Philemon

There was something of a debate in the early church about what Paul’s short letter to Philemon has to offer in terms of theological insight and formation for the people of God. Some argued it was rather trivial and insignificant. Others, that it had much to say about Christian life in the real world—unfortunately some writers made Phlm out to be a helpful text for teaching Christian slaves not to rebel or run away. (Note that in this article, we will use the abbreviation “Phlm” to indicate the text of Paul’s letter to Philemon; we will use “Philemon” in reference to the person.) Phlm was, of course, canonized and became a standard text of study within Paul’s canonical corpus. Around the same time, patristic theologians adopted the view that Onesimus was a runaway slave who encountered Paul, accepted the Gospel, and was sent home to reconcile with Christian master Philemon. That “runaway slave” situational theory went more or less unquestioned for several hundred years until the middle of the twentieth century, when new theories emerged. Since then, Phlm has received significant attention for a number of reasons: social class in early Christianity, a history of justification of modern slavery by Christians, insight into early house church dynamics, Paul’s self-description as “prisoner” and “old man,” and the unique inclusion of a woman (Apphia) in Paul’s prescript, among other things. When it comes to analysis of the text of Phlm, much ink has been spilled on Paul’s statement about receiving Onesimus back as “more than a slave” and as a “beloved brother” (v. 16). Was Paul subtly prodding Philemon to manumit Onesimus? Or was Paul fixated on a new Christian social economy that did not necessitate legal freedom? Today, researchers benefit from detailed scholarship on Phlm, including technical (stand-alone) commentaries, monographs, topical book collections, and numerous essays and articles.