Journeys of St. Paul  First: Antioch- Asia minor, No epistles Trying to convert to Jews first  Second: Jews trying to kill him.  Went to Caesarea, requested to be judged by Caesar. He was eager to preach in Rome  Was Martyred in Rome by beheading in the early 60’s

 First Thessalonians: 52 A.D.  Second Thessalonians – about the second coming of Christ and during his second trip  The third trip was the longest, people tried to convert the people to Jews. The book of Romans and Galatians were written about the salvation.  First and second Corinthians (were written for many problems)  Second Corinthians was also written to defend his apostleship.  The forth trip, he was imprisoned and wrote four epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon, Colossians. They were all sermons about the life in Christ. He knew his time was coming to an end, he wrote to his disciples 1 Timothy and Titus  Around the same time he wrote Hebrews. Before his departure he wrote Timothy II.

Order of the Epistles  The order of the Epistles in the Gospel is related to the size of the book and not chronology.  If you have problems in life, read Corinthians.  If you have problems of faith, read Romans and Galatians  To read about the blood of Christ  Galatians  Life in Christ is described in the epistles written during St. Pauls imprisonment.

System of his writing  The system of his writing usually starts with:  His name  Greeting  Subject  Closing  (the book of Hebrews is an exception to this rule)

Epistle to Philemon  The epistle to Philemon:  It was written during his first visit  Onesimus was imprisoned with St. Paul because he stole from Philemon, his master  Philemon used to be the disciple of St. Paul  This Epistle demonstrates the wisdom of St. Paul as a father and a servant

Wisdom of St. Paul  Great words to show St. Paul’s wisdom from the book of Philemon  Verse 1: beloved friend and fellow laborer  Verse 6: that the sharing of your faith may become effective  Always uses ‘Jesus Christ’ in his writing; ie I Corinthians, verse 1-10, he uses the name “Jesus Christ” 10 times  Verse 7: For we have great joy and consolation in your love  Verse 7: because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother (as if you please his heart)

The Plea for Onesimus  St. Paul called himself the aged and the prisoner for Christ in order to make his plea for Onesimus  In spite of his rank as an Archbishop, he did not use his authority, but his gentle manner  He called Onesimus, “my son,” in order to obtain the mercy of Philemon  Verse 8: “command you what is fitting” – meaning: you ought to do this because it is right  Verse 9: “ for love's sake”  “ begotten while in my chains

Sweet words  11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me: Meaning: he admits that Onesimus was trouble to Philemon, though he has become a new man  “profitable to me” means Philemon cannot decline the change  Sending Onesimus back means that St. Paul could have kept him for his own good, ie “profitable”  My own heart: St. Paul desires to keep him, but he is giving him back to Philemon because Philemon is his master (his right)

More Sweet Words  Compulsion vs. voluntary St. Paul is trying to make Philemon accept Onesimus by his own will  Slave vs. beloved brother : St. Paul accepted Onesimus as a son, how can Philemon not accept him as a brother?  St. Paul made an argument that the imprisonement story was for Onesimus’ salvation since Philemon was unable to guide him in his iwn salvation

Great Plea  “in the flesh” meaning: remember the human relation that they shared  “But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. ” ie St.Paul will repay Philemon, but what does he have to offer as a prisoner. St. Paul aslo admits that Onesimus truly stole from Philemon

I will repay  St.Paul offers to “repay”, however Philemon owes him his spiritual life – his whole self  “ knowing that you will do even more than I say ” – encouraging Philemon to do even more  “I will be granted to you” – St. Paul is indicating to Philemon that he will be coming to follow up  Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke – these are all witnesses

 “ It is written by Onesimus” in order to return to Onesimus his dignity  Onesimus and Philemon, thanks to the wisdom of St.Paul, both became bishops  Christianity did not attack slavery, but taught the commandments of Christ to love one another, leading to the fall of slavery  The same analogy of St. Paul and Onesimus can be drawn between God, the father, and man (who became slaves)  Onesimus, when he was delivering the letter to Philemon, was empowered by the love of St. Paul  The fact that the entire letter is written about one person demonstrates the value of one human soul to God  Onesimus’ repentance was powerful enough to withstand the return to Philemon

Take home points  Be merciful on others even if they have wronged you  Make peace with kind words and wisdom (these words are not considered deception without personal benefit)  Value the significance of every person