I have recently heard the claim that the bible supports slavery. (In the past I heard the claim that the bible does not say one thing about slavery but that belief is hard to sustain) If you believe this, I would appreciate an email from you to let me know your reasoning. My email is rmbowman@netpace.net.au .
I thought I might just do a quick bible search and report on my results in case anyone is interested in the opposite argument, that is, that
Slavery (in particular, freedom from) is a major theme in the bible
The Bible mentions slavery on many occasions
God cares greatly about the plight of slaves both in ancient times and now.
A thematic search would be more correct than a word search, but it seems its the word that's the issue here. You may wish I approached this another way. Sorry. I hope my approach is useful for some. You can check everything here in your own bible or at https://www.biblegateway.com/ I am using the English Standard Version because the literal nature of this translation may appeal to those who are interested in individual words more than themes.
This page is brief today but I will add to it in the next couple of days.
Firstly, number of occurrences of
"slavery" 25
"slaves" 48
"slave" 55
"enslave" 3
"enslaved" 9
"captive" or "captives" 74
"prisoner or prisoners" 38
Even though this is not a thematic search, I must say at this point that the whole of the book of Exodus is about slavery and God's love, kindness and compassion for suffering slaves who he powerfully obtains freedom for from the oppressive rule of the Egyptian nation.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Please add any comments below.
