What Does the Bible Say about Reparations?
Are reparations biblical? Absolutely! To pay reparations means to make amends for a wrong that was done. Another word for this is restitution, and the law required the person responsible to restore more than what was lost. For example, in Exodus 22:1 it says, "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep." In Leviticus 6:1-7, an offender had to repay what was lost, plus extra, plus take a sacrifice to the priest to atone for sins. In Luke 19:1-10, Jesus went to the house of a tax collector named Zacchaeus. He said to Jesus, "The half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this house." In view of Christ, Zacchaeus made reparations. But how about reparations for slavery? In Deuteronomy 15:12-15, it says when a master freed his slave, he was supposed to load him...