Human values lost for black people in Christianity and slavery

There is a deeper story than just pictures of a white Jesus. Slaves were punished for preaching Christianity by their slave masters. They believed if a slave converted to Christianity they would have to be set free, and could potentially be equal with their slave masters.
Many critics also claim that the Eurocentric representation of Christ has been used to perpetuate white supremacy and reinforce racist stereotypes that deify whiteness while demonising black individuals. There is on record a great deal of evidence that slave masters did not allow preaching to the slaves so, they could become almost equal to them if they converted to Christianity.

On display now at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. is a special exhibit centred on a rare Bible from the 1800s that was used by British missionaries to convert and educate slaves. Most slaves were illiterate or not allowed from reading, so what would be the point of such a Bible?

One way slaveowners could combat pressure from abolitionists was to tell them they were good law-abiding Christians that taught their slaves about the one true living God. The truth of God’s Word made its way onto the plantations from visiting preachers and educated slaves. God’s Word was also spread through song and dance. When we think about slavery modern minds tend to always think about whips, chains and personal suffering, but Africans endured internal adversity for being made to feel almost less than human.

Christianity conversion was a reclaiming of oneself but not for a black man?

God made ethnicities and different complexions for His glory. When we look at the colour of skin we should marvel at Gods wisdom.

No one complains about the different colours of birds, flowers or animals so why man?

Different races reflect the same artistic expression God uses throughout nature. Different races exist because of adaptations to their environment. It’s a known fact that the slave masters in America tried to keep the slaves illiterate so that way they couldn’t read the Bible for themselves. About 90 per cent of the Old Testament had been removed and 50 per cent of the New Testament had been removed. The chapters missing may have encouraged uprisings. Missing are chapters and verses like in the book of Exodus there is no story of Moses demanding Pharaoh ‘let my people go.’ Gone is Galatians and the verse ‘There is neither bond nor free for we are all one in Jesus Christ.’ No Jeremiah ‘Woe unto him that uses his neighbour’s service without wages.’ What they have left in are verses such as Ephesians 6:5 ‘Slaves be obedient to your master.’

If we study the slave Bible it’s hard to tell if anything has been taken out of it. For many of the African slaves, this would have been the first time they were exposed to the Bible and knew no different. The slave Bible was purposely made to manipulate the Bible to instil obedience using religion to underpin the horror of slavery. The slave Bible was used as a tool to suppress rebellion but it didn’t work. Enslaved people in the Caribbean continent constantly fought against slavery. The Bible does not and has never supported slavery. Ask yourself why did the slave masters take out large chunks of the Bible that went against their narrative?
It’s almost like they were too afraid for black slaves to read the scriptures and realise for themselves that they were being deceived. For centuries, the Bible has been used to spread the message of freedom in Christ. But at some point, it was used for a much more evil darker purpose.

So with this information, we can see that white suppression has had an influence in the colour of Jesus Christ.

The earliest copy of the Slave Bible was published in 1807, which was deliberately reduced to only include parts of 14 books. The account of Joseph’s enslavement, however, remains because the account exemplifies how well-behaved submission is rewarded by God, which was twisted to include slavery for black people.
The Slave Bible was commissioned on behalf of the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves for use by missionaries, with the ultimate goal of introducing them to the message of the gospel. Missionaries had to appease slave owners in the British West-Indies who feared an uprising if black people understood the real truth. This fear was heightened because Haitian slaves overcame their oppressive masters only three years earlier driving out their European oppressors to form a new nation. Missionaries had to respond to the growing abolitionist movement by proving a way to keep the slaves happy, but without any material that could incite rebellion. But proved to be too difficult to completely remove the notion of freedom. woven throughout the scriptures. Oppression of one person by another for personal gain was never part of God’s design for mankind.

God did not create slavery but rather He regulated it. Wilful submission is not the same as slavery. Wives submit to their husbands willingly as they see Christ being mirrored in their spouse.

The husband is the mirror of Christ, and Christ is the mirror of His Father. God is a Father over mankind we are all His sons and daughters, so just like a loving parent, He wants what’s best for what He created. Children can also move away from their parents and separate from the protection and love, learn new ideas that are contrary to their parents and go a different path.

Hell according to the Bible is the separation from God forever from His love, protection and blessings. God gave us two choices to follow Him or you will go to Hell.

According to the modern dictionary, a slave is the legal property of another person and is forced to obey them. The modern notion is people being held against their will and treated as oppressed, degraded objects instead of people like in the American slave trade.

The Hebrew word for slave is “Ebed” which means to work or to serve, or worker and servant.

There is no Hebrew word for slave. This was a relationship based on dependency, not oppression based on cruelty. “Ebed” is a neutral word and was used in many positive situations in the Bible. Hebrew servants or slaves voluntary worked to pay off debt and require land. Foreigners who were not Hebrew volunteered to work for the same reason. Prisoners of other armies were worked harder but were not slaves like we imagine today.
When we take Leviticus 25:44-46 it’s a favourite Bible verse that atheists like to use.

Leviticus 25:44-46
“Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them, you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your (property). You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.”

When we look at the Hebrew perspective there were sojourners and foreigners. A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place. These people came from another land who wanted to find refuge in Israel for whatever reason. They sold themselves into slavery and were not kidnapped against their will, nor was it commanded that they stay for life. Most atheists will weave their modern-day understanding of slavery into this Bible verse. What is meant by the word property?
Property is used in the neutral tense and the person did have rights:

Leviticus 19:33-34
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not (mistreat them). The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your (native-born). (Love) them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites were commanded not to mistreat them, to love them as they love themselves, and to remember they too were foreigners. No sign of the modern concept of slavery here:

Exodus 23:9
“Do not oppress a (foreigner); you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 27:19
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the (foreigner), the fatherless or the widow.”

Servants could not only become rich they could also own other servants, and their labour output was important. Buying and selling in Hebrew does not mean that purchasing a person would then become a slave like in modern thinking. Many servants worked until the Jubilee and were then released back to their homeland after their allotted labour, while others God gave permission to stay if they wanted to in the land. It had nothing to do with race or skin colour. There is no evidence that they were forced or kidnapped against their will to stay in Israel. Another verse taken out of context by atheists and people who say the Bible supports slavery is Exodus 21:20-21

Exodus 21:20-21
“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished (death penalty) if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.”

All this passage is saying within the law if you kill a slave this was punishable by death. To take a life you forfeit your life. If you hurt or kill your slave they didn’t benefit from it. The passage does (not) mean that you can beat your slave as much as you want as long as they don’t die. This applies to Hebrew and non-Hebrew slaves.

If you hurt your slave, they can run away, and the Israelites are commanded to take them in and do them no wrong. Most peoples knowledge of biblical slavery laws comes from a series of selective Google searches.

The Bible actually contains several different genres of writings. Some are historical and others are not. Some are descriptive and others are prescriptive. Israel was to become a nation through which the world would be blessed through Christ. The law is not how we think about law codes today. God was trying to separate Israel apart from the heathen nations around them. The pagans around them would cut shapes into their hair or cut marks into their skin in honour of the pagan gods. Today we cut our hair, for hygiene reasons and trim the beard, but principles of being holy still apply so cutting the skin or tattoos is still wrong and unclean.

If you are a Christian with tattoos ask yourself would Jesus have them?

The answer is a categorical no. These laws were not designed to cover every wrongdoing you could think of, that’s why we have morals, a conscience and a God to point us in the right direction. Not mentioning something in the Bible does not mean it should be supported today. The moral law of God is binding forever.

So why was slavery needed in biblical culture?

There were not the jobs like we have today. If you weren’t a farmer producing crops to eat and sell how were they supposed to survive, pay debts and provide for the family?

The option was to go live with someone else and have them provide for you while working and paying off your debt. Slavery was needed in biblical society in order for it to continue on, that’s why God regulated it rather than abolished it at the time. If we take the army today people join voluntary, forfeit certain rights and freedoms, signing over themselves to become forces property for security, travel, labour and pay:

Numbers 31:17-18
“Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

Numbers 31:17-18 is another passage taken out of context by atheists and people who believe the Bible endorses slavery. This passage does not mention taking women and raping them, yet many minds think that way. The children of Moab comprised a smaller tribe within the larger federation of tribes referred to as Midianites, or simply Midian. Earlier in the book of Numbers, we learn that the Israelites “began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab” (25:1). Moreover, the Israelites attended the sacrifices of the Moabites, they ate among the Moabites (perhaps partaking of foods God had declared unclean), and they bowed down to the Moabites’ gods, including Baal (25:2,3).

God judged Israel for her harlotry, both spiritual and literal, with a plague in which 24,000 Israelites died (25:9). The woman also cursed Gods people. This was the concept of infiltrating Israel with pagan worship for ritual sex and violating the purity law. This is why it was ok to keep the virgins alive, but not the other people who engaged in the ritual sex and pagan worship. Within the purity laws rape was not an option but marrying them was permitted as wives nor slaves. The woman in this culture needed men to survive. That’s why widows, the fatherless and the foreigner were taken care of. In the King James Bible, the word slave only appears once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. The death penalty under Jewish law was given for not only one who kidnaps a man but for one who is caught with a kidnapped man. You can’t pass the blame here this was a super strict restriction. In battle if you were at war with a faction, those attackers would want to kill you, your family and prob rape your wives.

So what happens with those that were still alive?

Kill them, let them go free, or you allow them to come and work for you as a servant showing them mercy. Prisoners of war are obviously going to have more restrictions so as not to cause an uprising under close supervision.
Even with prisoners who became servants, Israel was commanded to love them as themselves.

If we take this model today and a foreign army attacks our hometown then what would we do?

We kill them defending our territory, possessions and loved ones. Captured aggressors are put into prisons, and many might face the death penalty if it applies to the countries law. They become prisoners of the state, not slaves, even though some more draconian states might adopt this policy.