Paul's Epistle To Philemon
(Paul)
Paul?s epistle to Philemon is the shortest of his epistles to make it into the canon and is clearly one of the most personal. Philemon was a leader in the growing Christian community in Colossae. Paul instructs Philemon to tell his son, Archippus, to take heed to the ministry, however, indicating that he may have been the one to actually lead services. Paul's messenger is someone named Tychicus, but also someone named Onesimus, who appears to be a slave of Philem Onesimus had run away from Philemon, stealing valuables, and reaching Rome before where he was converted to Christianity by Paul. Interestingly, this epistle seems to confirm that Christianity's founding manager, Paul, fully accepted the concept of slavery, since in this letter he doesn't condemn slavery or try to convince Philemon to free Onesimus.
Paul does, however, urge Philemon to accept Onesimus' return as a fellow Christian and to at least treat him better and not punish him severely. Paul even goes so far as to offer to be financially responsible to Philemon should he suffer any economic loss on Onesimus' account. Although he contradicts himself in other places in the Bible, in this epistle Paul makes a point to urge that no distinction be made regarding sex, race, creed or conditions of slavery when it comes to who can become a Christian. Jesus loves everyone equally.
Ultimately the letter is about Onesimus being sent back into servitude, and the concurrent recognition that Philemon possesses ownership of him. Conversion to Christianity did not set Onesimus free, he is still a slave, owned by a human being. Paul pleads with Philemon to be kind to his runaway slave, but ultimately a slave is still a slave, whether he is Christian or not. Perhaps this is the reason why Philemon is so rarely used in modern day sermons and why the book one of the least well known in the New Testament.
Resumos Relacionados
- The Epistle Of Galatians
- Epistle To The Philippians
- Epistle To The Colossians
- Epistle To The Philippians
- The Book Of Philippians
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