Please help. I feel like im losing my faith?

I believe in God and I do not adhere to any 1 religion.

Slavery has been justified by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Unfortunately, I see no reason why God would in anyway condone it. A great deal of back-and-forth was written about this subject largely in the Roman Catholic Church, some condemned it, some condoned it; and I know St. Patrick of Ireland condemned it largely because he was a slave.

Now my point of all of this is, I suppose, if we are to love one another, without judgment or hypocrisy, and treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves; I would think slavery is an abomination against mankind and God.

Then again, men wrote the Holy Bible, the Torah, and the Jewish Canonical Scriptures. They may be words inspired by God, but I do not believe there is any truth, other than some men saying so, that slavery is in anyway right.

I think its wrong, and abominable. So I agree with your analysis.

I would say do not lose faith in God; you need not adhere to any one religion. Nothing scriptural is actually written by the hand of God. Only men.

You take away from those so-called "scriptures" the wisdom and wit, but with an eye towards seeing it from the vantage point of a slave. Would you want to be a slave? Especially if you were once a slave owners? Methinks not!

I am sorry you feel so bad, but try to think of this as a good thing in the long run. You have found out something that is horrible, and there are many horrible things in the bible, just google evilbible.com to find out more.

I want you to try to look upon this as a moment of insight in your life. Finding out the truth can be hurtful, but you know better what your true path should be when you have all the facts.

I am an atheist. I do not believe that there is a god, and perhaps you will also come to that conclusion. That is one path that is open to you. Pantheism is also a path that has elements of spirituality but the love goes out to reality, to Nature and our Universe, real things.

Whatever you decide, take your time, do some research and see what works for you, and I hope you feel better about things soon. Remember, it is better to find out the truth than to live your whole life believing in a religion that has elements in it like slavery.

I wish you much success on your journey.

Lady Morgana

PS I encourage you to read The God Delusion, or Letter to a Christian Nation. They will help you to see the possibilities of life without a belief in a god.

Okay I'm no pastory, I'm a 14 yr old girl, so i could be wrong about this but I've seen things like that in the Bible too where i think it kind of contradicts the whole point of Christianity. But then i realized that God didn't write the Bible, it was a human who lived back when Jesus was around and before then. Humans make mistakes, humans sin. So there's a possibility that he made a mistake in stating what the Lord wanted.

Again, im 14, i could be completely wrong. I would go to a Church and talk to a Priest about it, God bless ;)

The endorsement of slavery by the Bible/God is very well documented. The Bible tells us who can be enslaved, that slaves are considered your property that can be inherited by your children, how to mark your slave, and how much you can beat them.

Only foreigners should be enslaved. They are your property for life, and your children can inherit them. (Leviticus 25:44-46) An Israelite can be your indentured servant, but you have to let them go after 7 years. (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12-14) If you have provided your indentured servant with a wife, then the wife and any children remain your property. If your indentured servant does not wish to leave his wife or kids, and says to you, “I do not wish to go free,” then you mark him my piercing his ear with an awl, and he shall be your slave for life. (Exodus 21:2-6). If you beat your slave, and they lose an eye or a tooth, them you must let them go free. (Exodus 21:26-27) If you beat your slave, and it take more than a day or two for the slave to die, then that’s OK because they are your property, after all. But if you beat your slave and the slave dies within a day or two, then the slave owner shall be punished. (Exodus 21:20-21)

Fathers were free to sell their daughters to other men as “sex slaves.” (Exodus 21:7-11) The marauding Israelite armies often took captured virgin girls to do with as they pleased. Sometimes this is condoned by God, other times it’s commanded. God says that you must allow your virgin girl to mourn a month for her parents, and then you can rape her, marry her or do what you please. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14; Numbers 31:14-18)

In the New Testament is no better when it comes to the treatment of slaves. Apostle Paul (who sets up the early Christian churches across the Roman Empire) doesn’t tell us that owning another human being is morally wrong; he instead tells slaves to obey their masters. (Ephesians 6:5) Moreover, in his letter to Philemon, we learn that Paul once returned a fugitive slave to his friend. (Philemon 1:10-16)

Every culture has endured slavery at one time or another. Jesus was sold for the price of a slave. People can be slaves of their own mentality or way of thinking. Slavery is nothing new. We are approaching 2011. If you let that jeopardize your realationship with God only you have to give account. Jesus was crucified and spat on & he didn't whimper.

Dear, you are taking your Bible far too literally. Please remember this book (yes, holy, special) is a collection of texts written during a specific CULTURAL TIME PERIOD. As such, there will be some things in it that really may not make a lot of sense to our modern eyes.

Jesus Christ is the prophet to listen to - our savior, our friend, our comforter, our counselor and finally, our redeemer. And He does not condone slavery, or stoning women, or incest, or anything of the sort because He is life, light, and truth, and mostly talked about love and forgiveness and good stuff like that.

Just a thought!

The Bible accurately records the history of (fallen) Mankind’s inhumanity, the result of our rebellion against God. This level of honesty doesn’t attempt to sugar-coat the reality ~ when people choose to throw off God’s commands, the downward spiral is inevitable. Sure, the Bible mentions a lot of rape, torture, slavery, molestation, incest, murder and jealously. Why? That’s how humans end up when we willfully disobey God’s clearly-given intent, which is, love Him most, and your neighbor as yourself. When Mankind turns from that, the downward spiral inevitably requires intervention by God Himself. Are you ready to face Him, giving an account of your life on the Day of Judgment? He made the way for your sins to be forgiven. Confess your sins to God, truly sorry for offending His love for you, and ask His forgiveness. He will! Turn from your sins proving your repentance is real, in faith trusting Jesus took the punishment on a cross your sins deserved. He delights in forgiving all who ask, as often as they ask, even empowering you with His Holy Spirit to do what He commands. Otherwise, if you lose eternal life, it will have been by your own choosing. He made the way for your sins to be forgiven.

Read how the Bible says to be right with God, Matthew 4:17; Luke 24:46-47; Romans 2:4-5; Romans 3:23-24; James 2:10; Hebrews 9:27; 1 John 1:8-9; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9-10; Romans 10:13; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; John 3:36; 1 John 5:11-13

If you truly believe in you God, then you should know that The Bible is suppose to be purely history, not everything in The Bible is things that God approves of or endorse. Don't be close-minded though, don't just accept Christianity because that's what you were taught. Think, if it was never taught to you would you have came to the conclusion that it is true on your own? Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable or "sick feeling", but you have to think deeply about things of this magnitude.

"How could a loving god, who views all of his children as equal, allow a man to own another man as property, will him away as inheritance, or keep him enslaved for life."

Do not blame God for allowing bad things to happen. Bad things happen due to the darkness in people's hearts. It is the people who allow bad things to happen by not listening to God.

Go somewhere alone to talk to God.

Just sit down, relax and tell Him what's on your mind.

Tell Him about all that is confusing you.

Tell Him everything you just told the world.

Then, ask Him to fix it because you know you can't do it alone.

I pray you don't give up.~Peace~