Philemon

This is a personal letter written to a wealthy Christian in Colossae, at a time when slavery was an accepted part of the ancient Roman world. Paul's letter addresses slavery in a unique and critical way.

Philemon owned a slave named Onesimus. Onesimus had run away from Philemon and met Paul, who converted him to Christianity. Paul knew Philemon and considered him to be a good Christian man. Paul, therefore, wrote the letter to reconcile the situation between Philemon and Onesimus.
Paul appeals to Philemon's Christian mercy and love, asking him to receive Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, not as a slave. This challenged the social norms of treating slaves as sub-human and reminds Christians to treat all people with dignity and respect, regardless of their social status.

Christians were grappling with the issue of how to live out their faith in a world that had accepted slavery as normal. Paul's letter is a powerful reminder to all Christians, that compassion, forgiveness, and love, can transform even the most entrenched social institutions.