The “Slave Bible” on display at Washington’s Museum of the Bible has a mere 232 chapters, showing how whole chapters were removed to instill obedience, prevent rebellions and promote the horror of slavery.
Why should we think that this is the only time that the bible has been edited for political purposes? Did their god have a change of mind in 1860, or in 1865 or should we return to the idea that he is still omniscient and omnipotent?
If the Bible promotes slavery then how can Chjritnaity claim to be a system of morality when they are also willing to defend slavery
This passage is still in the Bible, so maybe their god still defends the ownership of people.
Ephesians 6:5-9
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,
8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Because according to some Christians, God is the arbiter of morality. Therefore, if God is OK with something, then it's moral. Neither god or the bible prohibits or condemns slavery. The logic pretzeling they go through to justify or excuse their God is also mind boggling.
First of all , thatwas not an endorsement of slavery. We as believers are called to live in trust to God no matter what condition or status we are in.
Secondly, the word is more accurately translated as bond servant or servant , one who willingly sells themselves into a household out of poverty
Greek doulas: from deo, "to bind," "a slave," originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude, came also to mean "one who gives himself up to the will of another," e.g., 1Cr 7:23; Rom 6:17, 20, and became the most common and general word for "servant," as in Mat 8:9, without any idea of bondage. In calling himself, however, a "bondslave of Jesus Christ," e.g., Rom 1:1, the Apostle Paul intimates
Thirdly Paul makes it clear that servants should get free if they are given the opportunity and that no matter our human condition, in Christ we are free.
"Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." -1 Corinthians 7:21
It was racism, pure and simple. Appear to be helpful, even teaching the African slaves to read a perverse version of the Bible, sans Exodus, lest they get any idea
that the Abrahamic deity approve of liberty,
It was originally published in London in 1807 on behalf of the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of enslaved Africans toiling in Britain’s lucrative Caribbean colonies. They used the Slave Bible to teach enslaved Africans how to read while at the same time introducing them to the Christian faith. Unlike other missionary Bibles, however, the Slave Bible contained only “select parts” of the biblical text. Its publishers deliberately removed portions of the biblical text, such as the exodus story, that could inspire hope for liberation. Instead, the publishers emphasized portions that justified and fortified the system of slavery that was so vital to the British Empire.
The message of Jesus is the message of Liberty for EVERYONE
““TheSpirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Meto heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, Toset at liberty those who areoppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture isfulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:18-21
“You have now become a new person and are always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One Who made you. There is no difference in men in this new life. Greeks and Jews are the same. The man who has gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew and the one who has not are the same. There is no difference between nations. Men who are servants and those who are free are the same. Christ is everything. He is in all of us.”
God ordered liberty to all, the end of slavery within Israel, to those who call Him their God, but they disobeyed 561 BC
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman— that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, “At the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Then you turned around and profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord — ‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army which has gone back from you. Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”
LFOD, I fear you and others are talking pass each other. I have voted up two of your comments. Let me be clear, however, that in agreeing with your conclusions , it does not mean that is some relevant (or irrelevant as the case may be) information you are leaving out (and others are striving with you to bring in).
I pray all of us could do the hard work of getting on or near the same page, for the good of the whole discussion.
The great Rabbinical Scholar Maimonides(considered by most as the Greatest Rabbinical Scholar in the history of Judaism) addressed this issue at length and concluded with the admonition and direction from the Lord
“Maimonides’ Guide offers a complementary explanation of what it means to be human that works in tandem with the legal case he builds about slavery in the Mishneh Torah. According to Maimonides any differences between individual members of a species are accidental, attributable only to the fickle nature of matter, or their physical constituents, since
“[T]here in no way exists a relation of superiority and inferiority between individuals conforming to the course of nature except that which follows necessarily from the differences in the disposition of the various kinds of matter…”[12]
For Maimonides, material success or physical prowess do not in any way indicate superiority over others since they are simply arbitrary consequences of the natural world that do not constitute an “increment in substance.”[13] He then cites, among other verses, the same verse he uses to end the halakha about non-Jewish slaves, Ps. 145:9, to substantiate the principle of divine “beneficence with regard to His creatures…in that He makes individuals of the same species equal at their creation.”[14]
“Conclusion: Slavery Is Contra Deum Ps. 145:9 then delivers the philosophical and theological coup de grace to slavery. If God’s “beneficence” is manifest in the equality inherent in human beings “at their creation,” then to exert mastery over another human being subverts God’s governance and constitutes an act contra deum rather than imitatio dei.”
God ordered liberty to all, the end of slavery within Israel, to those who call Him their God, but they disobeyed 561 BC
Do you have any empirical proof that God did it or was this just an attempt by man to put force behind his own beliefs by claiming that he was acting under the commands of a supernatural deity?
How can you claim that your god ordered liberty for all when he created sin and then harsh punishments for it? Your god could have created people that didn't sin but he didn't. That doesn't sound like freedom. Your god has raised gaslighting to an art form and most people are too ignorant to see it.
We severely punish companies that create inferior products and then try to blame the consumer when the product is faulty. We call them consumer protection and lemon laws. Your god has built three religions out of it and then his followers try to claim that he is loving.
No one who actually is born again and is a true disciple of Jesus can condone or approve of slavery. It runs counter to every teaching He ever brought
Jesus also told his followers not to judge others, that they are to be their brother's keeper and to love others as they do themselves. Why is it that is supposedly most devout followers ignore this core message? The Sermon On The Mount is arguably the most famous teaching of Jesus but it might as well be in an untranslatable language for religious conservatives because they consistently ignore it. From my perspective, these people are not Christians but bigots who merely use the bible to defend their hatred and ignorance because they can hide their intolerance behind the religious freedoms that we enjoy.
The Bible was used to support slavery and racism, and it is still used to defend unequal treatment for women and LGBT.
Christian conservatives in the US have a blind spot the size of Texas when it comes to this passage, despite their love of Leviticus when LGBT rights are mentioned.
"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Chapter 18 verse 22 [1]
"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." Chapter 20 verse 13
Why do they ignore this passage?
Leviticus 19:33-34 New International Version (NIV)
33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 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.
Because God came and appeared to mankind in the person of Jesus. He affirmed the Old Covenant scriptures.
God has nothing to do with Islam which was created by the devil to destroy both Christians and Jews and conquer, murder, rape, and enslave in the name of their moon “god”.
Christianity is not a different religion from Judaism. It is the completion of the desire of God to reconcile mankind to Himself begun with Judaism. Jesus and the Apostles taught this clearly
Because God came and appeared to mankind in the person of Jesus. He affirmed the Old Covenant scriptures.
This is a religious belief that is not supported by facts.
God has nothing to do with Islam which was created by the devil to destroy both Christians and Jews and conquer, murder, rape, and enslave in the name of their moon “god”.
Islam is the offshoot of Christianity just as Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism. Do you not understand why these 3 religions are known as the Abrahamic religions? The Koran shares much of the Bible. Jesus is an Islamic prophet.
Who is Jesus in Islam?
In Islam, Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, is one of the five greatest messengers of God who are collectively known as the ‘Ul al-Azm or the Possessors of Steadfastness. Jesus is also a real person who lived in Roman Judea in the first century of the Common Era. Muslims share with Christians most of the basic outlines of Jesus’ story, though there are certainly differences. In Islam, as well as in Christianity, Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary and was without a father. But for Muslims, Jesus is neither God nor the Son of God.
Like all messengers of God in Islam, Jesus came to his people with a message. Jesus’ message is called the Injil, or the gospel. As in the Christian tradition, he is a miracle worker and a healer. He gave sight to the blind and brought the dead back to life. The Qur’an has additional miracles ascribed to Jesus. For example, Jesus speaks from his cradle and makes a bird out of clay and breathes into it to turn it into a real bird.
1 the Mathew 7 passage doesn’t forbid judging, it says not to judge by our own standards, but by God’s. Ateaching He repeated as in John 7:24 He commanded that we judge with righteous judgment
”Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
2 brothers keeper is not taught by Jesus. It was a complaint by Cain to God after he killed his brother Abel and was confronted by God
3 I’ve never met a Christian who actually follows and obeys Jesus who ignores the sermon on the mount. In fact it is non believers who most often ignore much of the teaching in it. Like “your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees to enter the kingdom of heaven” or “depart from me you who practice lawlessness”.
4. Anyone who condones or practices racism or slavery is not a Christian by the standards established by Jesus and the Apostles
5 as I’ve shown you many times from the Bible, the laws of Moses don’t apply to Christians. Any Christian who claims that is not obeying and following Jesus and both His teaching and that of the Apostles.
6. Christians are indeed to show the love and kindness of God towards the stranger. But that doesn’t separate that we also are called to uphold laws. You can do both as in show compassion and care for immediate needs and still deport people for being lawless and disrespecting our sovereignty
You are severely ignorant of the beliefs of Islam.
I've already pointed out to you that Christianity in the words of Jesus and the Apostles is the fulfillment of Judaism, not an offshoot.
Secondly, Islam is first and foremost a political ideology who's primary directive is to conquer all nations through war, to kill, enslave and rape as they please to accomplish this.
It is diametrically opposed to the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity.
It denies the history and the facts of both. It reverses Judaism and claims Abraham took Ishmael, not Issac upon the mountain for sacrifice. It calls the Jews "pigs and monkeys" and that Muslims are commanded to kill Jews wherever they find them. It calls Christians polytheists.
The Jesus of Islam is denied as to who the Bible says He is. He becomes just another murderer like Mohammad.
Jesus performed no miracles until after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at the baptism by John the Baptist. This was purposeful and planned so that all of His ministry was an example for believers to follow.
Furthermore, there are no commandments for Jews or Christians to conquer all nations and create a worldwide theocracy as the Quran does.
God is a God of revelation (revealing Himself and His plans as He desires). He did prohibit slavery in 561 BC to the prophet Jeremiah. He took mankind progressively into a greater knowledge of Himself and what He desires for us. That come to fulfillment through Jesus who proclaimed the message of liberty for all.
6. Christians are indeed to show the love and kindness of God towards the stranger. But that doesn’t separate that we also are called to uphold laws. You can do both as in show compassion and care for immediate needs and still deport people for being lawless and disrespecting our sovereignty
Did Moses get passports and visas before his tribe went to Egypt? Did the three wise men have passports and visas?
Furthermore, there are no commandments for Jews or Christians to conquer all nations and create a worldwide theocracy as the Quran does.
Where does the Koran say this?
Do you not see that Revelations and the idea of rapture as being violent toward others. Do you see how the Great Commission teaching is interpreted by people of other faiths and how it has been used to harm non-Christian people?
Did you forget Deuteronomy 6?
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known,7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other),8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them.9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people.10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.
Brilliant. They for sure didn't have a map app...you'd think in forty years wandering they would have found the promised land, if only by accident.
You would think that he would ask a trader for directions, but being a typical guy he was too bullheaded to do so. "He knew where he was going.............."
Luke 16:18 has no mention nor should it to the 10 commandments. I didn't say that both the Old and New Covenants don't mention divorce. I responded to your erroneous statement that divorce is part of the 10 commandments
Mark 2:12 is completely unrelated. It is the healing of the paralytic so don't know what you meant
Qur’an:9:5 - “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”
Qur’an:9:112 “The Believers fight in Allah’s Cause, they slay and are slain, kill and are killed.”
Qur’an:9:29 “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.”
Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.”
Qur’an:8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”
Ishaq:587 “Our onslaught will not be a weak faltering affair. We shall fight as long as we live. We will fight until you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge. We will fight not caring whom we meet. We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains. We have mutilated every opponent. We have driven them violently before us at the command of Allah and Islam. We will fight until our religion is established. And we will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace.”
Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight wi the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him. Sahih Bukhari 4:52:176
Sounds more like delusion. It's essentially seeing what one wants to see, or feel. It's nothing more than appealing to a psychological and/or emotional need.
1. How is removing Christians from the world considered violence towards others? The entire book of Revelation is not about Christians conquering nations, but leading toward the attempt of the antichrist to rule the world
2. The great commission has NOTHING to do with conquering or establishing nations. It’s share the message of God’s love and hope through Jesus to all who hear Him and respond willing to Him to accept His love and kingdom which is not of this world.
anyone who harms others in fulfilling the great commission is actually disobeying Jesus
3 the last one which is directed specifically to Jews again has nothing to do with conquering the world. It’s about internal punishment among the Jews
1. How is removing Christians from the world considered violence towards others? The entire book of Revelation is not about Christians conquering nations, but leading toward the attempt of the antichrist to rule the world
This doesn't sound like an all-inclusive vacation that I want to take part in.
Revelation 21:8King James Version (KJV)
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The teaching of the Great Commission by Jesus to his 12 disciples has been misused by conservative Christians to force people of other religions to convert and as to legislate Christian belief so that others are forced to obey the teachings of their god.
Gordy @ 1.1.1 - Because according to some Christians, God is the arbiter of morality. Therefore, if God is OK with something, then it's moral. Neither god or the bible prohibits or condemns slavery. The logic pretzeling they go through to justify or excuse their God is also mind boggling.
Simply untrue? Gordy stated that some Christians (I would say a super majority of Christians) hold God as the arbiter of morality. You consider that untrue?? If God is OK with something (as Gordy states) does that make it moral? In the Christian view, morality is whatever God says it is.
Further, Gordy notes that the Bible does not prohibit or condemn slavery. He is speaking in general. You put forth Jeremiah 34 as an argument that God prohibits or condemns slavery. But that was a very special case - the treatment of Hebrew slaves. (Cherry-picking by you.) God is perfectly cool with Hebrews owning non-Hebrew slaves. Further, if the Hebrew slave wants to stay with his family he must pledge his life to slavery. God is cool with that too.
So your passage from Jeremiah does not show God condemning slavery (just special dispensation for Hebrews). Indeed, there is no passage in the Bible (OT or NT) where God condemns as immoral the practice of owning human beings as property in general even though throughout the time of the Bible slavery was widespread (everywhere). Worse, instead of condemning slavery, God made rules for proper enslavement such as this:
Exodus 21:20-21 20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property .
What took place during the 16th century Protestant Reformation? Catholics and Protestants killing each other in the most brutal fashion (burned at the stake, hanged-drawn-quartered, etc.) simply because of differences in how one interprets the Bible.
Both Christianity and Islam have a history of the worst kind of brutality inflicted on fellow human beings simply because of a difference in beliefs. Beliefs, by the way, that have zero supporting evidence - based strictly on stories told by ancient men.
You make a good point. I've heard it said a number of times there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history, depending on how you define it.
The so-called, "slave bible" probably did not work because it was not rooted in truth. That is, it could not feed the spirit of people. As the announcer stated, "It did not work." Why? Most likely because you can not hide truth in plain sight from people 'forever.' People with either see "the game" up front or reason it 'played' a far off!
Typically, the (white) British missionaries underestimated the intelligence of the (black) Africans. While they recognized that the captives could be taught to read and speak English, they simply did not see them as equals intellectually and thought the the slaves would not notice the parts of the Bible that had been omitted.
To be a missionary is to aspire to doing a good work. However, as we can see even in today's complex and modern (for sure) world, doing good can get one or a group in all shadesof troubles and cross-purposes. Political forces in any era have been known to twist methods and ideas meant for good into unrecognizable 'pretzel-like' matrices!
Were the missionaries intending to do harm to black Africans in and of itself to establish a station for them in England, or was it all they could politically do to get considering the state of mind of their fellows with power and influence over the hearts and minds of the nation? Inquiring minds; revisionist history (on both sides); truths lost.
I simply don't know.
What I have read and over time became incredulous about (though I do understand how the minds in each new generation can be affected, that is, 'grown' to be believe a thing) is how actual masters could come to believe black people were incapable of higher-level understanding, when these same masters depended on their slaves to make snap judgments in crises situations and in the rearing of their children. Now then, these were strong (sets of) delusions!
To me this just shows how contradictory the bible is. Much of it condones slavery, saying you can take slaves from other nations and keep them in perpetuity, passing them down as an inheritance to your heirs. Then in other parts it seems to condemn slavery as bad, something that was terrible for the Israelites to suffer through at the hands of the Egyptians or Babylonians. Many who wanted to condone slavery did so using the bible, and still others who wanted to condemn it did the same. In this case you have a physical representation of that biblical divide, where the book itself is edited to push just the parts that condone slavery, only those parts that supported their racist world view, while the rest is discarded. Some here seem to want to do the same only in reverse, basically cutting out the parts that condone slavery by making different excuses for why those parts should no longer apply.
Confusing because it was written by mere mortals, mostly men. Then the men decided how to interpret the human writings to maximize their wealth and power over the masses. Then their followers decide to force their misinterpretations on to the world and act in opposition to the meaning of the original message of love.
Look DP, come up from the pages of the Bible for a moment. Look around you at the mess that is the world today: Since the age of enlightenment, for all its high caliber of critical-thinking, humanity is still faced with a reality of being under the control and weight of problems, contradictions, dilemmas, and paradoxes which are inherent to an inhabited world.
Logic is a societal tool. However, people are much more complicated in reality. It is doubtful humanity will ever 'bend the knee' to a reality where all decisions are 'mechanical' and spiritless.
Slavery was for a time. Similarly, The plan of God was for Israel to become a nation of priest, thinking priests, and not "robotic" priests. We see the outcome of that 'project.' And, so must have God - as the plan holder!
Likewise, the 'forever' plan of God involves all people having opportunity to be spiritual priests and exercising mental liberty to love God in mind, body, and spirit. Yet, God knows the make up of creation. Just as God has created some creatures to be lowly in order, some people will prefer chance existence over a spiritually guided existence. These decisions by humanity can not and are not surprising to God.
There is no contradiction in this. No matter how much humanity strives with a higher calling.
Since the age of enlightenment, for all its high caliber of critical-thinking, humanity is still faced with a reality of being under the control and weight of problems, contradictions, dilemmas, and paradoxes which are inherent to an inhabited world.
For the most part, for all its high caliber of critical-thinking, humanity is still faced with the reality of being under the control of useless religious doctrines and traditions. But despite that fact, science has allowed us to live longer, stay healthier, travel faster, communicate instantly around the globe, explore other planets and continue learning about the wondrous universe we inhabit. And all of that required zero supernatural beings or excusing religious traditions that condone slavery.
"the 'forever' plan of God involves all people having opportunity to be spiritual priests and exercising mental liberty to love God in mind, body, and spirit."
That's a wonderful thought. You just keep right on thinking good thoughts and praying for others while others continue to progress through science. I'll bet science figures out how to slow or stop death all together long before religion saves mankind. Though I'm sure when they do there will be some religion around trying to take credit for it.
I think you misunderstood the direction of my post. It's point is humans are creatures of spirit, fleshly and spiritual.
I am not pitting one against the other. I am only asking you to see the 'human condition' within. Moreover, it is a rather narrow thinking creature which can stand on the shoulders of its predecessors and piss down its legs onto their heads! Religion at its best defines the heart and focuses the mind on matters eternal. To try and define religion only by its horrors in the hands of ignorant, elementary, and evil men and women is a sad obsession some are possessed by, and only the uninitiated have this as a luxury.
Informed people are compelled to realize the many good religion aspects of life, because these are the means to a higher calling among humans.
Your religion and science dichotomy is a false one. Religion and science are not at odds. As has always been the case with people, it is some men and women who are stubborn and hard-hearted who feel a need to 'plant a flag' and foot on the neck of a perceived 'opponent' by turning figurative hills of disagreement into mountain ranges of "struggle" between the two disciplines.
Science is as much a tool as religion. Neither is a thing to be worshiped!
If science discovers an end to death - how is it against God who is an eternally-living Spirit known throughout the ages. The thinking will and should go that knowledge which has always been present in the "genes" of this planet has been exposed to minds and understanding of people who used their collective human spirit to drive its questing about forward to gain what creation has always known it was capable of providing. (There is more in the unseen, than it the seen.)
I fear that people seem to miss the historical context of this story. It's how the bible was modified to keep the slaves subdued, not the actual passages.
I fear that people seem to miss the historical context of this story. It's how the bible was modified to keep the slaves subdued, not the actual passages.
The Bible has been edited many times in the past 1500+ years for various goals, usually political. Up until there time of How many different translations are there and who paid to create those different translations?
Are you aware that it was forbidden for the Bible to be translated into native languages as well as for the bible to be owned by private citizens? This was done so that people could not read/understand it for themselves so they were controlled and dependant on the church as to its meanings? Most people were functionally illiterate and this was for a reason. This preserved the political and social power of the church.
And then, some control over especially old 'products' is necessary and advantageous.
Case in point. I am learning a foreign language at this time and I am reading foreign languages provided by 'translators' on my multi-language movies. What is both interesting and telling is how when (NETFLIX) both verbally voice-over a movie and offer written transcription versions in which, in all fairness, they each deliver the same meaning using different words. From them, one can readily see how languages are interpretative. Where 'play' on words and meaning can come out.
As a Protestant who can appreciate the fine work done by Martin Luther in bringing the Bible 'down' to the level of the people, I can see where freeing the Bible from the control of the universal Church has caused translation problems, dilemmas, and questions to abound throughout the protestant churches, in each era. (The only thing which can say "the Message" is a shortening of time or an end to new language development!)
All the above written, humanity itself is expressive, deliberative, and dynamically using the 'Book' for its proper mission of giving spiritual life to the reader, or diabolically using its potent power to capture hearts and minds for specific and dangerous purposes.
Goodness, I really have to take more time when writing my comments throughout the day! I am usually doing several activities at once and on reread: Wow. Rewrite of 6.1.1 below.
REWRITE 6.1.1:
And then, some control over especially old 'products' is necessary and advantageous.
Case in point. I am learning a foreign language at this time and I am reading foreign languages provided by script 'translators' on my multi-language movies. What is both interesting and telling is when both, voiced-over movies (NETFLIX) and written transcription versions are involved together, in all fairness, the two methods deliver the same meaning using different words. From them, one can readily see how languages are interpretative. One can see how, different words used to convey the same meaning can be exploited positively and negatively.
As a Protestant who can appreciate the fine work done by Martin Luther in bringing the Bible 'down' to the level of regular people. I can see where freeing the Bible from the control of the Universal Catholic Church has caused translation problems, dilemmas, and questions to abound throughout the protestant churches, in each era. The problem of "too many chiefs." (The only thing which can save "the Message" is a shortening of time itself, or an end to new languages development!)
All the above written, nonetheless, humanity itself is expressive, deliberative, and dynamically using the 'Book' for its proper mission of giving spiritual life to the reader, or diabolically using its potent power to capture hearts and minds for specific and dangerous purposes.
It's how the bible was modified to keep the slaves subdued, not the actual passages.
Well, at least part of that conversation is how it could be modified to keep slaves subdued which would require some actual passages left in that supported their subjugation of slaves.
Historical context is what most people miss about everything.
As the prophet spoke: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
The removal of context was exactly what 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 were about. This bible was exactly the same thing as portrayed in those books. Remove that which does not fit the current narrative, and when the narrative changes, write the book again.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
It's history and it's an insight into how written material can be manipulated.
Why should we think that this is the only time that the bible has been edited for political purposes? Did their god have a change of mind in 1860, or in 1865 or should we return to the idea that he is still omniscient and omnipotent?
If the Bible promotes slavery then how can Chjritnaity claim to be a system of morality when they are also willing to defend slavery
This passage is still in the Bible, so maybe their god still defends the ownership of people.
Ephesians 6:5-9
Because according to some Christians, God is the arbiter of morality. Therefore, if God is OK with something, then it's moral. Neither god or the bible prohibits or condemns slavery. The logic pretzeling they go through to justify or excuse their God is also mind boggling.
First of all , that was not an endorsement of slavery. We as believers are called to live in trust to God no matter what condition or status we are in.
Secondly, the word is more accurately translated as bond servant or servant , one who willingly sells themselves into a household out of poverty
Greek doulas: from deo, "to bind," "a slave," originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude, came also to mean "one who gives himself up to the will of another," e.g., 1Cr 7:23; Rom 6:17, 20, and became the most common and general word for "servant," as in Mat 8:9, without any idea of bondage. In calling himself, however, a "bondslave of Jesus Christ," e.g., Rom 1:1, the Apostle Paul intimates
Thirdly Paul makes it clear that servants should get free if they are given the opportunity and that no matter our human condition, in Christ we are free.
"Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." -1 Corinthians 7:21
It was racism, pure and simple. Appear to be helpful, even teaching the African slaves to read a perverse version of the Bible, sans Exodus, lest they get any idea
that the Abrahamic deity approve of liberty,
The message of Jesus is the message of Liberty for EVERYONE
““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:18-21
“You have now become a new person and are always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One Who made you. There is no difference in men in this new life. Greeks and Jews are the same. The man who has gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew and the one who has not are the same. There is no difference between nations. Men who are servants and those who are free are the same. Christ is everything. He is in all of us.”
Colossians 3:10-11
Wrong. Only Israelite slaves were to be given their freedom. Others were property and could be handed down to your children, raped, beaten, etc.
Simply untrue
God ordered liberty to all, the end of slavery within Israel, to those who call Him their God, but they disobeyed 561 BC
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman— that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, “At the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Then you turned around and profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord — ‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army which has gone back from you. Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”
Jeremiah 34:8-22
You are trying to apply the nation of Israel to my post on Christianity which does not apply.
there is a reason why Jesus calls it a NEW Covenant
BTW, Israelites seldom had non Jewish slaves. Far more often they were the slaves of other nations
LFOD, I fear you and others are talking pass each other. I have voted up two of your comments. Let me be clear, however, that in agreeing with your conclusions , it does not mean that is some relevant (or irrelevant as the case may be) information you are leaving out (and others are striving with you to bring in).
I pray all of us could do the hard work of getting on or near the same page, for the good of the whole discussion.
No one who actually is born again and is a true disciple of Jesus can condone or approve of slavery. It runs counter to every teaching He ever brought
The great Rabbinical Scholar Maimonides(considered by most as the Greatest Rabbinical Scholar in the history of Judaism) addressed this issue at length and concluded with the admonition and direction from the Lord
“Maimonides’ Guide offers a complementary explanation of what it means to be human that works in tandem with the legal case he builds about slavery in the Mishneh Torah. According to Maimonides any differences between individual members of a species are accidental, attributable only to the fickle nature of matter, or their physical constituents, since
“[T]here in no way exists a relation of superiority and inferiority between individuals conforming to the course of nature except that which follows necessarily from the differences in the disposition of the various kinds of matter…”[12]
For Maimonides, material success or physical prowess do not in any way indicate superiority over others since they are simply arbitrary consequences of the natural world that do not constitute an “increment in substance.”[13] He then cites, among other verses, the same verse he uses to end the halakha about non-Jewish slaves, Ps. 145:9, to substantiate the principle of divine “beneficence with regard to His creatures…in that He makes individuals of the same species equal at their creation.”[14]
“Conclusion: Slavery Is Contra Deum
Ps. 145:9 then delivers the philosophical and theological coup de grace to slavery. If God’s “beneficence” is manifest in the equality inherent in human beings “at their creation,” then to exert mastery over another human being subverts God’s governance and constitutes an act contra deum rather than imitatio dei.”
Do you have any empirical proof that God did it or was this just an attempt by man to put force behind his own beliefs by claiming that he was acting under the commands of a supernatural deity?
How can you claim that your god ordered liberty for all when he created sin and then harsh punishments for it? Your god could have created people that didn't sin but he didn't. That doesn't sound like freedom. Your god has raised gaslighting to an art form and most people are too ignorant to see it.
We severely punish companies that create inferior products and then try to blame the consumer when the product is faulty. We call them consumer protection and lemon laws. Your god has built three religions out of it and then his followers try to claim that he is loving.
Jesus also told his followers not to judge others, that they are to be their brother's keeper and to love others as they do themselves. Why is it that is supposedly most devout followers ignore this core message? The Sermon On The Mount is arguably the most famous teaching of Jesus but it might as well be in an untranslatable language for religious conservatives because they consistently ignore it. From my perspective, these people are not Christians but bigots who merely use the bible to defend their hatred and ignorance because they can hide their intolerance behind the religious freedoms that we enjoy.
The Bible was used to support slavery and racism, and it is still used to defend unequal treatment for women and LGBT.
Christian conservatives in the US have a blind spot the size of Texas when it comes to this passage, despite their love of Leviticus when LGBT rights are mentioned.
Why do they ignore this passage?
Because God came and appeared to mankind in the person of Jesus. He affirmed the Old Covenant scriptures.
God has nothing to do with Islam which was created by the devil to destroy both Christians and Jews and conquer, murder, rape, and enslave in the name of their moon “god”.
Christianity is not a different religion from Judaism. It is the completion of the desire of God to reconcile mankind to Himself begun with Judaism. Jesus and the Apostles taught this clearly
This is a religious belief that is not supported by facts.
Islam is the offshoot of Christianity just as Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism. Do you not understand why these 3 religions are known as the Abrahamic religions? The Koran shares much of the Bible. Jesus is an Islamic prophet.
Funny how God never prohibited slavery nor made its prohibition a part of his top 10.
You are replaying debates we have had previously
1 the Mathew 7 passage doesn’t forbid judging, it says not to judge by our own standards, but by God’s. Ateaching He repeated as in John 7:24 He commanded that we judge with righteous judgment
”Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
2 brothers keeper is not taught by Jesus. It was a complaint by Cain to God after he killed his brother Abel and was confronted by God
3 I’ve never met a Christian who actually follows and obeys Jesus who ignores the sermon on the mount. In fact it is non believers who most often ignore much of the teaching in it. Like “your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees to enter the kingdom of heaven” or “depart from me you who practice lawlessness”.
4. Anyone who condones or practices racism or slavery is not a Christian by the standards established by Jesus and the Apostles
5 as I’ve shown you many times from the Bible, the laws of Moses don’t apply to Christians. Any Christian who claims that is not obeying and following Jesus and both His teaching and that of the Apostles.
6. Christians are indeed to show the love and kindness of God towards the stranger. But that doesn’t separate that we also are called to uphold laws. You can do both as in show compassion and care for immediate needs and still deport people for being lawless and disrespecting our sovereignty
Divorce made his top 10 list, but they are strangely silent on that prohibition.
You are severely ignorant of the beliefs of Islam.
I've already pointed out to you that Christianity in the words of Jesus and the Apostles is the fulfillment of Judaism, not an offshoot.
Secondly, Islam is first and foremost a political ideology who's primary directive is to conquer all nations through war, to kill, enslave and rape as they please to accomplish this.
It is diametrically opposed to the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity.
It denies the history and the facts of both. It reverses Judaism and claims Abraham took Ishmael, not Issac upon the mountain for sacrifice. It calls the Jews "pigs and monkeys" and that Muslims are commanded to kill Jews wherever they find them. It calls Christians polytheists.
The Jesus of Islam is denied as to who the Bible says He is. He becomes just another murderer like Mohammad.
Jesus performed no miracles until after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at the baptism by John the Baptist. This was purposeful and planned so that all of His ministry was an example for believers to follow.
Furthermore, there are no commandments for Jews or Christians to conquer all nations and create a worldwide theocracy as the Quran does.
God is a God of revelation (revealing Himself and His plans as He desires). He did prohibit slavery in 561 BC to the prophet Jeremiah. He took mankind progressively into a greater knowledge of Himself and what He desires for us. That come to fulfillment through Jesus who proclaimed the message of liberty for all.
Did Moses get passports and visas before his tribe went to Egypt? Did the three wise men have passports and visas?
Divorce is not part of the 10 commandments
Luke 16:18.
Mark 2:12
Where does the Koran say this?
Do you not see that Revelations and the idea of rapture as being violent toward others. Do you see how the Great Commission teaching is interpreted by people of other faiths and how it has been used to harm non-Christian people?
Did you forget Deuteronomy 6?
Islam is no more violent than any of the other Abrahamic religions. They are all inherently violent.
You would think that he would ask a trader for directions, but being a typical guy he was too bullheaded to do so. "He knew where he was going.............."
Luke 16:18 has no mention nor should it to the 10 commandments. I didn't say that both the Old and New Covenants don't mention divorce. I responded to your erroneous statement that divorce is part of the 10 commandments
Mark 2:12 is completely unrelated. It is the healing of the paralytic so don't know what you meant
Qur’an:9:5 - “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.”
Qur’an:9:112 “The Believers fight in Allah’s Cause, they slay and are slain, kill and are killed.”
Qur’an:9:29 “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.”
Qur’an:8:39 “Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah.”
Qur’an:8:39 “So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).”
Ishaq:587 “Our onslaught will not be a weak faltering affair. We shall fight as long as we live. We will fight until you turn to Islam, humbly seeking refuge. We will fight not caring whom we meet. We will fight whether we destroy ancient holdings or newly gotten gains. We have mutilated every opponent. We have driven them violently before us at the command of Allah and Islam. We will fight until our religion is established. And we will plunder them, for they must suffer disgrace.”
Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight wi the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him. Sahih Bukhari 4:52:176
Sounds more like delusion. It's essentially seeing what one wants to see, or feel. It's nothing more than appealing to a psychological and/or emotional need.
Almost half of the top 10 is about appealing to God's ego.
1. How is removing Christians from the world considered violence towards others? The entire book of Revelation is not about Christians conquering nations, but leading toward the attempt of the antichrist to rule the world
2. The great commission has NOTHING to do with conquering or establishing nations. It’s share the message of God’s love and hope through Jesus to all who hear Him and respond willing to Him to accept His love and kingdom which is not of this world.
anyone who harms others in fulfilling the great commission is actually disobeying Jesus
3 the last one which is directed specifically to Jews again has nothing to do with conquering the world. It’s about internal punishment among the Jews
This doesn't sound like an all-inclusive vacation that I want to take part in.
The teaching of the Great Commission by Jesus to his 12 disciples has been misused by conservative Christians to force people of other religions to convert and as to legislate Christian belief so that others are forced to obey the teachings of their god.
Simply untrue? Gordy stated that some Christians (I would say a super majority of Christians) hold God as the arbiter of morality. You consider that untrue?? If God is OK with something (as Gordy states) does that make it moral? In the Christian view, morality is whatever God says it is.
Further, Gordy notes that the Bible does not prohibit or condemn slavery. He is speaking in general. You put forth Jeremiah 34 as an argument that God prohibits or condemns slavery. But that was a very special case - the treatment of Hebrew slaves. (Cherry-picking by you.) God is perfectly cool with Hebrews owning non-Hebrew slaves. Further, if the Hebrew slave wants to stay with his family he must pledge his life to slavery. God is cool with that too.
So your passage from Jeremiah does not show God condemning slavery (just special dispensation for Hebrews). Indeed, there is no passage in the Bible (OT or NT) where God condemns as immoral the practice of owning human beings as property in general even though throughout the time of the Bible slavery was widespread (everywhere). Worse, instead of condemning slavery, God made rules for proper enslavement such as this:
What took place during the 16th century Protestant Reformation? Catholics and Protestants killing each other in the most brutal fashion (burned at the stake, hanged-drawn-quartered, etc.) simply because of differences in how one interprets the Bible.
Both Christianity and Islam have a history of the worst kind of brutality inflicted on fellow human beings simply because of a difference in beliefs. Beliefs, by the way, that have zero supporting evidence - based strictly on stories told by ancient men.
As I understand it this "Bible" was produced by the Brits for slaves in the Caribbean:
Slavery exists today, in a variety of forms.
Human sex slaves.
Human trafficking.
Addicting people to narcotics, thus enslaving them. Not just the neighborhood pusher. Big Pharma too, by design.
Prostitution. Including those who are under aged of both genders.
Wage slaves.
"In every generation a Pharaoh arises to enslave and destroy us". (Pesach {Passover} Haggadah).
Enoch.
Brother Enoch, thank you.
TY Brother CB.
I hope your Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter Sunday were joyous and meaningful celebrations.
E.
You make a good point. I've heard it said a number of times there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history, depending on how you define it.
Dear Friend Drakkonis: Agreed.
Even at this late point in human history exploitation seems not to have gone out of style.
Sad, isn't it?
E.
The so-called, "slave bible" probably did not work because it was not rooted in truth. That is, it could not feed the spirit of people. As the announcer stated, "It did not work." Why? Most likely because you can not hide truth in plain sight from people 'forever.' People with either see "the game" up front or reason it 'played' a far off!
Typically, the (white) British missionaries underestimated the intelligence of the (black) Africans. While they recognized that the captives could be taught to read and speak English, they simply did not see them as equals intellectually and thought the the slaves would not notice the parts of the Bible that had been omitted.
Seems diabolical on the face of it, no?
To be a missionary is to aspire to doing a good work. However, as we can see even in today's complex and modern (for sure) world, doing good can get one or a group in all shades of troubles and cross-purposes. Political forces in any era have been known to twist methods and ideas meant for good into unrecognizable 'pretzel-like' matrices!
Were the missionaries intending to do harm to black Africans in and of itself to establish a station for them in England, or was it all they could politically do to get considering the state of mind of their fellows with power and influence over the hearts and minds of the nation? Inquiring minds; revisionist history (on both sides); truths lost.
I simply don't know.
What I have read and over time became incredulous about (though I do understand how the minds in each new generation can be affected, that is, 'grown' to be believe a thing) is how actual masters could come to believe black people were incapable of higher-level understanding, when these same masters depended on their slaves to make snap judgments in crises situations and in the rearing of their children. Now then, these were strong (sets of) delusions!
To me this just shows how contradictory the bible is. Much of it condones slavery, saying you can take slaves from other nations and keep them in perpetuity, passing them down as an inheritance to your heirs. Then in other parts it seems to condemn slavery as bad, something that was terrible for the Israelites to suffer through at the hands of the Egyptians or Babylonians. Many who wanted to condone slavery did so using the bible, and still others who wanted to condemn it did the same. In this case you have a physical representation of that biblical divide, where the book itself is edited to push just the parts that condone slavery, only those parts that supported their racist world view, while the rest is discarded. Some here seem to want to do the same only in reverse, basically cutting out the parts that condone slavery by making different excuses for why those parts should no longer apply.
Confusing because it was written by mere mortals, mostly men. Then the men decided how to interpret the human writings to maximize their wealth and power over the masses. Then their followers decide to force their misinterpretations on to the world and act in opposition to the meaning of the original message of love.
Look DP, come up from the pages of the Bible for a moment. Look around you at the mess that is the world today: Since the age of enlightenment, for all its high caliber of critical-thinking, humanity is still faced with a reality of being under the control and weight of problems, contradictions, dilemmas, and paradoxes which are inherent to an inhabited world.
Logic is a societal tool. However, people are much more complicated in reality. It is doubtful humanity will ever 'bend the knee' to a reality where all decisions are 'mechanical' and spiritless.
Slavery was for a time. Similarly, The plan of God was for Israel to become a nation of priest, thinking priests, and not "robotic" priests. We see the outcome of that 'project.' And, so must have God - as the plan holder!
Likewise, the 'forever' plan of God involves all people having opportunity to be spiritual priests and exercising mental liberty to love God in mind, body, and spirit. Yet, God knows the make up of creation. Just as God has created some creatures to be lowly in order, some people will prefer chance existence over a spiritually guided existence. These decisions by humanity can not and are not surprising to God.
There is no contradiction in this. No matter how much humanity strives with a higher calling.
For the most part, for all its high caliber of critical-thinking, humanity is still faced with the reality of being under the control of useless religious doctrines and traditions. But despite that fact, science has allowed us to live longer, stay healthier, travel faster, communicate instantly around the globe, explore other planets and continue learning about the wondrous universe we inhabit. And all of that required zero supernatural beings or excusing religious traditions that condone slavery.
"the 'forever' plan of God involves all people having opportunity to be spiritual priests and exercising mental liberty to love God in mind, body, and spirit."
That's a wonderful thought. You just keep right on thinking good thoughts and praying for others while others continue to progress through science. I'll bet science figures out how to slow or stop death all together long before religion saves mankind. Though I'm sure when they do there will be some religion around trying to take credit for it.
I think you misunderstood the direction of my post. It's point is humans are creatures of spirit, fleshly and spiritual.
I am not pitting one against the other. I am only asking you to see the 'human condition' within. Moreover, it is a rather narrow thinking creature which can stand on the shoulders of its predecessors and piss down its legs onto their heads! Religion at its best defines the heart and focuses the mind on matters eternal. To try and define religion only by its horrors in the hands of ignorant, elementary, and evil men and women is a sad obsession some are possessed by, and only the uninitiated have this as a luxury.
Informed people are compelled to realize the many good religion aspects of life, because these are the means to a higher calling among humans.
Your religion and science dichotomy is a false one. Religion and science are not at odds. As has always been the case with people, it is some men and women who are stubborn and hard-hearted who feel a need to 'plant a flag' and foot on the neck of a perceived 'opponent' by turning figurative hills of disagreement into mountain ranges of "struggle" between the two disciplines.
Science is as much a tool as religion. Neither is a thing to be worshiped!
If science discovers an end to death - how is it against God who is an eternally-living Spirit known throughout the ages. The thinking will and should go that knowledge which has always been present in the "genes" of this planet has been exposed to minds and understanding of people who used their collective human spirit to drive its questing about forward to gain what creation has always known it was capable of providing. (There is more in the unseen, than it the seen.)
Now then, where is the 'disharmony' in that?
I fear that people seem to miss the historical context of this story. It's how the bible was modified to keep the slaves subdued, not the actual passages.
The Bible has been edited many times in the past 1500+ years for various goals, usually political. Up until there time of How many different translations are there and who paid to create those different translations?
Are you aware that it was forbidden for the Bible to be translated into native languages as well as for the bible to be owned by private citizens? This was done so that people could not read/understand it for themselves so they were controlled and dependant on the church as to its meanings? Most people were functionally illiterate and this was for a reason. This preserved the political and social power of the church.
And then, some control over especially old 'products' is necessary and advantageous.
Case in point. I am learning a foreign language at this time and I am reading foreign languages provided by 'translators' on my multi-language movies. What is both interesting and telling is how when (NETFLIX) both verbally voice-over a movie and offer written transcription versions in which, in all fairness, they each deliver the same meaning using different words. From them, one can readily see how languages are interpretative. Where 'play' on words and meaning can come out.
As a Protestant who can appreciate the fine work done by Martin Luther in bringing the Bible 'down' to the level of the people, I can see where freeing the Bible from the control of the universal Church has caused translation problems, dilemmas, and questions to abound throughout the protestant churches, in each era. (The only thing which can say "the Message" is a shortening of time or an end to new language development!)
All the above written, humanity itself is expressive, deliberative, and dynamically using the 'Book' for its proper mission of giving spiritual life to the reader, or diabolically using its potent power to capture hearts and minds for specific and dangerous purposes.
Goodness, I really have to take more time when writing my comments throughout the day! I am usually doing several activities at once and on reread: Wow. Rewrite of 6.1.1 below.
REWRITE 6.1.1:
And then, some control over especially old 'products' is necessary and advantageous.
Case in point. I am learning a foreign language at this time and I am reading foreign languages provided by script 'translators' on my multi-language movies. What is both interesting and telling is when both, voiced-over movies (NETFLIX) and written transcription versions are involved together, in all fairness, the two methods deliver the same meaning using different words. From them, one can readily see how languages are interpretative. One can see how, different words used to convey the same meaning can be exploited positively and negatively.
As a Protestant who can appreciate the fine work done by Martin Luther in bringing the Bible 'down' to the level of regular people. I can see where freeing the Bible from the control of the Universal Catholic Church has caused translation problems, dilemmas, and questions to abound throughout the protestant churches, in each era. The problem of "too many chiefs." (The only thing which can save "the Message" is a shortening of time itself, or an end to new languages development!)
All the above written, nonetheless, humanity itself is expressive, deliberative, and dynamically using the 'Book' for its proper mission of giving spiritual life to the reader, or diabolically using its potent power to capture hearts and minds for specific and dangerous purposes.
Well, at least part of that conversation is how it could be modified to keep slaves subdued which would require some actual passages left in that supported their subjugation of slaves.
Historical context is what most people miss about everything.
As the prophet spoke: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
The removal of context was exactly what 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 were about. This bible was exactly the same thing as portrayed in those books. Remove that which does not fit the current narrative, and when the narrative changes, write the book again.