Well joobz brought slavery into this thread. I think he is making the mistake of comparing our culture and times to theirs. Jesus spoke to the people of the time in a way that they could understand. But he also said, I have many more things to tell you but you could not bear them (paraphrasing).
John 16:12
King James Bible
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
And later He said He would send the Holy Spirit who would teach all truth. The "abolition" of slavery was almost certainly just something the people, the culture, and the economy of the time could not bear. The following passage goes more into this.
There was a very good thread about 6 months ago called "Slavery in the Bible". This was part of the OP:
cnorman18
Critical Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 305
Slavery in the Bible
I have seen the Bible criticized, and frequently, on this board because it does not denounce or outlaw slavery. Seems a fair criticism on the surface; but let's take a closer look.
(Two notes before I begin: First, when I speak of "the Bible" here, I am referring to the Jewish Bible, called Tanakh by Jews and the Old Testament by Christians. Second, I say nothing about the origin or provenance of the Bible or whether or not it is in any sense the "Word of God." Those are separate questions for another thread.)
Slavery in the ancient world was just part of the natural order of things. Some people were rich, some were poor, and some were slaves. It never even occurred to the slaves themselves that there ought not be such an institution; they merely hoped to have a good master, or to be free someday (and have slaves of their own).
Advocating the abolition of slavery in, say, the 10th century BCE, or even the 1st, was literally unthinkable. The entire economic order depended on it, as did the social order and the civil and criminal law. It was simply part of the way the world worked. An analogous position in the present day might be to advocate outlawing the private ownership of automobiles; though some few might agree that that would theoretically be a good thing, in the main one would be laughed off the podium. Too much depends on it; millions of jobs, the primary means of transportation for almost everyone outside of our largest cities, assessment of social status and economic success, and so on. Literally unthinkable; and two or three thousand years ago, slavery held the same position.
Nevertheless, it seems painfully obvious to us today that slavery was wrong at its root; well and good, for our time. It was not so obvious then. Consider my example of private car ownership: it may very well be obvious in the future that that, too, is evil.
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98391&highlight=Slavery
John 16:12
King James Bible
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
And later He said He would send the Holy Spirit who would teach all truth. The "abolition" of slavery was almost certainly just something the people, the culture, and the economy of the time could not bear. The following passage goes more into this.
There was a very good thread about 6 months ago called "Slavery in the Bible". This was part of the OP:
cnorman18
Critical Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 305
Slavery in the Bible
I have seen the Bible criticized, and frequently, on this board because it does not denounce or outlaw slavery. Seems a fair criticism on the surface; but let's take a closer look.
(Two notes before I begin: First, when I speak of "the Bible" here, I am referring to the Jewish Bible, called Tanakh by Jews and the Old Testament by Christians. Second, I say nothing about the origin or provenance of the Bible or whether or not it is in any sense the "Word of God." Those are separate questions for another thread.)
Slavery in the ancient world was just part of the natural order of things. Some people were rich, some were poor, and some were slaves. It never even occurred to the slaves themselves that there ought not be such an institution; they merely hoped to have a good master, or to be free someday (and have slaves of their own).
Advocating the abolition of slavery in, say, the 10th century BCE, or even the 1st, was literally unthinkable. The entire economic order depended on it, as did the social order and the civil and criminal law. It was simply part of the way the world worked. An analogous position in the present day might be to advocate outlawing the private ownership of automobiles; though some few might agree that that would theoretically be a good thing, in the main one would be laughed off the podium. Too much depends on it; millions of jobs, the primary means of transportation for almost everyone outside of our largest cities, assessment of social status and economic success, and so on. Literally unthinkable; and two or three thousand years ago, slavery held the same position.
Nevertheless, it seems painfully obvious to us today that slavery was wrong at its root; well and good, for our time. It was not so obvious then. Consider my example of private car ownership: it may very well be obvious in the future that that, too, is evil.
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98391&highlight=Slavery
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