Wrong! The correct answer is: They should be beaten for disobedience, but not more severely then they deserve.
Jesus never denounced slavery; he endorsed it! He incorporated it into his teachings as if it were the most natural order (which it was for the biblical writers who didn't know any better). Why doesn't the bible--supposedly inspired by an all-loving deity--ever hint that there is something wrong with such a brutal social institution? If it were not for the influence of the bible (see answer 'd' below), the appalling American slave trade might have been curtailed, along with the bloody Civil War.
"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." (Luke 12:47-48) The entire context (Luke 12:41-48) shows that this is not part of a parable--it is the explanation of a parable, after Peter asked a question. But even if it were a parable, it would carry the same weight as a teaching of Jesus.
The word "servant" above is doulos, which means "slave" in Greek, and is correctly rendered "slave" by the NRSV, NAS, Scholar's Version, and others. "Shall" meant "should," as Jesus adds: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." (Luke 12:48)
They should be beaten daily to keep them in line. Wrong answer.
They should be treated humanely, as members of the family. Wrong answer. Paul did urge Philemon to treat his slave Onesimus as a brother (Philemon 15-16), but he was not speaking for Jesus, and Onesimus was a special case, a personal friend. Paul never denounced slavery.
They should be set free because slavery is wrong. Wrong answer. The bible nowhere states that slavery is wrong. Slavery is ordained by the bible: "Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, . . . and they shall be your possession . . . they shall be your bondmen forever." (Leviticus 25:45-46) "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing . . . And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do." (Exodus 21:2,7) "Servants [slaves], obey in all things your masters." (Colossians 3:22)
Correct! They should be beaten for disobedience, but not more severely then they deserve.
Jesus never denounced slavery; he endorsed it! He incorporated it into his teachings as if it were the most natural order (which it was for the biblical writers who didn't know any better). Why doesn't the bible--supposedly inspired by an all-loving deity--ever hint that there is something wrong with such a brutal social institution? If it were not for the influence of the bible (see answer 'd' below), the appalling American slave trade might have been curtailed, along with the bloody Civil War.
"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." (Luke 12:47-48) The entire context (Luke 12:41-48) shows that this is not part of a parable--it is the explanation of a parable, after Peter asked a question. But even if it were a parable, it would carry the same weight as a teaching of Jesus.
The word "servant" above is doulos, which means "slave" in Greek, and is correctly rendered "slave" by the NRSV, NAS, Scholar's Version, and others. "Shall" meant "should," as Jesus adds: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." (Luke 12:48)
They should be beaten daily to keep them in line. Wrong answer.
They should be treated humanely, as members of the family. Wrong answer. Paul did urge Philemon to treat his slave Onesimus as a brother (Philemon 15-16), but he was not speaking for Jesus, and Onesimus was a special case, a personal friend. Paul never denounced slavery.
They should be set free because slavery is wrong. Wrong answer. The bible nowhere states that slavery is wrong. Slavery is ordained by the bible: "Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, . . . and they shall be your possession . . . they shall be your bondmen forever." (Leviticus 25:45-46) "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing . . . And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do." (Exodus 21:2,7) "Servants [slaves], obey in all things your masters." (Colossians 3:22)
