The Bible in the World – Philemon

Revised by Mary Hinkle Shore (2/25)

Why doesn’t Paul go further?

The ApostleDerived from a Greek word meaning "one who is sent," an apostle is a person who embraces and advocates another person's idea or beliefs. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus called twelve apostles to follow and serve him. Paul became an apostle of Jesus... More PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. More writes the letter to the Galatians to urge his readers not to submit to circumcisionCircumcision is an act of cutting off part of a male (or female) sex organ for religious or health reasons. In the Bible circumcision was performed on males to indicate inclusion into the Jewish religious community. Some church calendars commemorate January 1 as the Circumcision... More as some Christian teachers are advising them. They do not need circumcision or other markers of Jewishness, Paul argues, for their being in Christ through baptismJesus was baptized (literally, "dipped") in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer, at which time he was acclaimed from heaven as God's Son, the Beloved. Much later baptism became one of the sacraments of the Church, the action by which a person is incorporated... More ensures their membership among God’s own people. “Jew” and “GentileA gentile is anyone who is not Jewish. The term, which is derived from words that the Bible uses to denote the "nations" of the world, reflects beliefs that God had designated Israel as a nation that would be distinct from others, and a blessing... More” are categories that belong to the age before Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. So also, “slave” and “free.” Paul writes, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More” (3:27-28).

Modern readers of Paul’s letters have often expressed frustration with Paul’s reluctance to follow up his bold statement in Galatians with equally bold ethical direction that supports an end to slavery and the full participation of women in the churches. For instance, if “there is no longer slave or free,” why does Paul not spell out for Philemon and the rest of his householdA household is a living unit comprised of all the persons who live in one house.  A household would embrace all the members of a family, including servants and slaves.  In the book of Acts, stories are told of various persons and their households, like... More Philemon’s next steps explicitly? Readers imagine that Paul could have said, “Receive OnesimusSlave of Philemon for whom Paul appealed in his Letter to Philemon. More back into your household as a freed man, and while you are at it, level the hierarchy of privilege in your household altogether. You are all one in Christ Jesus.” Why didn’t he?

The question has at least three plausible answers.

1. In the letter, Paul writes that he knows Philemon “will do even more than I say” (verse 21). Paul also says that he prefers Philemon act out of love than because of a command (verse 8). Perhaps Paul does not direct Philemon’s actions more explicitly because he does not need to do so in order to get the result of a freed Onesimus. 
2. Paul confesses that “there is no longer slave or free,” but he also confesses that “the time has grown short” and that “the present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29, 31). Paul believed that the time was so short before Christ’s coming again that he sensed no urgency about transforming societal structures. All of his ethics, then, were interim ethics. 
3. Paul and those who followed after him did not want to rock the boat in a way that drew the wrath of those in control of society’s structures. The household, with privilege and servitude inscribed along family, gender and enslavement lines, was the building block of Greco-Roman society. If Philemon or other Christian householders were to level the hierarchy of their households, it would be seen as a direct threat to peaceful society. An imprisoned Paul, writing to Philemon, was not willing—or perhaps if his letters were censored, not able—to propose such a thing explicitly. 

All three of these explanations require speculation, of course. At the same time, they rely on what we know of Paul’s thought and social context.

Changing society from within

In his 2007 papal encyclical, Spe Salve⁠ (“Saved in Hope” text may be accessed at: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi.html), Pope Benedict XVI cites Philemon to illustrate how Christian faith results in hope that is not just for the future, but also has an impact on the present time. Benedict points out that the early Christians called one another “brother” and “sister,” regardless of their social status or blood relationships. To have been baptized was to have been reborn; it was to be joined in the one Spirit and to share one spiritual food and drink.  “Even if external structures remained unaltered,” the Holy Father writes, “this changed society from within.” 

We can only guess whether Philemon and Onesimus’ household was changed from within by the brotherhood that enslaver and enslaved came to share in Christ. Still, Paul explicitly calls them brothers (verse 16); he calls himself Philemon’s brother (verse 20), and he calls Apphia his sister (verse 2). The seeds of social transformation were there in the first century, as they continue to be for readers in the 21st century. Christian communities have usually found ways to live with—and even to promote—different status levels even as they refer to each other as one in Christ. Still, an alternative to hierarchical structures for community peeks out from the pages of the New Testament. 

The church listens to a personal letter

Readers of Philemon are often struck by the fact that Paul addresses what is surely a personal letter to multiple people. The letter is sent not only to Philemon but also to his family members and indeed, to the “church that meets at your house” (verse 2). House churches in the period of the letter would likely have included one or two dozen members. They were larger than the immediate family but still small by the standards of many modern Christian congregations. Why address this letter to the whole church? 

Some readers suggest that Paul was attempting to use other church members to hold Philemon accountable for receiving Onesimus back as a brother in Christ. If the letter had been addressed to Philemon alone, and he chose to punish Onesimus or otherwise hold him responsible for debts or previous trouble (verse 18), no one in the household would have known that Paul has specifically asked Philemon to welcome Onesimus as a beloved brother. Paul addresses the church so that he might have witnesses to the love he (Paul) has for Onesimus, and so that he might have witnesses to the request he is making of Philemon. 

Writing in 2015, one reader of the letter argues in almost exactly the opposite direction. Ernest Bursey points out that it would not be enough for Philemon to welcome Onesimus back to the household as a beloved brother in Christ. (Ernest J. Bursey, “The Puzzling Plurals in Philemon.” The Journal of Applied Christian Leadership 9 (1): 10-13.) The church would need to welcome him as well. What if the church meeting at Philemon’s house  remembered the enslaved man as “useless” (verse 11), a pagan and troublemaker? When Onesimus returned, it might not matter what Philemon did in terms of welcome. When the whole church is addressed by the letter, the whole church is being asked to follow Philemon in recognizing Onesimus as useful, a beloved brother, and one whom Paul refers to as “my own heart” (verse 12). 

Relationship and ethics

The letter to Philemon is an example of the way that Christian ethics may flow, not from rules, but from relationships within the Christian community. HolyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More living is sometimes seen as keeping a set of ethical imperatives, for example, the Ten Commandments, or the Golden Rule. In this way of thinking, those who would seek to live as Christians do so by keeping the rules. 

In this letter, Paul relies on a different norm for defining the scope of Christian ethics. Paul does not give Philemon a general rule to keep such as, “Be hospitable to everyone.” Instead, Paul highlights the relationships within which Philemon finds himself, and he asks him to behave in a way that honors those relationships. What Philemon will do, Paul proposes, flows from his relationships with Christ, with Paul, and finally, on the new relationship he has with Onesimus as a brother in Christ. 

To do this, Paul first calls to mind the relationship he and Philemon share with Christ and those who bear the name of Christ. Philemon has “love for all the saints” (verse 5). (“Saints” is a way that Paul speaks of other Christians, including those who are still alive.) Philemon is embedded in Christian community. He lives in relationships that are characterized by love and faith. And his life among “the saints” is a generous one, with “the hearts of the saints” having been refreshed through him (verse 7). 

Some readers look at the first third of the letter to Philemon and conclude that Paul is only flattering Philemon, as if Paul appeals to the householder’s ego at the start, knowing that if Philemon accepts Paul’s praise as true, then he will be forced to offer the same kind of love and care to Onesimus, whether he wants to do so or not. Perhaps. But it could also be true that Paul is reminding Philemon of the kind of person the householder is and has been in relationship to siblings in Christ. Those relationships have been characterized by love. Having witnessed Philemon’s love for other saints, Paul expects that Philemon will act in brotherly love toward Onesimus as well.

Philemon as a sample of ancient letter-writing

Paul’s letter to Philemon offers a near picture-perfect example of the ancient letter form and so has been used as a model for teaching the standard parts of the form Paul uses to communicate with his churches. The following parts of an ancient letter are each represented in this shortest of all Paul’s New Testament correspondence. 

Sender’s self-designation 

Paul begins the letter by identifying himself and a co-sender, TimothyThe companion on Paul's later journeys for whom two pastoral epistles are named. More. Paul immediately describes himself as “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.” His being imprisoned will be a recurring theme in the letter. Here Paul connects his imprisonment to his work of ministry on behalf of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Addressees 

Next Paul names those to whom the letter is addressed. Philemon is the first person named, and at several points in the letter, Paul addresses Philemon in the singular. The list of addressees, however, includes Apphia, probably Philemon’s wife, another co-worker, Archippus, and “the church in your house” (verse 2). The addressee list thus signals that the letter is personal and also public. 

Greeting 

In verse 3, Paul offers his usual greeting, which combines charis or “graceGrace is the unmerited gift of God's love and acceptance. In Martin Luther's favorite expression from the Apostle Paul, we are saved by grace through faith, which means that God showers grace upon us even though we do not deserve it. More,” a common greeting in Greek, with what in Hebrew is shalom, or “peace,” a standard Hebrew greeting. 

Thanksgiving

The thanksgiving section in Paul’s letters offers Paul’s report of his prayers of thanks for the recipients of the letter. In Galatians, Paul omits the thanksgiving section. In 1 Thessalonians, he offers a double thanksgiving, first in 1:3-4 and again in 2:13-15. 

The content of the thanksgiving often signals the subject matter to come in the body of a letter. Such is the case with the thanksgiving in Philemon, in which Paul gives thanks to God in response to Philemon’s “love for all the saints.” Later in the letter, Paul will call on Philemon to show that love toward Onesimus. 

Theme

The reason for Paul’s letter is to make an appeal to Philemon, and the theme section of the letter (verses 7-9) offers the letter’s first statement related to the appeal. Here Paul also plays with the themes of freedom and the lack of freedom that incidentally characterizes both imprisonment (Paul’s circumstance) and enslavement (Onesimus’ circumstance). Paul tells Philemon that he, Paul, could command an action, thereby eliminating Philemon’s freedom, but he prefers that Philemon does the right thing freely, out of love rather than in response to a command. 

Body

In the body of the letter (verses 10-22), Paul spells out the situation that occasions the letter: Onesimus is returning to his enslaver’s house. Paul makes the appeal that Philemon welcome Onesimus “as you would welcome me” (verse 17). Near the end of the letter, when Paul asks for a guest room to be prepared for him, he alludes again to the welcome Philemon would offer him. Such, Paul expects, will be the welcome Onesimus will receive.

Closing

Finally, like all of Paul’s letters, the letter to Philemon includes a closing in which the apostle offers greetings from those who are with him. In other letters, Paul will use the closing also to send greetings to particular individuals. The letter concludes with a blessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God's favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God. More. 

In a much smaller package than most of Paul’s New Testament letters, the letter to Philemon illustrates how the apostle used the letter form to make himself and his authority known “across the miles” that separated him and those he had worked with to begin churches. In Paul’s hands, the standard form of communication between individuals became a way to proclaim the gospel and explore its ethical implications in community. 

Ethics, ends, and means

Ethicists sometimes argue that the end justifies the means. For example, if someone lies to save a life, is the lie justified? Lying fails to uphold the value of honesty, but when dishonesty saves a life, lying is justified as the means to a worthy end. 

In the letter to Philemon, Paul does not rely on a worthy end (welcome to Onesimus) to justify questionable means (commanding Philemon’s action). Paul writes, “I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty” (verse 8). Yet Paul does not command. 

If Paul had issued a command, he may have gotten the result he wanted, but at what cost? If Paul were to compel Philemon’s actions, Paul would be inscribing a new hierarchy: the apostle in Christ is higher than the householder in Christ. Such a command from Paul would enliven this new hierarchy at precisely the time the apostle is hoping to show the householder that the old hierarchy is passing away, that in Christ, Philemon is on the same level as Onesimus. 

Paul is not willing to use the means of command to an enslaving person (verse 8) to achieve the end of a gracious welcome for a returning enslaved person (verse 17). To force Philemon’s good deed would be to keep depending on the structures of the old age to accomplish something that those structures are not able to do. They cannot make beloved brothers out of two men who occupy such different places in Greco-Roman society. God’s work in Christ can do such a thing, however (verse 16), and so Paul relies on it as the inspiration for Philemon’s welcome of Onesimus.