Were any American slaveholders Christians?

[McCulloch]

Some will say, “You can’t judge people in the 1860s by today’s moral standard.� My response is: They’re not being judged by today’s moral standard; they’re being judged by Jesus’ moral standard.

If a slave-owner in 1860 read the Bible and became a Christian, he should have told his slaves, “Your family was kidnapped from your homeland. I cannot be right in God’s sight if I detain you against your will. Furthermore, I would not want to be enslaved and I must treat you the way I would wish to be treated. But if you choose to stay and work alongside me and my family, you will be family to us. We will love, serve, and provide for you as if you were our own flesh and blood.�

Perhaps some slave owners in America did something similar to that. But, sadly, most did not.

There is nothing we can do to change the past. But we can be opposed to the mistreatment of people in the present. We can truly love our neighbor as ourself. We can help break the cycle of violence, hatred, and strife that has plagued our world ever since the beginning. We can be Jesus’ covenant people; a people of love.

Were any American slaveholders Christians?

[JP Cusick]

Some will say, “You can’t judge people in the 1860s by today’s moral standard.� My response is: They’re not being judged by today’s moral standard; they’re being judged by Jesus’ moral standard.

If a slave-owner in 1860 read the Bible and became a Christian, he should have told his slaves, “Your family was kidnapped from your homeland. I cannot be right in God’s sight if I detain you against your will. Furthermore, I would not want to be enslaved and I must treat you the way I would wish to be treated. But if you choose to stay and work alongside me and my family, you will be family to us. We will love, serve, and provide for you as if you were our own flesh and blood.�

Perhaps some slave owners in America did something similar to that. But, sadly, most did not.

There is nothing we can do to change the past. But we can be opposed to the mistreatment of people in the present. We can truly love our neighbor as ourself. We can help break the cycle of violence, hatred, and strife that has plagued our world ever since the beginning. We can be Jesus’ covenant people; a people of love.

Were any American slaveholders Christians?

We clearly know that they claimed to be Christian, and many were by most measures = devout Christians.

To create or to enforce a proper definition of a true Christian has never happened in all of its history.

My view and my answer is that there is a huge difference between belief and action and so many people are Christians by belief alone without having very much action attached to their belief.

What is truly required is for a person to see their self as a sinner, see our self as wrong and freely admit our defect, and then actively repent and make amends in our own life which is thereby putting our Christian beliefs into action.

To believe in Christ is outside of our self, while seeing our self as the sinner is to go inside of our self.

Most people just ignore or twist the true message of the Gospel which was to repent, because "to repent" is the activity part of belief.

See Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Christian churches will teach that a person must first believe and get baptized and then the repentance is either done or just begun, which is putting the action behind the belief where it does not belong.

I see the same of slavery as with eating animals because the people do not see nor stop the violence and brutality of eating animals and yet they call their self as Christian, so they have belief without love or mercy or justice = thereby belief without action.

[onewithhim]

Some will say, “You can’t judge people in the 1860s by today’s moral standard.� My response is: They’re not being judged by today’s moral standard; they’re being judged by Jesus’ moral standard.

If a slave-owner in 1860 read the Bible and became a Christian, he should have told his slaves, “Your family was kidnapped from your homeland. I cannot be right in God’s sight if I detain you against your will. Furthermore, I would not want to be enslaved and I must treat you the way I would wish to be treated. But if you choose to stay and work alongside me and my family, you will be family to us. We will love, serve, and provide for you as if you were our own flesh and blood.�

Perhaps some slave owners in America did something similar to that. But, sadly, most did not.

There is nothing we can do to change the past. But we can be opposed to the mistreatment of people in the present. We can truly love our neighbor as ourself. We can help break the cycle of violence, hatred, and strife that has plagued our world ever since the beginning. We can be Jesus’ covenant people; a people of love.

Were any American slaveholders Christians?

The Bible does not condone any kind of slave-holding such as our planet's history has given evidence of. The brutal, inhumane dealings with human beings like what African-American and Native American people, and others, experienced are not accepted by God. Any man who called himself a Christian would not have held anyone else against their wills. Thomas Jefferson, for example, was a fraud. He held captive slaves and treated them like animals. So, no, American slaveholders were not Christians. They were all concerned with making money and keeping their political positions along with their fine homes.

[bluethread]

Yes, many antebellum slave holders were Christian's. In fact, it was the Catholic and Anglican nations that took advantage of the practice of slavery existing in Africa at the time of the explorers to set up the transatlantic slave trade. However, the Quakers and other covenant based Sola Scriptura protestants did not engage in the practice, because it did not comply with the statutes in HaTorah. However, they did engage in indentured servitude, which does comply with those statutes.

[Wootah]

Of course. Actually many of the slaves were brought to a saving grace by their slave owners. Those slave owning Christians will be held to account for that just like we will be held to account for our sins.

That would be God making good from bad and not a justification for slavery.

Similarly it's probable that more people are saved in war time when the end of one's life is visible to them than in peacetime.

I think it is wise that we do not say we don't want to be slaves but that we try to find a good master.

Edit: There will also be many who did not take care of the people they should have and be judged for that. They will say but they were not mine to take care of. And had those people been slaves then the person would have cared better for them.

Edit 2: For instance a person might look after a car or their home in a manner that they would not for a stranger. Perhaps if the stranger were their slave the person would value them more.

[otseng]

Some will say, “You can’t judge people in the 1860s by today’s moral standard.� My response is: They’re not being judged by today’s moral standard; they’re being judged by Jesus’ moral standard.

Nice article. I think it gives a good Christian response to the issue of slavery.

First of all, slavery in the United States was originally built upon slave-traders kidnapping Africans and selling them. This practice carried the death penalty under God’s civil law; not only for the kidnapper, but also for anyone found in possession of the kidnapped person (Exodus 21:16).

Second, the slavery practiced in the United States was founded on the deplorable idea of racial superiority. When the Southern States seceded, the Vice President of the Confederacy boasted, “Our new government is founded upon…the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.� This idea is irreconcilable with the biblical truth that all people are family in Adam, are image-bearers of God, and should be treated with love and kindness.

Finally, the type of cruelty, injustice and inhumanity that accompanied American slavery was condemned in the Old Testament, but was especially condemned under the new covenant of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, I would argue that Americans who failed to genuinely love and serve their African American neighbors were not Christians. The New Testament clearly teaches, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love� (1 John 4:8).

A point to note is that the Bible does not condemn slavery, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament. So, it's Biblically consistent to be a Christian and be a slave-holder.

But, the Bible gives clear guidelines on how to treat others (including slaves).

Treat them as he would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).
Love them as he loves himself (Matthew 22:39).
In humility, consider them more significant than he considers himself (Philippians 2:3).
Truly look out for their interests (Philippians 2:4).
Rather than threaten them, serve them out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 6:9).

McAdams gives his opinion on how the slaves should have been treated:

If a slave-owner in 1860 read the Bible and became a Christian, he should have told his slaves, “Your family was kidnapped from your homeland. I cannot be right in God’s sight if I detain you against your will. Furthermore, I would not want to be enslaved and I must treat you the way I would wish to be treated. But if you choose to stay and work alongside me and my family, you will be family to us. We will love, serve, and provide for you as if you were our own flesh and blood.�

[Elijah John]

Isn't it ironic that the God who liberated His people from slavery, would go ahead and condone slavery for others.

Is it God, or was it the writers of the Bible who had problems with consistency?

[JP Cusick]

Isn't it ironic that the God who liberated His people from slavery, would go ahead and condone slavery for others.

Is it God, or was it the writers of the Bible who had problems with consistency?

I just can not see why people must blame God for what people do.

And the Bible word for slavery is not the same as the racist American slavery of the African people.

Look at the jails and prisons in the USA having millions of people in cages (men, women, children, mentally ill, very old, questionable guilt) and does this mean that God is condoning the jails and prisons of today?

Does massive incarceration mean that God is inconsistent? does it mean that God approves of jail and prison?

Does it mean that we are not being Christian if we agree with locking human being into cages? and treat then as animals?

I myself see the NFL Football as more damaging to the people's character than it is to put them into prison.

The thing about the NFL football is that it keeps the ignorant barbarians occupied so they will not be out doing worse things.

So too when we are dealing with any form of ignorant barbarian then to put them into forced labor (the slavery) then it too keeps them from going out to do much worse.

In this life and beyond God does bless those who do right, and those who do wrong live a harder life, and that is a consistency ordained by our Father God.

[onewithhim]

Isn't it ironic that the God who liberated His people from slavery, would go ahead and condone slavery for others.

Is it God, or was it the writers of the Bible who had problems with consistency?

Neither one. If you really looked at what Jehovah said about "slavery" you would see the difference between that and what mankind has done to use other men for their own gains.

I'm going to research it more, but for the time being here is an article that helps us see what Jehovah's view of slavery is:

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/maga ... _index]=14

[Wootah]

Isn't it ironic that the God who liberated His people from slavery, would go ahead and condone slavery for others.

Is it God, or was it the writers of the Bible who had problems with consistency?

I disagree with others that the Bible condones slavery. Laws regarding X do not imply condoning X.

However your remarks and nearly all knee jerk antislavery remarks just feel like they deny reality and the bible shouldn't be denying reality and if expect it to then perhaps we are in error?