Biblical Slavery For Foreigners Part III: The Micro Argument

I just wrote a lengthy follow up to my original post on biblical slavery for foreigners where I critiqued a popular Christian rebuttal but I realized that I needed a micro version of the argument that the Bible allows for conditions that meet the definition of slavery. I also want to list some of the most common responses I hear from Christians defending the view that the Bible doesn't condone slavery. So below is a micro argument that argues that the Bible does indeed condone slavery and it can be copied and pasted by anyone who wants to use it in an online debate. The agenda is as follows: (1) start with defining slavery, (2) show how the Bible allows for conditions that meet the definition of slavery, and (3) rebut a few common points and preempt as many common responses one often hears.

The Argument

The goal of this argument is to make the case that the Bible condoned conditions that amount to what we'd properly call slavery. Slavery can be generally defined as follows:

1. The condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude.
2. (Law) the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune
3. The subjection of a person to another person, esp in being forced into work

So at least two conditions have to be met in order to properly be called slavery: (1) The person has to be forced into the position against their will, and (2) the person has to be made to perform some kind of labor, and paid nothing or next to nothing, for a certain amount of time, up to life. This would not generally include people punished for crimes in a just court of law. If anything meets these two conditions, it can be properly called slavery. I will argue that the Bible allowed for situations that meet these conditions.

In the Old Testament foreign slaves could be acquired by war, purchase, or birth. Deut. 20:12-14 says that the Israelites could force the inhabitants of the region they call their "Promised Land" as well as "all the cities that are at a distance from [them] and do not belong to the nations nearby" into forced servitude if they surrender their land and belongings. If they don't surrender, their towns will be besieged and their men will be killed and the women and children can be taken as booty. In Judges 1:28-34 it even says the Israelites forced the Canaanites, the Naphtalites, and the Amorites into servitude, all while the "LORD was with them." 1 Kings 9:21 tells of how King Solomon conscripted foreign tribes who the Israelites couldn't exterminate "to serve as slave labor" building temples, palaces, and the walls of towns. And to distinguish the rules between Hebrews and non-Hebrews, Leviticus 25:44-46 specifies that foreign slaves are not to be freed after the 7th year as a Hebrew servants do, they serve for life and can be inherited as property. This meets both of the conditions for slavery above in that under Old Testament law (1) persons could be forced into the position of subordination or property to another person against their will, or be born into that position, and (2) made to perform unpaid labor.

It is important to note that this argument is not trying to say that all conditions of servitude in the Bible meet the conditions of slavery. Much of it was what can properly be called indentured servitude. This argument is an in principle argument that resolves the question of whether any conditions allowed for under Old Testament Mosaic law meets the conditions for slavery. That is a very important point one has to be aware of when responding to this argument.

Before you respond to my argument that the Bible condoned slavery.....please note that....

• Yes I know biblical slavery was not exactly like American slavery. I'm not saying it was. It wasn't completely determined by race, and it didn't have to last a lifetime. Slavery doesn't have to be exactly like American slavery to meet the definition of "slavery."
• Yes I know there were many Christian abolitionists who fought against slavery in the West. That is irrelevant to whether the Bible condones conditions that meet the definition of slavery.
• Yes I know that pretty much all the other cultures around ancient Israel had slavery. That is irrelevant to whether the Bible condones conditions that meet the definition of slavery. 
• Yes it may be the case that the Bible improved the conditions for slavery in the ancient world. That is irrelevant to whether the Bible condones conditions that meet the definition of slavery.
• Yes I know that in ancient Israel people sold themselves to pay off debt and to avoid starvation and that this was common in that area at that time. That is irrelevant to whether the Bible condones conditions that meet the definition of slavery.
• Yes I know foreigners in ancient Israel could acquire relative wealth, and even purchase Hebrew servants. That is irrelevant to whether the Bible condones conditions that meet the definition of slavery. Some foreigners could be free and amass relative wealth, others were indentured servants agreeing to work to pay off debt, or to prevent starvation due to economic calamity, while others could be born into lifelong slavery or forced into it through war acquisition. Mosaic code allowed for all these things.