[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Bible Study Title: Biblical Perspective on Slavery Perhaps the number one communist argument that dominates and directs any conversation concerning reparations and black plight is that of slavery. To most sheeple, slavery is the worst possible evil that ever existed. This, of course, is not true. The lie is the worst evil and sin.
The following is on of the best Christian explanations on what slavery is and isn't, that I have ever read. ***********************************
On the Justification and Meaning of the Biblical Institution of Slavery
http://www.chalcedon.edu/blog/2006_0...12670976172279
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Diligence, Dominion, and Slavery
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. Proverbs 12:24
Since the War of Northern Aggression (i.e., Civil War), America has suffered no small neurosis whenever slavery is mentioned. It is still common slander to portray both white and black conservatives as either "slave-owners" or "Uncle Tom's." The most basic term being "racist." Therefore, any intentional instruction on slavery is met with gasps, fainting, and eventually outrage. So, for those critics who decry all mentions of "slavery," they may prefer the euphemism of "forced labor" (NASB) or "tribute" (KJV). Either way, the meaning of Proverbs 12:24 remains the same. An individual is being forced to labor by the power of those who rule. And this leads to other despised term mentioned in Proverbs 12:24: "rule."
What should be apparent is that rulership and forced labor (viz. slavery) are inescapable concepts. To rule (Heb. mashal) means simply dominion; and slave -- or tribute in the KJV -- (Heb. mas) interprets as a burden, or tax, in the form of forced labor. Therefore, Solomon bifurcates society into rulers and slaves, or those put to forced labor. The language is somewhat exaggerated in that all diligent people are not rulers and all lazy men are not slaves. This should help critics of dominionism to understand that the term itself is so much broader than securing the presidency. Dominion can be taken over ones thoughts, finances, emotions, business, etc. It is simply the consistent application of God's law-word to each area of their life.
The same is true in terms of slavery, or forced labor. Laziness, or lack of diligence, leads to dead-end jobs, crime, lethargy, poverty, and welfare. These are all forms of slavery, or "forced" circumstances. Socialism itself is mass political slavery. State regulation at every level undermines God's desire to cultivate self-government for the Christian man in a free society. Therefore, it is imperative that a socialist system condition and suppress its citizens to accept a slave's mentality. The greater tragedy being the Christian's acceptance of the slave's mentality, since the Christian is given the means to dominion in the Holy Scriptures.
Socialist elites sell their regulatory policies to the uncritical population by the false assurance of personal security, financial freedom, and emotional well-being. Rushdoony criticized such false-flags in uncompromising terms:
The road of pseudo-security, or pseudo-liberation in slavery, socialism, and welfarism, is forbidden to the Christian. (Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law V.1, p136)
The secularist seeks to enslave the Christian to a socialist tyranny with extortionate taxation, forced schooling, planned parenthood, imposed racial harmony, and the exclusion of God from the public sphere. This is their proposed utopia. But, the absence of Biblical law from this pseudo-society guarantees that America shall go down the path of all socialist systems -- straight into the arms of despotism. We will rather obey God than man (Acts 5:29).
Slaves by Nature
Rushdoony persistently argued that some men were slaves by nature (ibid., 485). The Bible is replete with regulations concerning slavery because most of the world's historical narrative contains a back story of slave societies. In addition, much of the Biblical instruction is directed towards the slave-owners themselves. Justice and equality were to be provided slaves by their masters because the masters themselves were also slaves to God:
Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. Col. 4:1
The perpetuity of slavery is because freedom requires responsibility; and lazy men shirk responsibility because of what it requires of them. Yet, if the slothful are to remain alive then someone else will bear their responsibility. And when you carry the responsibility of a lazy man it usually means you rule that individual in terms of their labor. This is no longer the case as through state-sponsored welfare the responsible man is now slave to the sluggard. The responsible and productive man labors diligently while bleeding heart socialists confiscate his labor by unjust taxation in order to subsidize the irresponsible.
The underwriting of a man's laziness is considered "love" by the socialist; but it is demonstrative sin in Biblical terms. The lazy man must be put to forced labor or his productive neighbor will be put to extortionate taxation. This is love demonstrated towards the obedient. The disobedient should not be rewarded. Work is a commandment of God (Ex. 20:9) and "if a man shall not work, then he shall not eat" (2 Th. 3:10). You read it right. Let them starve. How's that for compassionate conservatism?
If liberals would truly like to care for individuals that refuse to work, then they must penalize the lazy by forced labor. Penalizing the productive is theft, and a subsidizing of evil. I'm not sure which is the case: do they love the poor, or simply hate the rich? If they do care for the poor then they must recognize that the poor will always be among us. The Great Society cannot change that. Only regeneration and Biblical law can reverse that trend.
Freedom and Responsibility
The purpose of freedom is that man exercise dominion and subdue the earth under God. A man who abuses his freedom to steal can be sold into slavery in order to work out his restitution (Ex. 22:3). If he cannot use his freedom for its rightful purpose of godly dominion, reconstruction, and restoration, he must then work towards restitution in his bondage. (IBL, V.1, 485)
Of course, both secular and Christian alike shriek at the mention of slavery, but their distaste is an uninformed morality. In fact, it's sinful, and reinforces the anti-Christian character of modern culture. Today's Christian is more cognizant of Alex Haley's Roots than the economic and social wisdom of the pentateuch. The modern Christian is intimidated by the race-baiting threats of left-wing groups rather than government by the fear of God -- the slave-master of us all.
My discussion of slavery, or forced labor, is not that of the 19th century African slave-trade, which was based upon man-stealing by other Africans to sell to Eureopean slave-traders. Kidnapping was forbidden in God's law and was clear grounds for execution (Ex. 21:16). What I'm discussing is the penalizing of the slothful and criminal by forced labor; and that discussion is contemporary.
Since labor is a commandment of God it's incumbent upon civil authorities to protect the wealth of the productive from the unjust seizure of the sluggard. If you want the man to eat, then he must work. If he refuses to work, he should be compelled. The late David Chilton observed, "the biblical institution of slavery has as its basic purpose the elimination of poverty and its foremost cause, the slave mentality" (Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators, 59). Slavery, therefore, is not sin. Chilton continues:
If slavery were a sin, God would not have provided for it. Indeed, since God is the standard of right and wrong, the fact that He gives rules for the proper management of slavery shows that to disregard the laws of slavery is a sin. For example, since fornication is a sin, God does not give directions for the right management of a brothel. Nor does he offer instructions about successful methods of murder or theft. Slavery is not a sin, but the violation of God's slavery laws is. (ibid., 60)
This is also compassion for it teaches the sluggard the habit of productivity. Apathy can be converted into abundance once the lazy man renews his mind to the law-word of God and its authority over him. This was St. Paul's solution for the thief (Eph. 4:28). He must not be enabled by welfare, but rather must embrace his calling to work and then use his productivity for the feeding of the truly poor. Chilton is again helpful in making this point:
Since slavery will always exist, the biblical answer is not to try to abolish it, but to follow God's laws for slavery. While many of these laws seem harsh, we must recognize that, first, these laws are remedies for irresponsibility, and seek to drive men out of slavery; and second, the laws of God are not nearly so harsh as the laws of men. (ibid., 61)
And, once made free, the slave could become a responsible and respected member of society. Their debts were removed, their crimes were annulled, and their liberty was secured. It was truly a jubilee for the freed slave, and they would walk forever in the knowledge of costly freedom. It doesn't come cheap. You pay in spades with the currency of diligence and responsibility.
There is sound reason to conjecture that the harshness of Biblical slavery law was intended to dissuade an individual from selling their freedom into forced labor. I've not found any clear data on just how prevalent slavery was during Israel's history. It was utilized, no doubt, for the purposes of restitution and the allowance of bondservants, but Israel cannot be propped up as a total slave state with no other form of national income -- it was not Stalin's Russia. Yet, slavery laws are featured throughout the Biblical text. This is due also to the spiritual and political implications that God intends to communicate to all of us. We were slaves to sin (Rom. 6:16-23) and the heartbeat of God is to see us delivered from the fetters of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God. It is also a constant reminder that though we are freed from sin, we were only transferred to become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18). To be redundant, slavery is an inescapable concept.
So, today's Christian will readily admit that they are "a slave to God," but balk at the discussion of Biblical slavery laws. What then makes their slave status so comfortable? It is because the slave-master is God. Will not then a godly society produce a benevolent and productive system of forced labor as a means to eradicating poverty and converting the criminal?
Neo-Slavery: A Day Job
Laziness ends in slave labor (Prov. 12:24). It also ends in a day job. The majority of the work force is in some form of forced labor. We simply don't call it that. Do you think every worker on the Ford assembly line dreams of such a job? Of course not. Some may dream of other forms of employment, but they lack the diligence necessary to bear rule on their own. The opposite of forced labor is the rule of entrepreneurship, and that requires a diligence uncommon in the average citizen.
However, a season of employment can be useful. It can teach one a craft or trade. It can help them develop the needed skills for their own business. But, such business independence is prefaced by a season of dependence, or forced labor. Either way, it's diligence that delivers one from slavery. It's a lack of diligence that delivers one into slavery.
The present generation is so deeply involved in slavery that it cannot understand its meaning. Slavery is damned even as it is pursued by men, and freedom is called slavery because freedom means problems. Slavery is the risk-free life; it means full employment, total care by someone else, and cradle-to-grave security. Freedom means problems, losses, and constant risks, but it also means the possibility of success and prosperity.... The modern lust for a risk-free life is an invitation to enslavement; as a result, freedom is rapidly waning. (Rushdoony, Commentaries on the Pentateuch: Exodus, 61-62)
Freedom must be our central concern, but freedom thrives only when men are responsible under God.
The present political climate highlights some of these concerns. As I write, French youth are protesting a proposed law ("First Job Contract") that would allow employers to fire anyone under 26 years within the first two years of their employment. The intent is to help business owners from being drained by guaranteed job security to young, lazy, socialized Frenchmen. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of hispanics are protesting legislation that would make illegal immigration a felony. However, in this case, the crime is not laziness, but illegal entry. In both cases are the unjust seeds of revolution; and revolution is the enemy of freedom because it is the manufactured tool of a dictatorship:
We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. (George Orwell, 1984)
Both the French and Hispanic protests are rooted in socialist ideals, and socialism is a scientific means to tyranny. Socialist societies are total slave states, and not the Biblical form of slavery. The revolutionaries that run the streets of America and France are in indirect collusion with the unproductive elites who contrive revolution as the means to expand power and secure their existence. They manipulate the envy of revolutionaries to their own advantage:
Elitism and envy are productive of guilt and inaction. They are also destructive of work, because their essence is inaction, and they are non-productive social forces. (Rushdoony, Systematic Theology, Vol.2, p.1051)
There is a genuine partnership between the sluggard and the destructive financial elite:
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. Proverbs 18:9
There is no future freedom in the modern slave state. There is no jubilee for faithful labor. This is because, as Orwell noted, "no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it." And, slavery that leads to freedom and responsibility is not the form of slavery socialism ascribes to. This is why the sluggard is subsidized in a socialist society -- he is the ideal citizen for totalitarians -- he is a complete social dependent. Biblical slavery laws war against such tyranny.
Our remedy is in godly responsibility and Christian Reconstruction. Christ's Kingdom is the stone cut without hands that destroys all ambitions to worldly empire (Dan. 2:44-45). But, the Kingdom of Christ must be established in time and history. This means the faithful application of God's law; including the laws regarding forced labor. By compelling the lazy and the criminal to become productive we can remove the foothold of statism, and the lust for power that lurks in the heart of the shadow elites. It is to the world's benefit that the righteous rule:
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2
posted by Chris Ortiz at 2:25 PM
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: All (#0)
Should read: "Biblical Perspective..."
Lets re-establish slavery. It's gonna happen anyway, whether we like it or not.
If the bulls dont kill me, Dont put me six feet down, I'll be last man standin on top of the hill, If the bulls dont kill me then nothin will,---PBR-AllStars Buck@Roll
It's already happened. Amerika has become a nation of sluggards when it comes to maintenance of the Constitution and good gov't. (beer, video, couch, rock 'n roll) Physically, we have become soft and weak. Financially we have sold ourselves into the bondage of debt, socialism, Social Security and punish those who want to produce and do right. We have allowed our nation to be sold into economic slavery to other nations. Spiritually we are even weaker than all of the above. We already are slaves. And the elite and the Mexicans, for now, are our masters.
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem." -Howard Zinn
|
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|