Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 5, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
No, no, no, no, and again no. This is just one of several Bible passages used by white enslavers to justify owning human beings in the U.S. Just because slavery was normal in ancient Israel and Rome doesn’t mean it was or is ever justifiable. Period.
Sometimes it is so challenging to read Biblical passages like this and think I’m supposed to find something instructive or life-giving in them. How can this be sacred scripture when it is so…wrong?
At the risk of being accused of cherry-picking, I just have to say that ‘I can’t even’ with this passage. I can’t believe such a sentiment is of God.
Are there passages of the Bible so challenging that I simply can’t believe they are from God? What do I believe about the nature of the Bible, then?
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
