A Biblical Perspective of Slavery
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Masters, Slaves, and the Conditions of Slavery - Part 6 of 10
There was a great variation in the conditions of slavery among peoples and over time in history. Sometimes conditions improved or deteriorated within a single civilization. The relationship between master and slave also varied among peoples and over time. Slavery or some similar hierarchical system was extremely prevalent in ancient times. Many slaves held special status because of their responsibilities or personal relationship to their master.
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A Biblical Perspective of Slavery
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
The Contrast of Abolitionist Versus Providential Views - Part 5 of a series of 10
On February 4, 1863, the famous abolitionist attorney and orator, Wendell Phillips, made this remarkable declaration from the pulpit of Henry Ward Beecher’s huge Plymouth Church in Brooklyn:
“I do not believe there will be any peace until 347,000 men of the South are either hanged or exiled.”
The crowd cheered. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was himself one of the most famous abolitionists and sought-after speakers in America. Henry Beecher was also known for raising money to send Sharps rifles to abolitionists fighting in Kansas and Nebraska—known as “Beecher’s Bibles.”
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A Biblical Perspective of Slavery
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Scripture versus Leading Abolitionist Preacher Theodore Parker - Part 4 of a series
Chapter 25 of Leviticus established Biblical regulation of slavery. Slavery is allowed contingent upon slaves being treated fairly and humanely, but it is not promoted. Slave owners and overseers are not counted as villains or moral lawbreakers unless they significantly mistreat or abuse their slaves. It is also important to understand that in God’s eyes, earthly status of slave or free makes no difference.
Colossians 3: 9-13 Your new status: Chosen by God, so have a humble and forgiving heart.
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A Biblical Perspective of Slavery
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Civil War Issues and the Battle for Biblical Authority - Part 3 of a series
The role of slavery as a cause of the U.S. Civil War has been disingenuously exaggerated. The Civil War was fought to prevent Southern secession and independence and the loss of more than 80 percent of total Federal tax revenues. The Morrill Tariff, part of a 37-year history of protective tariffs profiting the North and exploiting the South, was passed, signed, and endorsed by Lincoln in March 1861. This tariff was so outrageously unfair and burdensome to the South’s agricultural export economy that it practically forced the cotton-producing states to secede to pursue their own economic interest by free trade. States Rights were closely related to Southern economic welfare. Southerners also felt that the Northern political majority was moving away from the Constitutional principles of 1776, 1789, and 1791 toward a consolidated national government pursuing purely sectionalist Northern interests. The principal Northern objective regarding slavery was simply to prevent it from spreading into the territories and new states. The Civil War was not a moral crusade to free slaves.
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A Biblical Perspective of Slavery
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Trusted Bondservants and Oppressed Slaves - Part 2 of a series
Last week’s article was dominated by direct quotes from Scripture, especially the letters of the Apostle Paul. An overall understanding of those Scriptures should be clear to those who are able to shake the substantial non-Biblical cultural bias prevalent for many decades. The Bible does not promote slavery but providentially allows it and regulates it to prevent human abuse. Slave-owning was not a sin, but slave mistreatment and abuse were.
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Mike Scruggs is the author of two books: The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths; and Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, and over 600 articles on military history, national security, intelligent design, genealogical genetics, immigration, current political affairs, Islam, and the Middle East. 
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