Philemon: Reflections on Christianity, Slavery and Pastoral Authority

Philemon is not one of the popular books of modern Christianity. Its subject matter is would be considered unchristian by most. The slave Omesimus is being returned to his owner Philemon which appears to be Paul's endorsement of slavery. According to Wikipedia article on Philemon, both sides of the 16^th and 17^th century slavery debate used Philemon as a Biblical endorsement. With hindsight, this 21^st century sees it as an anti-slavery text.

The confusion over slavery is because Paul models good pastoral practice for maturing any Christian. "Accordingly, although in Christ I might feel free to dictate where you duty lies, yet, because of the same love, I would rather appeal to you" (Phil. 8). Paul might have been Philemon's father in the faith (Phil. 19) but Philemon now helped lead a Church (v.1f). Probably, Paul had observed what Richard Foster had, "Of all the spiritual disciplines none have been more abused that the discipline of submission" (p.139) and since the letter greets others and Philemon's church, Paul wanted to model the 'discipline of guidance' (pp.221 - 238). Or maybe Paul wanted to develop David A de Silver called Christ-mindedness within Philemon (pp. 682 – 683). It is also an example of the old rule of thumb – the ethical responses to the gospel are a matter for each individual believer.

Even if Paul had dictated Philemon's actions, there would be no less debate over the Christian view of slavery. Personally, I doubt that Paul could see the unchristian cruelty of slavery since he was too close to it. Many, including Augustine and Calvin, believed that the God's revelation can be hidden behind the culture we live in (Stark, 2004, p. 327). That equally applies to both Paul and us.

Why do I see it as an anti-slavery text? It comes from Paul's plea on behalf of Omesimus. This slave could have been running away or exercising one to the few rights in the ancient world. De Silver (2004, p.671) point out he might not have been running away but points to a tradition writing that, "Slaves experiencing difficulty in their masters' home were known to leave the master in search of one of the master's 'friends,' who would sought out as an advocate to plead the slave's case." Whatever happened, by Christ using Paul to bring Omesimus into the faith Paul became Omesimus' advocate. Paul was a poor advocate offering no defence of Omesimus. He states the Omesimus was useless to his owner (v.11) except as a servant to Paul whilst in prison. There is no plea of mercy for the absences without leave. Paul simply throws Omesimus back expecting freedom because of a change in the relationship between the master and soon to be former slave. Paul writes, "[Have Omesimus back] no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave: as a dear brother, very dear to me, and still dearer to you, both as a man and as a Christian (v.16).

The question was how would Philemon read that plea? We only know almost nothing of him except in this letter. Maybe, Philemon came to Christ as a 'god-fearer' (Lohse, p.124). These gentles were Jewish converts, observing many of the Jewish traditions, but the men could not take the final step and mutilate their penises by adult circumcision. Because of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), converts to the Christian form of Judaism were not required to be circumcised to be considered fully Christian. The early Christians believed that they where the new people of God, replacing the Jews who had rejected the Messiah. Hence, Philemon might have been familiar with the Jewish restrictions of allowing fellow believers to remain as slaves (Leviticus 25:39-42). At the time of Christ, Jews applied the prohibition by buying Jewish slaves their freedom from all over the Roman Empire. In Act 6:9, the Jewish Synagogue of Freedmen was a community of former slaves redeemed by fellow Jews. If this is so, by stating the Omesimus had gone from a slave to a brother, Paul was playing on those Jewish traditions in this plea for Philemon to free his brother in Christ.

Paul wanted Philemon to free his brother in the faith, Omesimus. Unlike Judaism, Christianity accepts all into the faith. Everyone is a potential Christian. Everyone is brother in Christ. We need to act for their freedom. Whether it is freedom from sin, freedom from oppression or freedom from being the oppressor, we Christians must act to liberate the person. That way we can make them realise how God is acting in their life now.

David A de Silva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Context, Methods and Ministry Formation (Downers Grove: IVP, 2004)

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (London: Hodder & Stroughton, 1989 (rev)

Eduard Lohse, The New Testament Environment (London: SCM, 1974, trans. 1976)

Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God (Princeton: Princeton University, 2004)

All Biblical Quotes are from the Revise English Bible.