Here’s the deal about slavery in the Bible... I wrote this a long time ago while debating some atheists:
The bible does talk about slavery. People used the Bible to abolish slavery in every nation Christianity went to. The Bible was used to undo oppression, slavery and to give women their rights to every nation Christianity went to.
The Bible primarily documents the inspired story of freedom (the Exodus). The bible gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deut 15:12-15; Eph 6:9; Col 4:1). Again, the atheists see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. Again, the haters fail to understand that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. Sinful man practiced slavery, not God. God had Moses demand freedom for the Jews in Egypt too. Now, "Man-stealing" which is what America did in the 19th century to Africans, was in fact punishable by death! (Exodus 21:16). Slave traders were also condemned like murderers! (1 Timothy 1:8-10).
Deuteronomy 15:12-18 talks about setting a servant free after seven years of indebted service from him/her. It also gives instruction on what to do if the servant doesn't want to go free, but wants to stay with the slave owner for life.
Finally, the bible itself was written to point the way to salvation and NOT to reform society. Many anti Christians are the ones that like to cherry pick verses to suit their sinful, arrogant and selfish lusts of this world.
In 1934, Michael King Jr changed his name to MLK Jr. He did that in honor of Martin Luther; a great (Christian Protestant) reformer who changed the course of history.
Even Martin Luther King Jr made it crystal clear, that the consistent application of BIBLICAL principles will inevitably lead to emancipation, as opposed to slavery. How different from former president Obama who once said that the bible "teaches" slavery. MLK Jr. appealed to the principles of Christian brotherhood in order to bring about racial justice.
You can't convince me otherwise that MLK Jr. (a black man) would embrace the holy bible if it indeed condoned slavery.
MLK Jr. Was impacted by the lives of other people. Gandhi was one of those people. As a result of seeing what Gandhi did, MLK believed that he could make a difference in history as well.