Episode description

The regulation of slavery in the Old Testament and the implicit acceptance of the practice in the New Testament is arguably the most contentious issue in the Bible.

You would think Jesus, supposedly God incarnate and who grew up studying the Jewish scriptures, would condemn the practice of slavery outright and in very clear and unmistakable terms considering its pervasive nature in not just Greco-Roman but Jewish society of that time. But in fact, Jesus never condemns slavery at all. However, the acceptance of the practice - both implicit and explicit - can be found not just in the Old Testament scriptures but also in the New Testament in the writings of St. Paul for example.