Body as the temple of the HS

[nobspeople]

[JehovahsWitness]

Practice slavery

Leviticus 25:44-46
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

The practice of slavery is not necessarily wrong. Mistreatment abuse of any person, slave or freeman, is contrary to bible law and principle but the two do not have to be synonymous. This certainly was the case under the Mosaic law.




OBJECTION #1: BUT WHY DID THE LAW AUTHORISE THE OWNING OF FOREIGN SLAVES IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Because it was an acceptable part of the culture at the time and ostensively added to the wealth and productivity of the nation. The slave bought as such from a foreign nation was already in servitude but would arguably enjoy greater protections and rights with the nation of Israel than with any of the neighbour nations at the time. The slaves obtained through the conquest of the promised land were spared their lives which was an act of mercy and female slaves obtained through war had the prospect of obtaining their freedom through marriage rights. NOTE: Under the Hebrew system nobody was kept in chains, confined or could be denied basic rights over their person; the foreign slaves married, had children and came under the protection of the patriarch.

OBJECTION #2 : WHY WAS A FOREIGN SLAVE NOT BE REPURCHASED OR FREED AFTER 7 YEARS LIKE A HEBREW?

If he or she was bought as a slave or was captured through war he had nobody to repurchass him. Sending him away would not have been a kindness as he would have been without resource or income. In Israel all land was to be kept as a family inheritance, it could not even be sold to another Israelite if he was from a different tribe. This protected even the poorest Hebrew from absolute destitution and protected the integrity of the nation as a whole from takeover by economic invasion. It also however meant that if you were not part of a native household you had no sure source of income. Any slave could request his freedom or take his chances by running away to another nation (it would have been illegal to bring him back beat or maim him as punishment and keep him by force in "chattle slavery") but the reality was that would have been like quitting your job without any prosepcts of another.

CONCLUSION : Slavery to another human is never the ideal but under the Hebrew system it was a protection against poverty for the native and afforded the foreigner a dignified existence with positive prospects.

FURTHER READING Does the Bible Condone Slavery?
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011251

Personal BLOG
https://fosterheologicalreflections.blo ... world.html

RELATED POSTS

What did being a man's "property" mean to the ancient Hebrews?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 01#p814401

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

SLAVERY, CHILD ABUSE and ...THE MOSAIC LAW

[Tcg]

CONCLUSION : Slavery to another human is never the ideal but under the Hebrew system it was a protection against poverty for the native and afforded the foreigner a dignified existence with positive prospects.

Odd that the bible doesn't mention any of that. The so-called "positive prospects" were life long slavery which included being passed down as property. The bible does include that. It's almost as if this a story added to the bible to justify the favoritism/racism the Israelites practiced in the name of their tribal war god.


Tcg

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

...
Who gave God the permission to use my body for his spirit?

Theists.

Why did I not have a choice in that decision (I've seen no passage speaking of this decision on my part)?

Cause you didn't show up when the bible got writ.

How far do we take the 'your body is a temple' thing?
...

Far enough to get the pretty thing stripped down so I can worship me at her temple.

I find the 'you are not your own' equally disconcerting, as worded (queue the 'original text' moguls, of course). If I'm 'not my own' then why do I have free will over and (more) control (than anyone else) of my body?

Cause religious belief doesn't need to make sense, it just needs to placate the masses.

A price I don't recall asking for. Further, many believers would say 'it's a gift, freely given', why, now, am I expected to see it as a price? A gift indicates something given for your benefit, which you're free to accept or not, no harm if not. A price indicates its value, of which you're response. Is it a gift or a price?

"Here, I bought you a car, but you gotta buy the gas".

When ya might notta even wanted a car.

[Miles]

Practice slavery

Leviticus 25:44-46
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

The practice of slavery is not necessarily wrong.

Lacking intellectual insight, statements such as this don't deserve a considered reply.

Have a good day.


.

[nobspeople]

[Replying to JehovahsWitness in post #4]

What makes you think the writer was speaking to YOU?

To whom do you think the writer's speaking to here?

[1213]

[nobspeople]

[1213]

[tam]

[Paul of Tarsus]