On social media or in casual conversations, I have seen/heard others say that God approved of slavery. One such made by an athiest when one mentions they believe in Jesus:
First of all (not that it matters because it's nowhere near the conditions of the 1700's/1800's south), these Deuteronomy and Leviticus verses are in the Old Testament before the Birth of Christianity (in Acts in the New Testament). Not to stir up a controversy but Christians were persecuted, stoned to death and tortured by the Israelites who followed the old laws. So none of the Old Testament with respect to any of the verses tossed at us have anything to do with Christians or Christianity.
Thanks to a source (there are more)
First I'll refer you to this article and this snippet
Second, there are several different versions of the Bible. The one considered to be the most accurate (and older) translations from the Hebrew Bible is the King James Version. Having said that:
A good video that explains the misuse of the term "Slavery" in newer interpretations.
If you get something like
Please use the KJV version.
20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
http://holytext.org/king-james-bible/
I'm sometimes lazy to type so I'll let other fingers do the walking :-)
The issue with those who attack Christianity and don't use the KJV version, they will automatically infer that they were doing exactly what the 1700/1800's south was doing. That's not true at all. Servants back then were indentured.
Excellent.
Be careful with some of the more contemporary translations (ie, NIV, Contemporary, etc) God never condones the oppressive slavery of the 1800's south or what Egypt did to the Jews in Exodus. God's chosen people did not have "slaves". These were indentured servants who worked for them to have their debts paid off, etc.. Many of them chose to remain indebted. They were not whipped or abused or killed like the slavery of the 1800's American slavery or what Egypt did to God's chosen people in the book of Exodus. Do not be fooled or tricked.
Thanks to this gentleman on twitter, he has another verse that proves this.
14 For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:
16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.
17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
The Rod and Staff of exodus 20
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