I dove into another Twitter discussion with a few atheists about how God condoned slavery (specifically Exodus 21:20-21).

I initially tried to say that the Hebrew word used in those verses was “ebed” which translates to servant and/or slave, and that they were considered more indentured servants than slaves as we define them today. Yet the last part of verse 21 does say, “…since the slave is his property.”

Part of me wanted to argue against it, but I had to admit that yes, God did allow for the owning of slaves.

Does that mean he condoned it, though? It could be argued, certainly.

So then comes the next question. If God allowed for and condoned slavery, does that mean slavery isn’t bad? It’s a question that deserves an answer. I think I got a glimpse after thinking about it more last night, but that’s a discussion for another time, because I need to do more research (although you’re always welcome to give your own thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear them).

Part of why I like discussing scripture with agnostics and atheists is they challenge my thinking, force me to study scripture more, and try to understand the background and context of that particular book or passage (because context does matter, sometimes more than the words themselves). After all, I’m supposed to know God’s Word so I can defend it (see previous entry Defend Yourself!).

I often use Twitter to both practice that defense, and discover where I lack knowledge and wisdom.

In this particular discussion, I discovered I lack quite a bit. But that’s not only okay, but good! Few people change their thinking on Twitter anyway, so I don’t really lose anything by losing an argument, or fail to convince someone to my way of thinking. Plus the anonymity helps.

My motive is to learn what I don’t know.

Do I hope my opponents gain a little more understanding, and perhaps even change their mind eventually? Of course, but I don’t expect it.

Speaking of studying, I have to write five devotions based on certain chapters in Psalms before June 26, and I don’t even have the first one written yet! I did start, but I couldn’t get my most recent Twitter implosion out of my head. Now that it’s out, maybe I can concentrate on writing the devotions and get them done in time.