How can Christians claim the bible is inspired by God when it contains stuff like this?

Obviously can't go into all of the citations or even deal with the general tenor of your post. But to show you why, as others have said, context is necessary, and your post totally lacks any understanding of the context, let's take one example: “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money." (Exodus 21:20-21)

Terrible, right? Although note that the master is punished if the slave dies within the first day, even though the slave is "his money."

For understanding, let's take one comment from one biblical commentator writing in the Jewish tradition, Rashi (France, 1040-1105): "HE SHALL NOT BE AVENGED: FOR HE IS HIS MONEY — However, any other person who smote him (the servant) is subject to the death penalty although he lived 24 hours before dying."

Get it? Someone else, not the owner, hits a slave and kills him, whether he dies immediately or survives a day or two -- that person is a murderer of a human being; he is subject to the death penalty. That is, the slave IS NOT his property; a slave is NOT property generally. A slave is a human being and cannot be killed with impunity. Ok the owner is exempt but not always (e.g. if death occurs the same day); but everyone else is liable to capital punishment for killing a human being.

This was way, way, way ahead of its time. Do you think in the American South in the 19th century, if some White person killed their White neighbor's black slave, the culprit was put to death? Hell no. Initially in the slave states, killing a slave was punished with a fine. By the time of the Civil War, most states had amended their laws to make killing a slave a capital crime -- but try to get a conviction before a jury of 12 white southern men. Yet biblical law would have made the murderer liable to the death penalty.

Thus, with proper context, the provision is very advanced for its time. Without context, all your examples together don't amount to much of anything.

/r/religion Thread