Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare #fundie premier.org.uk

Peter: Which of them is it Gods perfect morality to beat within an inch of their lives? I've never known anyone to miss the point as comprehensively as you!

Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare: I don't remember saying anything about beating anyone "within an inch of their lives". That's another later addition by yourself, I'm afraid. The point I'm making is that slavery in the Bible is not the same as our modern idea of stealing and trafficking of people for personal gain. Sometimes it involved a mutual agreemrnt of voluntary servitude. The parable of Jesus that I quoted previously seems to support the idea that masters were allowed to punish servants (or slaves) who misbehaved, even during Jesus' time on earth. There's no mention of "beating within an inch of their lives" anywhere in that passage.

Peter: Exodus 21 v 21 is what you are trying to defend as Gods perfect morality. Beating people to within an inch of their lives. You go on about what sort of person is being beaten as if that's the issue!

Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare: Besides, a person who is beaten within an inch of their lives would not recover within a day or two, suggesting that the beating was not that severe. Again, it's all about the context within which the text was written. Even in the 20th century, the army was allowed to beat offending officers as part of discipline. Nowadays, that's no longer allowed.

Peter: Ha! The verse you're defending says REMAINS ALIVE for a day or two, not fully recovers. You're something else. This is what happens when you put the god of innerrancy before basic morality

Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare: M version says "recovers".

Peter: As in stay alive. Amplified: 21 But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for he [has injured] his own property. Exodus 21:21 | AMP

Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare: So now it's a matter of which translation you choose? That's neither here nor there. The real issue here is that God does not support people beating their servants or slaves to death. Reasonable chastisement is permissible, but not manslaughter. Verse 20 clearly states that. We too often anachronistically impose our modern ideas of morality on societies of a different era. If you took the time to study what the Bible actually teaches the Israelites about the treatment of slaves in the Old Testament, you would realise that it was actually radical for that era compared to the surrounding cultures.

Peter: Your 'morality' is utterly obscene and a case study in how far we go wrong if we make a god of inerrancy

Ayoola Hamilton-Tikare: And your "morality" is based on something you cooked up from your own worldview that has nothing to do with what the Bible actually teaches.

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