So these days most Christians say marriage is between one man and one woman...but the patriarchs of the OT often had many wives.... [Spirituality & Religion]
[b]When and why did that rule change?[/b]
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SW-User
It changed in the hundreds of years between the production of and across the different societies producing the two halves of the Bible. If another testament were written now, it would probably condemn slavery (which neither the OT nor NT do). Polygamy has long been associated with powerful men and fertility. And since the OT is focused on telling the story of how the nation of Israel came to be and fulfill its destiny, it places emphasis on the fertility of the patriarchs.
@SW-User The NT talks against slavery. You must serve God and therefore can't serve man.
Matthew 4:10
You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Galatians 1:10
I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Romans 6:16
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey.
Matthew 4:10
You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Galatians 1:10
I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Romans 6:16
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey.
SW-User
@Qwerty14 I'd consider it a bit of a stretch to link any of these verses with a condemnation of forced unpaid labor (the sense in which I meant "slavery" above). It seems a bit odd to condemn slavery by admonishing the slaves (i.e. "don't choose to become slaves"). In each of these cases, serving God is contrasted with serving substitutes for God that will lead nowhere good (money/greed, wickedness, sin). Love of money, love of sin...these lead to serving a false god and death. I don't think anyone would argue that slaves worship and love their master as they should be worshiping God.
I am not claiming the NT [i]condones[/i] slavery, but nor does it repudiate it.
I am not claiming the NT [i]condones[/i] slavery, but nor does it repudiate it.
@SW-User I both agree and disagree with you. These passages also compare service to non tangible things like money. But you can't serve both man and God. Jesus was pretty clear about this. In fact in Matthew 18 and 24 we have the parables of the unforgiving and faithful servants both describing God as the master to humans. Paul also followed this up regularly calling himself a slave to Christ and even said this:
[quote]Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Corinthians 7:22 For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.[/quote]
The notion of slavery is definitely not meant to by followed by Christians. Once you find Christ, you are no longer tied to man and instead are a servant of the lord.
You might say "well why not just say outright DONT OWN SLAVES" and you're right. The bible doesn't say those exact words. In fact, at times Paul tells slaves to serve their masters faithfully. But it is all about the climate of Judea, Israel, Greece and Rome at the time. In The City of God, St Augustine summed it up quite well:
[quote]Moreover, when men are subjected to one another in a peaceful order, the lowly position does as much good to the servant as the proud position does harm to the master. But by nature, as God first created us, no one is the slave either of man or of sin. This servitude is, however, penal, and is appointed by that law which enjoins the preservation of the natural order and forbids its disturbance; for if nothing had been done in violation of that law, there would have been nothing to restrain by penal servitude. And therefore the apostle admonishes slaves to be subject to their masters, and to serve them heartily and with good-will, so that, if they cannot be freed by their masters, they may themselves make their slavery in some sort free, by serving not in crafty fear, but in faithful love, until all unrighteousness pass away, and all principality and every human power be brought to nothing, and God be all in all[/quote]
[quote]Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Corinthians 7:22 For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.[/quote]
The notion of slavery is definitely not meant to by followed by Christians. Once you find Christ, you are no longer tied to man and instead are a servant of the lord.
You might say "well why not just say outright DONT OWN SLAVES" and you're right. The bible doesn't say those exact words. In fact, at times Paul tells slaves to serve their masters faithfully. But it is all about the climate of Judea, Israel, Greece and Rome at the time. In The City of God, St Augustine summed it up quite well:
[quote]Moreover, when men are subjected to one another in a peaceful order, the lowly position does as much good to the servant as the proud position does harm to the master. But by nature, as God first created us, no one is the slave either of man or of sin. This servitude is, however, penal, and is appointed by that law which enjoins the preservation of the natural order and forbids its disturbance; for if nothing had been done in violation of that law, there would have been nothing to restrain by penal servitude. And therefore the apostle admonishes slaves to be subject to their masters, and to serve them heartily and with good-will, so that, if they cannot be freed by their masters, they may themselves make their slavery in some sort free, by serving not in crafty fear, but in faithful love, until all unrighteousness pass away, and all principality and every human power be brought to nothing, and God be all in all[/quote]