9.03.2004

Philemon

The book of Philemon is very interesting. Right out the gate in studying this book, I have been quite perplexed by this question: Why does Paul address the letter not only to Philemon but also to Apphia, Archippus, and the church which meets in Philemon's home? Since this is a dispute between Philemon and Onesimus, why does Paul include these other people?

I ask this because whenever there is a dispute in our churches today, we tend to deal with it quietly behind closed doors. Are we too concerned with privacy? Are we too concerned with what others will think of us, especially if they disagree with us?
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2 comments:

Sarah Dylan Breuer said...

I'd encourage you to check out Bruce Malina's book The New Testament World for information on what anthropoligists call "honor-shame cultures." The world in which Philemon was written is one of them, and IMO, that's why Paul addresses the letter to the group. With everybody watching, Philemon's feet are going to be to the fire to behave in a way that the community finds honorable. Honor-shame cultures are indeed very different from the ones that most of us white Americans grew up in, and it's a lot easier to understand what's going on in New Testament and Old Testament documents if we're familiar with the dynamics of honor and shame.

7:37 PM
Steve said...

Thanks for the book idea Sarah. I will definitely check it out.

I came to some different conclusions as none of the commentaries I read brought up the "honor-shame culture" idea. In fact some of the commentaries I read would argue against that possible view. The conclusion that was the most satisfactory to me was the idea that conflict between two people in a family, community, or a church effects everyone else around. Therefore, Paul wrote this letter to everyone because they were all effected by it.

Living in a small town has demonstrated this idea to me like never before! Conflict effects everyone whether it concerns the school, the community, or the church.

Additionally, wouldn't the "honor-shame" system be working against Paul's request as other slave owners would not want to see leniency shown toward Onesimus?

3:45 PM

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