Slavery

"St. Paul apparently saw no evil in the concept of one person owning 
another as a piece of property."

Below is an article that claims the Bible never tackled the issue of 
slavery, but, I quoted Jesus saying;
        
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed 
me to preach the gospel unto the poor; he has sent me to heal the 
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance unto the captives, and 
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bruised. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the 
minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all of them were upon him.

"to preach deliverance unto the captives"

to set at liberty them that are bruised."

I believe Paul the Roman citizen was employed by Rome to take the 
anti-slavery movement out of the teaching of Jesus - beat it out of 
his followers, and kill them if need be. Paul then altered the 
message, the same way the evangelicos have, they countering the 
Civil Rights movement with phony causes they invented. They are 
followers of Paul - only! Paul was a Roman wolf in sheeps clothing 
who put the bruising yoke of slavery back on the sholders of God's 
Children who led them out of slavery in Egypt. God also gave these 
Children the Laws of Moses so they would remain free. Paul abolished 
these laws, then lay the Yoke of Lies on the back of God's Children, 
as well as the lash.

Jon Presco

 


http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl2.htm 

 
Passages from the Christian Scriptures which Sanction Slavery
Neither Jesus nor St. Paul, nor any other Biblical figure is 
recorded as saying anything in opposition to the institution of 
slavery. Slavery was very much a part of life in Palestine and in 
the rest of the Roman Empire during New Testament times. Quoting 
Rabbi M.J. Raphall, circa 1861, "Receiving slavery as one of the 
conditions of society, the New Testament nowhere interferes with or 
contradicts the slave code of Moses; it even preserves a letter [to 
Philemon] written by one of the most eminent Christian teachers [St. 
Paul] to a slave owner on sending back to him his runaway slave." 1

People in debt (and their children) were still being sold into 
slavery in New Testament times: 

 Matthew 18:25: "But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord 
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that 
he had, and payment to be made." 

Priests still owned slaves: 

 Mark 14:66: "And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh 
one of the maids of the high priest:" 

Jesus is recorded as mentioning slaves in one of his parables. It is 
important to realize that the term "servant" in the King James 
Version of the Bible refers to slaves, not employees like a butler, 
cook, or maid. Here, a slave which did not follow his owner's will 
would be beaten with many lashes of a whip. A slave who was unaware 
of his owner's will, but who did not behave properly, would also be 
beaten, but with fewer stripes. 

This would have been a marvelous opportunity for Jesus to condemn 
the institution of slavery and its abuse of slaves. But he is not 
recorded of having taken it:

 Luke 12:45-48: "The lord [owner] of that servant will come in a day 
when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, 
and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with 
the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and 
prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be 
beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit 
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto 
whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom 
men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." 

One of the favorite passages of slave-owning Christians was St. 
Paul's infamous instruction that slaves to obey their owners in the 
same way that they obey Christ: 

 Ephesians 6:5-9: "Servants, be obedient to them that are your 
masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in 
singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as 
menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God 
from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and 
not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the 
same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, 
ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: 
knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect 
of persons with him." 

Other passages instructing slaves and slave owners in proper 
behavior are: 

 Colossians 4:1: "Masters, give unto your servants that which is 
just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." 
 1 Timothy 6:1-3 "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count 
their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his 
doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, 
let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do 
them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of 
the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach 
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to 
godliness;" 

In his defense, St. Paul incorrectly expected that Jesus would 
return in the very near future. This might have demotivated him from 
speaking out against slavery or other social evils in the Roman 
Empire. Also he regarded slaves as persons of worth whom at least 
God considers of importance. St. Paul mentioned that both slaves and 
free persons are sons of God, and thus all part of the body of 
Christ and spiritually equal. 

 1 Corinthians 12:13: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into 
one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or 
free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." 
 Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither 
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one 
in Christ Jesus." 
 Colossians 3:11: "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: 
but Christ is all, and in all." 

St. Paul apparently saw no evil in the concept of one person owning 
another as a piece of property. In his Letter to Philemon, he had 
every opportunity to discuss the immorality of slave-owning, but 
declined to do so. 

Deuteronomy 23:15-16, cited above, requires a Jew to protect a 
runaway slave, and to not return him/her to their owner.. However, 
St. Paul violated the law. While in prison, he met a runaway slave, 
Onesimus, the slave of a Christian. He was presumably owned by 
Pheliemon. Rather than give the slave sanctuary, he returned him to 
his owner. Paul seems to hint that he would like Pheliemon to give 
Onesimus his freedom, but does not actually request it. See the 
Letter to Philemon in the Christian Scriptures. 





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