Well, I said it was hackneyed :)
Submitted by Heather on November 30 2000 20:17:31
In reply to Not the slavery argument AGAIN submitted by Forgiven on November 30 2000 18:58:01
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And I also pointed out how it could be misused. And I also pointed out that the evangelicals were at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement. Calm down, please. :) Hindsight is a wonderful thing – it's easy for you to say that the biblical passages on slavery are ambiguous, because you live in a world where the issue has been settled. If you'd been living in the U.S. in the 1860s, I doubt very much that you would have been so sanguine over the matter. In fact, I suspect that you might have been one of those railing about how people questioning the clear commandment of Scripture were bringing ruin to the Church. :) I say this, not because I see any pro-slavery tendencies in you, but because I see a tendency in you to pronounce as "obvious" scriptural passages that are anything but obvious. In I Cor 6:13, for example, the particular word you refer to, fornication (porneia), simply means "sexual immorality," so you're engaging in a circular argument. If you've already decided that fornication is sexual immorality, then of course you're going to see this passage as condemning fornication. But porneia has a broader meaning than that: it can mean anything from fornication to prostitution to – metaphorically – idolatry. I point this out, not because I personally think that the word has been mistranslated, but simply to point out that such a passage is no more "obvious" than Paul's "Slaves, obey your masters." Here's another biblical passage you might keep in mind, in light of your desire to identify the "lovers of pleasure" with those who disagree with your interpretation of the Bible, and apparently to identify yourself with the "lovers of God." "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
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