Slavery

[imhereforyou]

I saw someone say they're 'a slave to christ'.
The term slave/slavery has a negative connotation to most of us so it seemed odd to use the term in such a manner.
I get the meaning as it was used but I wonder how beneficial/positive it is to use such a word (or any other word) that has such a negative history in a way that is meant to be positive.

We all know words and their usage changes over time and even between cultures in current times, but as a teacher once told me "words have meanings - mean what you say and say what you mean."

Does society do this (use a word/term/phase that's know to be negative in a opposite manner) with any other belief system or is it unique within Christianity? Can you think of examples?
Is it healthy to do such a thing? Does, in this instance, using such a negative word/phrase/term in such a manner dilute, or take away the historical impact, word/phrase/term? Or does it make a positive meaning less positive?
Or should we be more loose with words and their meanings?

[TSGracchus]

If the Bible is supposed to be some sort of primer, we already know how to "See Dick run." it is time to move on to a larger library. If there is a "Word of God" surely it is not written in a book, but in the stars, the stones and the stuff of life.
In short, science is the only true theology, and mathematics is the only language in which it can be expressed, because mathematics can be proven and tested.

[JehovahsWitness]

If there is a "Word of God" surely it is not written in a book, but in the stars, the stones and the stuff of life.

While creation can be viewed as a source of information about the character of the Creator how can a star or a stone give us specific information such as

• - what is your name?
  - why do we die?
  - is there life after death?
  - why do you allow suffering?
  - what is the purpose in life?
  - why are we here?

So, studying nature has its limits. Science can tell us "how", it cannot tell us "why".



JEHOVAH'S WITNESS



FURTHER READING: Science, Religion, and the Search for Truth
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1994641#h=1


RELATED POSTS

Does the bible speak about scientific topics?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 58#p880658

To learn more please go to other posts related to...

EVOLUTION, THE BIBLE & SCIENCE and ...THE 7 CREATIVE DAYS OF GENESIS

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[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 126 by Danmark]

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime....
Under Mosaic law, no crime is necessary. It is enough that your father was a slave.

This is provided as if slavery is a bad thing; it isn't.

Any institution which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad thing. (Exodus 21.20-21)

[JehovahsWitness]

Any institution which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad thing. (Exodus 21.20-21)

If that is true, would it be fair to say :

Any GOD which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad GOD?


JW

[Elijah John]

Any institution which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad thing. (Exodus 21.20-21)

If that is true, would it be fair to say :

Any GOD which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad GOD?


JW

The statement that I made and that you quote is an indictment of the notion that the Bible is perfect, not an indictment of God.

God did not found the institution of slavery, primitive humans did. God liberates, as in Exodus, humans sometimes enslave other humans. Ironically, Moses, by codifying slavery into Law, condones and allows for the institution, and attributes his primitive and barbaric bias to something ordained by God.

[TSGracchus]

[Replying to post 132 by JehovahsWitness]

JehovahsWitness: "While creation can be viewed as a source of information about the character of the Creator how can a star or a stone give us specific information such as
- what is your name?"

If you don't know your own name, Mr. Witness, you probably shouldn't be discussing theology.

JehovahsWitness: "why do we die?

Well, there are biochemical and physical reasons, but as far as teleology goes, I could point out that if there weren't a mechanism to clear out those with ossified brains there would never be any progress.

JehovahsWitness: "is there life after death?

Life is a chemical process. When the chemistry stops, you're dead. Your synapses stop releasing and taking up neurotransmitters, so you have no thought. If you die, you're dead. That's kind of the definition.

JehovahsWitness: "why do you allow suffering?

I don't allow it. It just happens. People are always going to find some reason to complain.

JehovahsWitness: "what is the purpose in life?"

It's 42. I read it in a book. If you don't like math, we are here to eat pizza.

JehovahsWitness: "why are we here?"

You aren't here! You are definitely somewhere else. Everyone has to be somewhere, but I am definitely glad you aren't here. And we exist in order to eat pizza. If you don't like pizza, have some root beer or even some broccoli.

"The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." - Robert Louis Stevenson

Why is it that religious people always seem to be begging and whining for what they don't have, like eternal life, or more money, that they miss out on the precious moment of life that they have?

[polonius]

Any institution which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad thing. (Exodus 21.20-21)

If that is true, would it be fair to say :

Any GOD which allows a human being made in the image of God to be kept as "property" and beaten half-to-death, is an intrinsically bad GOD?


JW

RESPONSE: So there are two possible choices. Either God never said it or he is intrinsically a bad God. Right?

[bluethread]

there is that pesky 'equal protection clause' in the U. S. Constitution

What about that pesky 'penal exception' clause in the 13th Amendment?

Before you mention the Constitution or anything else for that matter, you should read the text. In pertinent part the 13th Amendment reads:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime....
Under Mosaic law, no crime is necessary. It is enough that your father was a slave.

You were talking about the "equal protection clause". The fact that there is an exception shows that if the US Constitution is the standard, even it does not consider slavery to be something than should be absolutely abolished. So, in using the Constitution in support of your position, are you agreeing that there is a form of slavery that is acceptable, i.e. as punishment for a crime? As to other forms, let's take this one thing at a time. First is the question of whether or not slavery in all of it's forms should be abolished.

[Danmark]

there is that pesky 'equal protection clause' in the U. S. Constitution

What about that pesky 'penal exception' clause in the 13th Amendment?

Before you mention the Constitution or anything else for that matter, you should read the text. In pertinent part the 13th Amendment reads:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime....
Under Mosaic law, no crime is necessary. It is enough that your father was a slave.

You were talking about the "equal protection clause". The fact that there is an exception shows that if the US Constitution is the standard, even it does not consider slavery to be something than should be absolutely abolished. So, in using the Constitution in support of your position, are you agreeing that there is a form of slavery that is acceptable, i.e. as punishment for a crime?

Please do not EVER consider the law as a profession. Slavery and 'involuntary servitude' as intended and practiced in the U.S. under the Constitution have almost nothing to do with each other. In prison, inmates work for limited pay. They don't actually have to work, but they get fewer privileges if they don't. But much more importantly, when someone goes to prison and is paid 10 cents an hour, that status is not passed on to his children in perpetuity. Even a prisoner in the U.S. does not become property and retains certain rights.

OTOH, "Adonai" permits people who are not of the 'correct' tribe to become the property of another and that slave's children are born into slavery and are also mere property and not fully human. This represents an execrable 'morality.' This is the same "Adonai" who relegated women to an inferior status, making them mere chattels. Obviously "Adonai" is not a god at all. 'He' represents a corrupt, outmoded, patriarchal system that most of the world has outgrown.

[Danmark]

That's the wonderful thing about Christ. He takes care of each and every penalty within the Mosaic law leaving only the blessings associated with observing the law. It's a win/win.

Wrong. New Testament 'morality' continued with the OT tradition of accepting slavery and the subjugation of women. This is because the culture of the time and the tribe is reflected in their laws and customs. And that is because those 'laws' come from men, not gods.