Paul's letter teaches us about love

Ah! I had missed the point that the letter is also addressed to the church that meets in Philemon’s house. Although it is a private letter, it can teach members of churches everywhere today. LOVE.

Here is the Amen or conclusion to the Enduring World article.

Amen: The conclusion of the letter can lead us to ask, “Why is the letter to Philemon in our Bibles?” In A.D. 110, the bishop of Ephesus was named Onesimus, and it could have been this same man. If Onesimus was in his late teens or early twenties when Paul wrote this letter, he would then be about 70 years old in A.D.110 and that was not an unreasonable age for a bishop in those days.

“Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, maketh mention of Onesimus, as pastor of Ephesus, next after Timothy. The Roman Martyrologue saith, that he was stoned to death at Rome, under Trajan the emperor.” (Trapp)

There is also some historical evidence that the letters of Paul were first gathered as a group in the city of Ephesus. Perhaps Onesimus first compiled the letters and wanted to make sure his letter – his charter of freedom – was included.

I like the implications of that. However, a Bible Dictionary says that it is unlikely, even fanciful. Rather, that his prominence in the church led to the taking on of his name by leaders in later years.

Oh! Again! Of course, Onesimus carried the letter from Paul to Philemon. Scholars seem to say that Paul was imprisoned in Rome at that time. Where was Philemon? One Google source tells me that he was at Colossae, in the ancient Roman province of Asia (now in western Turkey).

Joyce Voysey

Slavery and profitability

I am a slow starter on Philemon. Middle of August and no blog from me yet.

So, I turned to commentaries on the Internet and found Enduring Word commentary which caught my attention.

The first thing I noted was the possible influence on the letter by the one who was probably Onesimus’ wife, Appia. (This article presumes that the other addressee of the letter was probably the son, Archippus.) The writer points out that in those days the wife was the supervisor of the slaves in the household. So the business concerned her as well. For this letter is about business as well as love and the need of Paul for the help he receives from this slave.

The writer quotes:

Regarding the escaped slave, “She is as much a party to the decision as her husband, because according to the custom of the time, she had day-to-day responsibility for the slaves.” (Rupprecht)

What about the son? I ask. The thought that comes to me is that perhaps Archippus and Onesimus were of a similar age and they had played together as children.

I gather that Paul wasn’t asking for ownership of a slave who was very helpful to him. Possibly he could not afford to buy him. Which brings the question, How did Paul pay for all his travels?

So, we have the interesting question of profitability. Onesimus is not profitable to Philemon because he has run away. He has been profitable to Paul because of his service to him – and the fact that he has accepted Christianity. He may go forward in the faith and spread the word. And, because he knows that Philemon loves Paul, he must appreciate and value the service Onesimus gives him. And Philemon must love the fact that while he cannot serve Paul at this time, his servant is doing that in his stead.

Hello! Onesimus means profitable! Paul gives a play on the name and sees that now he is a Christian he can now live up to his name.

Of interest: There were at least 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire.

Joyce Voysey

Writing a letter?

Have you written a letter to a friend lately? Did you send it via a friend? Did you take special care over how you expressed your message? Was it a very long letter or quite short? Was it to someone you know well, or a colleague? Was it a formal letter or quite casual? Did you expect the letter to be read aloud to others? Was its message momentous?

Photo: Brad Neathery (Unsplash)

Paul's letter to Philemon is very short! It takes just under 3 minutes to read. I wonder how long Paul spent writing it? As he was under house arrest awaiting trial at the time of writing (probably 57-62 AD), we presume the Roman authorities allowed him to have the equipment he needed with which to compile his letter. 

The brevity of the letter makes it the perfect Bible book with which to compare Bible versions. BibleGateway offers engaging readings from several versions. Just click on the little "speaker" symbol, which is visible when a recording is available. 

For instance, the following speakers read from the following Bibles:

• Jon Mohr -- Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
• Max McLean -- English Standard Version (ESV) and King James Version (KJV)
• Dave McConachie -- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
• Kelly Ryan Dolan -- The Message

The letter comes alive. 

Julie Swannell

Forgiveness and redemption

 Recently, our family watched a movie called The Mercy. It is the harrowing story of the British amateur yachtsman who decides to enter a round-world non-stop yacht race. Under pressure from sponsors and a local newspaper, he reluctantly sets out, completely unprepared for such an epic voyage.

He soon finds himself unequal to the task. But the pressure to not let his "team" down compels him to falsify his reports about where he is and how is progressing. Things escalate from bad to very bad and he then becomes desperate to speak confidentially to his wife to share his deception and his dilemma. Unfortunately he is unable to contact her.

At this point, he notes to himself that the only sin is the sin of deception. He can neither finish the race honourably nor admit to his deception. He sees no way to redemption and commits himself to the sea, leaving his logbooks in full view of those who later find the abandoned yacht.

I was thinking about this story in relation to the letter written by the apostle Paul to his friend Philemon about Philemon's run-away slave Onesimus. It appears that Onesimus was guilty of stealing something belonging to his master. According to Roman law, this crime probably entailed a death sentence. 

But Onesimus appealed to Paul for assistance. Had he learned something of Christianity? Had he participated in church services in Philemon's home? Had he heard that Paul preached Christ's gospel of forgiveness and redemption? 

Paul asks Philemon to "love him [Onesimus] as a man and as a brother in the Lord" (Phil. 1: 16 International Children's Bible). 

Complete restoration. Sins forgiven. What a deep lesson in seeing a fellow-traveller in a new light.

Julie Swannell

The Christian Science Sentinel article extract below sets the scene perfectly:

ARTICLEFEBRUARY 17, 2006

Onesimus goes home

David M. Robertson

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

Onesimus must have been quite a guy. He showed up on Paul’s doorstep as a runaway slave who had apparently stolen some of his master’s goods. In ancient Rome around AD 60, this was a capital offence, and Onesimus could have been crucified. Yet he sought out Paul, who was under house arrest at the time.

Philemon: Introducing the characters

1. What does the text say? 

2. What does it mean? 

3. What does it mean to me?

These three questions - formulated by Madelon Maupin (BibleRoads.com) - are of inestimable assistance when reading Scripture. 

Paul's brief letter to Philemon is an example. Here's what some of the letter says:

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow-labourer, And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in thy house: ...

I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds: Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
(Philemon 1:1, 2, 10, 11)

To begin to understand why Paul was writing, we might look at some of the characters he mentions here, with help from Words of Current Interest, Christian Science Sentinel July 25 1964:

Philemon (fi-le'mon—i as in is, e as in eve, o as in connect) was a friend, and probably a convert, of Paul and lived in Colossae; while Apphia (af'i-a— first a as in add, second as in sofa, i as in is) and Archippus (ar-kip'us—a as in arm, i as in is, u as in circus) are thought to have been Philemon's wife and son, respectively.

Onesimus (Philem. 1:10) (o-nes'i-mus—o as in circus). Onesimus had been a slave of Philemon but had fled from his service. Apparently he had been converted by Paul during the apostle's imprisonment at Rome. The word Onesimus means literally "profitable"; hence the play upon words found in verse 11.

So, we have a Roman family who have become Christians: husband (Philemon), wife (Apphia) and son (Archippus), and we have Onesimus, a former slave of Philemon, but who had run away. And we have Paul, the great apostle who is now held in prison in Rome.

According to Thomas Leishman, other epistles written at this time were to the churches in Philippi, Ephesus and Colossae. (See Letters from Prison, Christian Science Journal, November 1976).

Have we had a falling-out with someone? Has there been a rift in the church family? Perhaps this story has relevance.

Julie Swannell

There's a helpful overview of the book of Philemon at https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/philemon/