Slavery and the Bible

SLAVERY AND THE BIBLE


Evidence of slavery has been found ever since man settled down to a civilized life. The origins of slavery however are not known. All old world civilizations, the Mesopotamian, Shang, Egyptian, Palestinian (Hebrew), Greek and Roman, are glaring examples of societies based on slavery in some form or the other! The bible was written in an era which attempted to define the concept of the “free” and the “enslaved”, the “master” and the “servant”.

A scripture, a spiritual work, desperately needs to address all issues that affect society in a period. Slavery in the pre-Christ era was like an epidemic that had plagued humanity to an incurable extent. Therefore, it was one issue that needed to be addressed more than any other.

Understandably, slavery finds ample mention in the bible. However, the interesting aspect is that, nowhere in the Old or the New Testament is it condemned. All that we find are excerpts reg...