2 Cents

The Prime Minister recently changed his views on gay marriage, going from opposing it to affirming it because, as he says in the video, he felt in his conscience it was the right thing to do.  Conveniently his evolution on this issue comes just as there is an election coming up in Australia. (Any of this sound familiar?) The man asking the question from the audience, a pastor of a local church, seems to call him out on this.

But this isn't what I want to focus on here.  I don't even want to go into the morality of gay marriage.

Want I want you to notice is the argument the Prime Minister gives to defend his interpretation of the Bible.

The man in the audience, after saying he performs marriages between men and women, and referring to Jesus' remarks on marriage in Matthew 19:4-5 (he flubs it up a little, but hey, he's being bold), asks the Prime Minister, If you call yourself a Christian, why don't you believe the words of Jesus?

The Prime Minister responds, Well if I took that view, the Bible also says that slavery is a natural condition - which is followed by resounding applause from the crowd.

He goes on to say, St. Paul said in the New Testament, "Slaves be obedient to your masters," (Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22; 1 Tim. 6:1) and therefore we should have all fought for the confederacy.

THIS is what I want to analyze here.

Now, let me first say it's a smart tactic, if you're trying to defend your position in a debate, to take your opponent's point out to its logical conclusion using a separate scenario that can clearly reveal to them how silly their stance really is.  The Prime Minister tried to do that here to the man in the audience.  However he has to use some pretty shoddy Bible interpretation to do so.

First, he is incorrect in asserting the Bible says that slavery is a natural condition.  You can't find that anywhere in the Bible.  The crowd embarrassingly applauds this error.  

Just because the Bible mentions something does not mean it condones it or calls it natural.  This is like claiming the Bible says polygamy is a natural condition simply because it records the fact that some men in the Old Testament married multiple women.  

We have to remember there are descriptive and prescriptive parts of the Bible.  The descriptive parts are portions of Scripture that simply describe what happened without making a moral judgment one way or the other.  This is exactly what the Bible does in the OT often when it mentions polygamy.  The prescriptive portions of the Bible are passages that actually tell us what we should and should not do or believe.  

Second, the fact that Paul urges slaves to obey their masters in no way allows us to jump to the conclusion that the Bible is pro-slavery.  It is simply a commandment Paul gives to those who are already in that state.  No comment is made one way or the other on the morality of slavery as a system.  

A similar command is given by Jesus in Matt. 22:21.  Even though the Roman government was an extremely corrupt system known for putting Christians to death simply for being Christians, Jesus still gives the Pharisees the commandment to pay taxes - to be obedient to their authorities even in the midst of a corrupt system of rule.  

Finally, there are many who would argue (including myself) that the book of Philemon is a polemic against slavery.  Philemon's slave Onesimus, has run away to Paul.  Paul, being the honest man of integrity he is, writes back to Philemon and lets him know he's sending Onesimus back, but at the same time urges Philemon to release Onesimus both explicitly and implicitly.  It's a fascinating, and slightly humorous letter.

So, unfortunately, while those in favor of gay marriage are trying to frame it as a civil rights issue much like slavery, it is incorrect, at least in this instance, to equate the two on biblical grounds.  There's no truth at all in claiming the Bible is pro-slavery.