Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sacg1198@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Scott Cattanach) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: questions about slavery. Message-ID: Date: 7 Mar 91 08:36:39 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Lines: 23 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu lindborg@cs.washington.edu (Jeff Lindborg) writes: > I'm curious to know because not only was it traditionaly acceptable >to own slaves (and concubines) in the Old Testament, it was actualy >condoned by GOD Himself in the laws passed from His mouth to Moses in >Exodus (if God did not approve slavery He would not have created laws >concerning their treatment or maltreatment and the sale of them etc...). >Futher Paul states simply that you are to treat your slaves well. He does >not disapprove of the idea of one human being 'owned' by another. The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity points out when discussing slavery and early Christianity that the difference between slaves and "free" people was more a matter of degree than of kind at that time. Paul's letters told slave owners to treat "their" slaves as brothers. IMHO, this is asking more than simply the negative action of "freeing" them as they had no possessions, probably no means of support, and not a whole lot more rights than before. -- -catt (Scott Cattanach - catt@uiuc.edu) "I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two become a law firm, and that three or more become a congress!"