Ephesians 6:5

[Benton]

(06-21-2020, 01:31 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.


Why would the Christian god instruct slaves to obey their masters?

Because He also told masters to take care of their slaves.

Which, for context, slaves in that region/time period weren't treated like later colonial slaves. Slaves he's referencing (outside of female concubines) were more similar to our minimum wage workers. They were counted as part of a family for tax purposes and often working off an impossible debt while being taken care of. Having quality slaves was a status symbol. Injuring a slave was against the law, and killing one had significant penalties (which varied considering time periods, regions and interpretations). Not the same penalties as killing a free man, but that's pretty similar to our approach to how we handle the systemic poor here, too.