Although people generally consider slavery as an old practice, there are millions of people still enslaved in the world through forced labor and the sex trade. You might wonder why the Bible not seem to speak out against slavery.
The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery, but if you look further you will see that today’s version of slavery is indeed prohibited. It gives direction on how slaves are to be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1). Some see this as the Bible condoning slavery. What you need to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from how it has been practiced in the past few hundred years in many parts of the world. The slavery mentioned in the Bible was not based on race or nationality. In fact, people were enslaved based on economics; it was a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not meet their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, even doctors, lawyers, and politicians were slaves to others. Some actually chose to be slaves so that all of their needs would be provided for by their masters.
Modern slavery was primarily based on skin color. Many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. The Bible condemns race-based slavery as it teaches that all men are created by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:27). While the Old Testament did allow for economic-based slavery the key issue is that this practice in no way resembled the racial slavery that has plagued our world in the past few centuries.
In addition, both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of kidnapping, which is what took place in Africa in the 16th through 19th centuries. Africans were captured by slave-hunters who sold them to slave-traders and brought them to the New World to work plantations and farms. This practice is abhorrent to God and recorded as a crime subject to death in the Mosaic Law: “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:16 NASB). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are enumerated among those who are in the same category as “… ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8– 10).
Those who “… love your neighbor as yourself … ” (Mark 12:31) will not enslave others because this is not how they wanted to be treated, so modern day slavery is strictly prohibited by the Bible. The Bible is completely consistent on how people are to be treated.
