I am a black American living in Atlanta, Georgia. I am college degreed with a MBA and work as an executive with a major corporation in Atlanta. I like other black Americans would probably had an easier time in my career if I had been born white, but I have learned in life what doesn’t kill me…makes me stronger. A preacher once told me that the sweetest water…is that water pushed through a mile of solid rock. I do not consider myself a victim. I am thankful for opportunity to achieve what I have. And yes, I am a Christian. So you ask, “How could God condone slavery”? A question birthed in ignorance and bias. Why do you think there are so many black Christian abolitionists prior to the Civil War? Abolitionists in Britain and the Colonies had a strong religious base. In the United States it had began with the Quakers and was also influenced by people converted during the Second Great Awakening led by Charles Finny in the 1830’s. Slavery, especially as seen since the its beginnings in the slave trade as early as the 1400’s…and the first slaves brought to Virginia in 1619, was an incredible evil. Some people though, have taken the Bible completely out of context. Slavery of the Old Testament was completely different than the racial slavery of the New World. Usually voluntary, individuals placed themselves in servitude to another for indebtedness, family honor, security or protection. Often tied to marriage traditions or an act of mercy in cases of extreme poverty or those left after a war, it was part of the culture of the period. Mass taking of captives as slaves at the ends of wars was done by nations and usually for building and farming. The Hebrews in Egypt for 400 years and Jews for 70 years in Babylonian captivity are examples of this. Yes, there were acts of cruelty and abuse…but those were rare in voluntary servitude. A girl taken into a family as a slave would be a burden to her master is she was not well taken cared for. Loss of virginity was a shame and dishonor to the entire family. Journeyman’s suggestion for scholarly review was excellent. Glenn Miller sure did his research.
www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html

One of the problems some people have is taking the Bible out of the culture in which it was written. God spoke to people of that culture, of that time, with that history and with those traditions. Individuals who were ignorant, by our standards of knowledge….superstitious…and barbaric. Just like now…God met them right where they were. As a great theologian wrote….the word of God…in the words of men. The message of the Bible is not just the final destination. It is in the journey. It is not about social reform. It is about reforming of the heart….and the rest takes care of itself.