Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Bible Team Challenge
The Bible and it views on Slavery
Intro
In class today, we were asked to find religious arguments in favor of slavery and religious arguments against it. In this blog post, we will establish how traditional religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all viewed slavery. Throughout this blog post, we will talk about how these religions' views on slavery have changed and/or progressed over time. Ultimately, we will explore each religious argument, what they believed, and how those beliefs have changed or stayed the same over time.
Pro Slavery
One of the main arguments that I can make for the bible being pro-slavery, mainly in the 1800s, is that, in the Bible, slavery had been accepted by many religions and was seen as something righteous. Take, for instance, both the religions Judaism and Christianity, where believers in these religions often point to biblical passages that allow slavery rather than banning it. For example, Leviticus 25:44-46 states that the Israelites could acquire slaves from surrounding nations and pass them down as inherited property. [biblegateway.com]
Also, to further expand on the bible supporting slavery, you can point to Ephesians 6:5-6, where Paul instructs slaves to obey their earthly masters. Given this information, it is very easy to argue that if slavery were against God's will, the Bible would have directly condemned it instead of giving instructions about how slaves should behave and how their masters can treat them. [biblegateway.com]
In Islam, slavery was also historically permitted and regulated, much as it was in other ancient societies. For centuries, followers of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam generally viewed slavery as a legal and accepted institution.
But over time, like many things, people's interpretation of these texts has changed. Take, for instance, the abolitionist movement, where many Christians argued that the Bible's larger message was about justice, freedom, and human dignity. Rather than focusing on verses that regulated slavery, they focused on principles of equality and love for others.
Today, most Christians reject slavery and view the Bible's teachings about human worth and freedom as being incompatible with the practice. This debate shows how religious texts can be interpreted differently as societies and moral values change over time.
Slavery
Anti Slavery
One of the most compelling arguments in favor of the Bible’s opposition to slavery in the 1800s is that it portrays freedom as a virtue that is supported by several different religions. Those who adhere to the religions of Christianity and Judaism, for instance, frequently cite biblical passages that prohibit the practice of human trafficking. It is written in Exodus 21:16 that anyone who kidnaps and sells another person should be put to death according to the law. Galatians 3:28, which emphasizes that all people are one in Christ Jesus, provides additional support for the Bible’s position that it is against slavery. If the institution of slavery had been in accordance with the will of God, the Bible would not have protected fugitives from their owners but rather would have returned them to them.
Islam has, in the past, worked to abolish and discourage the practice of slavery.
Throughout the centuries, the emancipation of slaves was regarded as a sacred act in the religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. On the other hand, interpretations of these texts have developed over the course of time.
The movement that advocated for slavery asserted that the Bible placed a higher value on legal rules and hierarchy than it did on equality.
As a result of their belief that it is incompatible with the teachings of the Bible regarding freedom and human worth, the majority of Christians in today’s society are opposed to the institution of slavery.
The following discussion illustrates how different
interpretations of religious texts can be made in response to shifting moral standards and societal norms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the 1800s slavery argument demonstrates how traditions were used to support and refute slavery. Biblical verses regarding hierarchy and legal restrictions were cited by pro-slavery activists, while verses about freedom, equality, and the ban on kidnapping were cited by anti-slavery activists. Both sides thought they were right and were adhering to their religions. This relates to our study question that religious texts were understood variously in response to shifting social norms and moral standards rather than having a single, unchanging meaning.
AI DISCLOSURE: AI was used in a limited way in the assignment; I took ample notes while watching a twenty-minute video about the US Supreme Court. I then personalized those notes by adding my point of view, for example, things I learned or found surprising. I then used Claude.AI to help me clean up the text for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and I also asked the tool to help me shape it into the form of a blog post. I then edited the text, added links, and added images with captions.
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