Paul’s letter to Philemon is such a small book of the Bible that it tends to get overlooked. It’s tucked in between Paul’s pastoral epistles and the weighty book of Hebrews. It should really be read together with Colossians since it deals with members of the Colossian church. There are several interesting literary features, including chiasmus, deliberative request, and word play. It is an excellent example of “indirect application” of Bible truth. Obviously there aren’t many of us who find ourselves in the position of having to forgive a runaway slave. For us to benefit from the message of Philemon we have to be able to make an “indirect application” in an area of our lives. Reconciliation between Christians who have had a falling out is one powerful example. Paul’s tact, Onesimus’ bravery, and Philemon’s “rights” all give us much to think about in our own lives. In addition to reconciliation, there is simply the message of “equality in Christ.” In this book we see Paul, an apostle, Onesimus, a slave, and Philemon, a slave owner, all in “the same boat.” They’re all children of God and thus “brothers.”
The Life Application Study Bible sees the letter to Philemon as a “blueprint” for what Christ has done for us, i.e. Christ interecedes for us as slaves to sin. I’m a bit ambivalent about that application, especially if we bypass the very real application of reconciliation between Christians that can be made on the basis of this letter.
I’ll be talking about Philemon a lot in several coming posts but this is just to get the ball rolling.
Do you think Philemon is a useful book?
First, I want to thank David for setting up the Blog and taking to time to provide us with a different way of looking at scripture. While I am a bit of an academic, this was way more information than I would normally deal with. As I reviewed the references I was struck with the extent of the commentary – The book of Philemon is only about 1 page in length, while the commentary is 10 pages.
I was pleased to find the link to Bible Gateway a very useful reference.
If I assume the writing of this letter was inspired by God, I not questioning that, then it is possible to read in between the lines all of the explanations in the commentaries. However, if I assume it was a letter written from and ordinary man, which Paul was not, then the commentary seems to go a bit far in assuming Paul had such deep thoughts and ideas and the ability to state so much without saying very much.
One of the key points of this book to me was the obvious, obvious to me, responsibility of Christians to respond to the social conditions that are unjust and unChristian. One of which is slavery.
On a more academic level I was once again reminded of my lack of english background, courses that did not fit with my interest in engineering. I should have payed more attention to these topics in college.
So, to assist myself I use Dictionary.Com as a great source for definitions for words I do not know, remember, or not sure of the definition. This source includes dictionary, Thesaurus, encyclopedia and web search tools.
Yes – I think this is a very useful book
When I study a book of the bible, one of the first things I do is find out some history. So here are a few facts I found at one site.
Writer: The apostle Paul; his only surviving letter about an individual
Date: c AD62; carried by Tychicus together with the Letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians
Where written: By Paul under house arrest in Rome
Reader: Philemon at Colossae;
Why: To ask Philemon to forgive and welcome back the runaway slave Onesimus, now a brother in Christ. The Letter is a model of forgiveness, love, and tact
From an article in Bible Gate Way as a link from the word deliberative request in the opening comments on this blog.
Thanks for your positive comments. There is a huge amount that can be said about Philemon which to me shows what an important book it is if properly understood.
Do you think Paul ever had an idea that his personal letter written to a friend would be translated into thousands of languages and read for centuries all over the world?
I agree it is a divinely inspired part of the canon but it also seems wholly human. God could have simply handed down some commandments on a tablet regarding slavery and reconciliation instead he chose to show real people working through the problem in real ways. Sounds a lot like the incarnation.
Keep writing! I’ll see you Sunday.
David
As I mentioned before, I have a need to use the dictionary to obtain definitions for words I don’t understand and for words I think I understand but an not really sure I understand.
Here are several words looked up at Dictionary.Com
I hope these are useful. There was one word that didn’t show up in the dictionary, so I used the web search and found it. The word is splanchna. The explanation below was found at the . Bible Resource Center
Eschatological
n: The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.
adj : of or relating to or dealing with or regarding the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world
en·vis·age
tr.v.en·vis·aged, en·vis·ag·ing, en·vis·ag·es
To conceive an image or a picture of, especially as a future possibility: envisaged a world at peace.
Exordium – n : (rhetoric) the introductory section of an oration or discourse
Koinonia – n : Christian fellowship or communion with God or with fellow Christians; said in particular of the early Christian community
Manumission- n : the formal act of freeing from slavery; “he believed in the manumission of the slaves”
Parousia – n : (Christian theology) the reappearance of Jesus as judge for the Last Judgment [syn: Second Coming, Second Coming of Christ, Second Advent, Advent, Parousia]
Peroration – n 1: a flowery and highly rhetorical oration 2: (rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration; “he summarized his main points in his peroration”
Praxis – n : translating an idea into action; “a hard theory to put into practice”; “differences between theory and praxis of communism” [syn: practice]
Rapprochement – n : the reestablishing of cordial relations [syn: reconciliation]
Tenet- n : a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof [syn: dogma]
COMPASSION AND MERCY
Abstract
The Greek term for feeling compassion (splanchnizomai) includes a physical aspect in the tone of its feeling. Its related noun (splanchna) means “bowels, viscera.” Both the Greek verb and noun match our English expression “gut feeling.”
The Greek term for mercy (eleos) is often used to characterize the action of God’s faithful love. God’s mercy reverberates in the mercy given to the half-dead man on the road.
The legal expert uses past tense to refer to the mercy shown, implying it to be a specific, completed action. Jesus’ present tense response suggests that he believes mercy is to be a continuing way of life.
Summary
The Greek term for feeling compassion (splanchnizomai) is used by Luke in several key stories. In the Prodigal Son (15.20), the father has compassion for his returned son. Jesus looks with compassion on the widow at Nain who has lost her only son (7.13). This verb includes a physical aspect in the tone of its feeling because the related noun (splanchna) means “bowels, viscera.” Both the Greek verb and noun match our English expression “gut feeling.”
The expert in the Law describes the Samaritan’s action as showing mercy (10.37). The Greek term for mercy (eleos) is often the one used in the Bible to characterize the action of God’s faithful love. The underlying message is that God’s mercy reverberates in the mercy given to the half-dead man on the road.
Verb tenses also give clues into the point of view of the characters. The legal expert says “the one who showed him mercy,” implying mercy to be a specific, completed action. Jesus’ present
I was checking out the Blog and discovered that in my haste to get the definitions posted I failed to note that they are in reference to the commentary found at Bible Gateway associated with the deliberative request noted in Lingamish’s first post.
Phew, those big words can really be confusing. Your comment made me realize that the Intervarsity commentary is pretty technical. Is there something out there that is well done like the Intervarsity but written for a more general audience?
Thank you David & Hilary Ker for teaching us about Philemon, but also for sharing about Mozambique. It is fascinating to know what you are doing for others, and we admire you so much for it. This is a really cool website, we had forgotten to check it out. We’ve added it to our list of favorites & will check on you again soon! Thanks again for sharing with us!!!! Lanny & Cindy Engom