Does the Bible Condone Slavery? (Video)

Thanks for the podcast. This whole argument about the Bible and slavery is an example of how history was changed. Notice in conversations with Jesus in the Gospel, slave holders, like the Roman Centurion, used the word “servant”, not slave when referring to domestic help. When we think of a “servant” and a “slave”, we conclude that the servant is voluntary help and that slave is not. In Jesus’ time, voluntary servitude, a condition we would call slavery, was quite common. What is not really known in modern times is that in the Roman Empire, voluntary servitude (“slavery”) was not a permanent condition. Typical contracts were 10 years, at which time the slave holder had to free the slave or provide a way out of this condition, something that was not true in the American South. Sometimes, if the slave was fortunate enough to be in the service of an important Roman official, the slave was granted Roman citizenship upon manumission, something coveted but very hard to get for all but the most well off (yes, bribery was frequently involved). However, once granted, you could not lose it, except for conviction of state crimes.