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1-7
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Acts
Ist Period III
- IV to conclusion 8-12 |
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| Acts Galaatians | Acts Romans | Acts 2nd Period Second JourneyThessalonians | ||||
| Acts St Paul Arrest Trial 21 - 28 |
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102 Paul arrested in the Temple | ||||
| 'Sicari' (Assassins) | Roman Provinces Jesus time | The procurator, Antonius Felix, (see Chronology Of The Acts) | ||||
| The
storm and
shipwreck |
Paul Cures on Malta Publius and others |
Saint_Paul_Letters
Written_in_Rome |
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| Letter_to_the_Phillippians |
Letter
to Colossians
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Saint_Paul_Letters_to_Ephesians | Saint_Paul_Letters_Philemon | |||
| Letter
to Philemon This short Letter, full of warm human feeling, and of lively affection, not without a trace of gentle irony (‘I will repay it — to say nothing of your owing me even your own self’) was written by St Paul as a note to accompany Onesimus the fugitive slave, who was sent back to his master, Philemon at Colossae, together with Tychicus, the bearer of the Letter to the Colossians. It was thus written towards the end of Paul’s captivity (about 62-63 A.D.); in it he expresses the hope of soon being his friend’s guest. Onesimus, the pagan slave of the Christian Philemon, had fled after having done ‘some injury’. When he arrived in Rome he had been converted and baptized by St Paul. The latter did not kcep the fugitive with him, nor does he directly command his friend to free the slave, but he recommends him to receive him ‘no longer as a slave but.., as a beloved brother’. So he calls Onesimus ‘my child’, ‘my very heart’; he intervenes with the weight of his friendship and of the debts of gratitude which Philemon owes him, in order that the runaway may be pardoned and welcomed with generous kindliness. In this incident may be seen the influence of Christianity on the institutions of the day. It does not take up an external position of hostility to the institution of slavery on which the economy of the GraecoRoman world was based. It does not proclaim an economic and social revolution, but destroys from within the mistaken assumptions of this institution, and replaces them by principles which, once they are understood and welcomed, will cause the collapse of the institution and in the meantime will radically transform relations between freemen and slaves in the bosom of the Christian community. 129 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother. To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ‘and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. p.323 |
Letter to Philemon 4J thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—1° I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 121 am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13J would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, 88 longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 2’The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. p.324 |