Watch out Caddy; many folks here read Dadney and - because he is a good theologian - conclude that he was right about slavery. We have many here who would try to justify this horrible practice.

God in the OT regulated some sinful practices, such as divorce and polygamy, but did not condone it. Slavery was one such sin. God regulated it for a time.

While at some times men have voluntarily indentured themselves to pay off debt, or were consigned to manual labor for the conviction of crimes, the black chattel slavery in the US did not fall into those two categories, even though some on this board will try to convince you that the salvery that led to the US Civil War was not sinful. It was, and our nation paid dearly. The cozy picture of slaves and slaveowners living in harmony together in the antebellum south is a fiction.


As it relates to natural law, I suppose someone could argue from reason that since man differs in abilities and intelligence and some nations have "progressed" further than others, that it is not quite unnatural that one nation should rule over another such that the "inferior" nation becomes slaves.



On the bigger issue of evolving moral values: The world does seem to be developing and/or changing in morals. Old sins are exchanged for new sins. Some sins disapear all together. Cannibalism is no longer practiced in the context of whole tribal groups and only occur in bizarre murder cases like Dahmer. Polygamy, slavery, child sacrifice to pagan Gods, religious wars are all on the outs. Now, we manufacture new sins to take their place... and sometimes sins largely disapear altogether. Slavery, for instance has largely disapeared. I don't know if this is because God is moving the world forward and the world is gradually getting better. but I am glad that this phase of history is over.


God certainly did not change his mind on these laws. He did bring the Israelites to greater maturity by specific law injunctions. He did deal with them as children, and so God's revealtion did progress as history progressed (eg, the doctrine of the Trinity becomes clearer and clearer as hisotry advances)...

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone