How could a morally good God allow slavery?
In the beginning, inside the special Garden of Eden, God's true moral ideals were displayed. Men and women were equals. There was no death, no disease. There was no slavery, divorce, polygamy, prejudices, or injustices of any kind. (Genesis 1:26 through 2:25)
God gave Adam and Eve the gift of free will, and has allowed humans free will because He values freedom as something precious. But freedom logically entails that there may be bad choices made, resulting in pain and suffering.
Needless to say, human beings have made some horrible choices over thousands and thousands of years. These have brought a lot of suffering on the earth.
When Yahweh made His Covenant with Moses and Israel, He had His angels entrust the Law to Moses as a Mediator. (Galatians 3:19) Moses was allowed to make concessions for the stubborn and callous ancient Jewish people. (Matthew 19:7-9) Some of the concessions which Moses made for the ancient Jews, were divorce, polygamy, slavery, and women being viewed as property.
None of those things were God's original ideal morals or standards, instead He allowed them, partly as the punishment on Adam and Eve's rebellion of sin in the Garden. (Genesis 3:16-19)
God met the ancient Jewish people where they were at in their current evolutionary moral development, and He improved their existing laws, elevated them to a superior level, better than any Pagan nation surrounding them. Yet, by the same token, God chose not to completely remove all of Israel's less-than-ideal choices or practices at that time. He chose to allow evolution to continue.
When Jesus arrived, He declared that He was re-instituting the ideal morals that God had in the beginning. (Matthew 19:4-9; Mark 10:2-12; Matthew 13:35)
God allowed ancient Israel to use foreign slaves, many of whom may have been prisoners of war (POWs) to accomplish building projects which benefited Israelite society.
Slavery based on racism, and slavery with mistreatment and abuse of slaves has always been morally wrong to God.
The New Testament is restoring God's moral ideals "from the beginning," however the New Testament writers did not want to openly confront the Roman Government, because they knew that would be suicide. So they cautiously spoke against certain practices of the Roman Government which were not acceptable for Christians.
1 Timothy 1:10 condemns slave-traders together with murderers and liars. 1 Corinthians 7:21-23 says that if you can become free of your slavery, then you should do so, and that you should never willingly become a slave to another human.
Ephesians 6:9 commands Christians, who have slaves under Roman law, to treat their slaves as an equal brother and never to threaten them, because Jesus is watching from Heaven.
I encourage all atheists to do research on William Wilberforce, the devout Christian who brought about the end of slavery in Europe, and also Abraham Lincoln, who made strong statements of faith in God and the Bible, while leading the war to end slavery in America.
Why did Christians eliminate slavery instead of atheists?
Watch the movie "Amazing Grace" to learn more about William Wilberforce and his Christian faith.
First of all, the atheist is required to have an objective moral standard which says all forms of slavery are evil, in all places, at all times, for all people, period. Does the atheist possess this objective standard? Where does this standard come from? Do you have empirical evidence or proof of such a standard?
Secondly, which specific things about ancient Jewish slavery are evil? Is it evil to work for another person to pay off a debt? Is it wrong to draft people to help defend your country in a war? Is it evil to draft people to help with a nation's huge building projects which will benefit all people in the nation?
The ancient Jewish practice of slavery which God allowed, was for Israel to have slaves from foreign nations. These may have been prisoners-of-war (POWs). Is it evil or wrong for a nation to have POWs do forced labor?
Simply claiming "Slavery is evil because it is slavery" is not a valid argument at all. That is circular reasoning and would fail in any logical debate.
So, atheists, why was ancient Jewish slavery objectively evil or wrong? Why was Yahweh objectively evil for allowing it to occur?
I look forward to seeing your comments below.
Slavery based on racism, and slavery with mistreatment and abuse of slaves has always been morally wrong to God.
The New Testament Condemned Roman Slavery Practices
The New Testament is restoring God's moral ideals "from the beginning," however the New Testament writers did not want to openly confront the Roman Government, because they knew that would be suicide. So they cautiously spoke against certain practices of the Roman Government which were not acceptable for Christians.
1 Timothy 1:10 condemns slave-traders together with murderers and liars. 1 Corinthians 7:21-23 says that if you can become free of your slavery, then you should do so, and that you should never willingly become a slave to another human.
Ephesians 6:9 commands Christians, who have slaves under Roman law, to treat their slaves as an equal brother and never to threaten them, because Jesus is watching from Heaven.
Why Did Christians Abolish Slavery Instead of Atheists?
I encourage all atheists to do research on William Wilberforce, the devout Christian who brought about the end of slavery in Europe, and also Abraham Lincoln, who made strong statements of faith in God and the Bible, while leading the war to end slavery in America.
Why did Christians eliminate slavery instead of atheists?
Watch the movie "Amazing Grace" to learn more about William Wilberforce and his Christian faith.
Atheists constantly claim Yahweh would be morally evil for allowing slavery.
First of all, the atheist is required to have an objective moral standard which says all forms of slavery are evil, in all places, at all times, for all people, period. Does the atheist possess this objective standard? Where does this standard come from? Do you have empirical evidence or proof of such a standard?
Secondly, which specific things about ancient Jewish slavery are evil? Is it evil to work for another person to pay off a debt? Is it wrong to draft people to help defend your country in a war? Is it evil to draft people to help with a nation's huge building projects which will benefit all people in the nation?
The ancient Jewish practice of slavery which God allowed, was for Israel to have slaves from foreign nations. These may have been prisoners-of-war (POWs). Is it evil or wrong for a nation to have POWs do forced labor?
Simply claiming "Slavery is evil because it is slavery" is not a valid argument at all. That is circular reasoning and would fail in any logical debate.
So, atheists, why was ancient Jewish slavery objectively evil or wrong? Why was Yahweh objectively evil for allowing it to occur?
I look forward to seeing your comments below.
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