Headinhands, I said: "God is just the same [as us in terms of wanting justice] except the only difference is that some things we normalise and accept are not normal or acceptable to God. That is the only difference." This is not saying what you thought I said, which is [you thought]: "that we have normalised bad things to explain why the OT seems so brutal to us." Just wanted to clear that one up.
So am I right in thinking you don't agree with the death penalty for adultery?
Yes. It was a rule for the OT, under the Law, but now under Grace, we are not required to follow all these rules in the same way. Remember how Jesus treated the women caught in adultery? He insisted she was freed without harm. Having said that, there are consequences and it is not ok to commit adultery. Consequences such as broken marriages, aggrieved spouses and children, lack of trust between friendships, to name but a few.
If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, he survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his property.
Corporal punishment was not always seen as awful as it is seen today. In fact, it's only recently been considered unacceptable and some Westerners still see fit to implement it as a punishment. There is an assumption that the slave is not innocent, because there was a call to fairness outlines above. Also, slaves were to be treated with respect, like family. People who used corporal punishment of their slaves also used it on their children, so this is not as much about slavery as it is about corporal punishment.
So if the government announced they were going to do away with the welfare system and allow people to own slaves, using the OT model, that would be okay? Would it be superior to what we have now?
Well they seem to be trying to chip away at benefits and social support! But my personal view is that it isn't the best case scenario. Neither is having people sit around all day when they're fit to work though. I would probably find somewhere in the middle, so people earn their benefit somehow. However, I am careful to point out that is my personal view only, not a biblical view.
Why is humanity moving away from slavery? If we have developed better, more moral ways of coping with poverty what couldn't God have set up a system like welfare that didn't involve owning people and being allowed to physically beat them?
Well we've covered the corporal punishment that people used on children as well as slaves. But in answer to your other question, humanity is right to move away from the sort of slavery we have seen in the past few centuries. This is different type of slavery to the OT, as I explained. Perhaps God didn't set up a welfare system specifically because one size doesn't fit all? (just guessing). You could say that being an au pair is a bit like OT slavery in that you live in the household and have your contract which binds you, but are treated like a member of the family, and in return for your labour, are fed and homed. It is not the sort of slavery you think of in the modern day.
I don't think it would be superior because I love independence and think independence is the perfect set-up. However I am not naive enough to believe that everyone can manage this in the modern world, and some people need extra support. I don;t think the bible is claiming slavery is superior, it is just outlining rules of how to treat your slave, just like there are rules with how to treat your spouse, parents, children, etc.