The Problem of Slavery in the Bible—and Why It Points to God

"If God exists, I want nothing to do with Him." That’s the heart cry of a growing number of people who, when faced with the moral dilemmas found in Scripture—slavery, genocide, natural disasters—reject not just Christianity, but the very idea of God Himself. And honestly? I understand where they’re coming from. They point to the God of the Bible and ask, how could an all-loving, all-powerful being do this? Command the slaughter of people? Let children suffer? Allow slavery?

But I want to pause and flip the conversation. Because I believe the very moral outrage you feel is not evidence against God. It's evidence for Him.

The Objection: A Morally Repugnant God

Critics point to passages in Scripture where God appears to sanction morally dubious acts. Take the story of the flood:

The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth... So the LORD said, I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created.

— Genesis 6:5a,7a (NIV)

Or Abraham and Isaac:

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."

— Genesis 22:2 (NIV)

Or New Testament passages like:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

— Ephesians 6:5 (NIV)

To the modern reader, this can sound repulsive. It offends our moral intuitions. But that raises a powerful question: Where did you get those moral intuitions?

The Hidden Premise: A Moral Standard

If you’re outraged by the idea of slavery, suffering, or injustice, then you are presupposing some moral standard by which you judge God—and that standard cannot come from nature itself. If you believe we are just evolved animals, clumps of carbon and neural networks firing off chemicals, then what exactly is your basis for human rights? For moral indignation?

Why is slavery wrong? Why is genocide wrong? Why do children deserve to live? Why do humans have inherent dignity?

You feel that they do, but those feelings mean nothing unless there's a deeper moral reality they’re pointing to. And they are:

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

— Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

It is the Christian worldview that says we are created in the image of God, endowed with dignity, value, and purpose. Yet many reject the God who gives that worldview coherence while fully realizing its effects.

God, Slavery, and Historical Context

Let’s also talk about the slavery objection directly. Many critics cite verses like Ephesians 6:5 or Colossians 3:22. But they often overlook both context and language. The Greek word doulos (δοῦλος) can mean servant, bond-servant, or slave, and its interpretation depends on historical and cultural background.

The slavery of the ancient Near East was not identical to the race-based, dehumanizing chattel slavery of American history. In many cases, it was more akin to indentured servitude, a system for debt repayment, with legal protections and the possibility of freedom. Moreover, Paul does not command slavery; he addresses people within an existing social system, encouraging ethical treatment on both sides.

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

— Colossians 4:1 (NIV)

It’s also worth noting the subversive edge of Christian teaching in a world where slavery was the norm. The gospel declared slave and free as equal heirs of the kingdom:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

— Galatians 3:28 (NIV)

Christianity sowed the seeds that would eventually undermine slavery entirely, leading abolitionists like Martin Luther King Jr. to fight against it because of their faith—not in spite of it.

Why Blame God for Free Will?

Some argue that God commands atrocities. But we need to separate what God permits from what God commands. Often, people cite instances of moral evil—war, murder, abuse—and lay the blame at God's feet. Yet human free will is central to Christian teaching. God does not force obedience; He allows us to choose.

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

— Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

If God were to override human will every time someone was about to commit an atrocity, we would not be free at all, and thus true love would not exist. And if He never intervened, we’d accuse Him of being absent. Either way, we set the standard and then blame God for not conforming to it.

The Problem of Evil Proves the Problem of Atheism

If evil exists, then good exists. If good exists, then there must be some objective moral law. And if there’s an objective moral law, there must be a moral Lawgiver. Otherwise, what you call evil is just personal preference—your brain chemistry reacting negatively to stimuli. That doesn’t justify righteous anger or demands for justice. But Christianity does. Here’s what I see: the very outrage many feel when reading the supposed “immoral” acts of God in the Bible is not evidence against God, but evidence for Him. You feel these things because you were made to feel them. The human heart is wired to seek justice, beauty, truth, and love. And that hunger doesn’t come from nowhere.

Your longing for justice, your recoil at slavery, your tears for the suffering—all of it testifies to a deeper truth. That something is wrong with the world. And something must make it right. You say you wouldn’t want anything to do with God if He exists. But your very rejection reveals that you believe He does. You reject Him not like someone rejecting an idea, but like someone angry at a person—like someone who knows there’s Someone on the other side.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

— Romans 1:20 (NIV)

The Invitation

God can seem distant and offensive when filtered only through difficult verses or historical abuses. But you can see Him. Not just in the sky, or the stars, or the logic of morality—but in the love that makes you cry when it’s absent. In the pain that demands meaning. In the soul that aches for more.

If you want to know if God is real—look. But don’t just look for evidence. Look with a heart willing to see.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

— Psalm 19:1-4a (NIV)