mention that the six year rule only applied to Hebrew slaves owned by Hebrews.  There was no time limit for foreign slaves owned by Hebrews.  Compare Leviticus 25:44-45 which deals with non-Hebrew slaves with Exodus 21:1-5 which specifies Hebrew slaves.  The six year rule also didn't apply to Hebrew girls sold into slavery by their fathers though that's rather complicated as in that cause the slavery is in part a kind of concubinage. Exodus 21:7-11

Fair enough, Jenny.

But this does not undermine my premise that God was training a people over the course of a long period of time.

If you want a curved piece of furniture, you have to work with the wood very slowly. Are people much different? See the Father's handiwork?