Galatians is an angry letter (Col. 3:1) from Paul to a number of congregations in Roman province where called Galatia (1:2). We did not know the actual time of writing and the location of writing. But we know that there were different cultures between Jews and Gentiles …show more content…
When Pau was writing this letter, he was in the prison (Phm. 1:1), where he met a slave named Onesimus. Onesimus had run away from his master due to big problems. He might get punishments after he returning to home. Though, Paul did not want this to become true, because Paul found that Onesimus was useful towards him (1:11). Moreover, Paul hoped that Philemon could set Onesimus free and send Onesimus back to him (1:15-16). The challenge Paul faced was that how to convince Philemon to welcome Onesimus back and send Onesimus back to him. In order to do that, Paul first indicated that the letter would be read to the community instead of Philemon himself, which could make Philemon pay enough attention to the consequences if he denied Paul’s requirement. Then, Paul praised Philemon for having love and faith in the life. This praise would make Philemon lost all of his glories if he failed to show his love to Onesimus. Since Onesimus had become a beloved brother, Philemon would be regarded as losing faith if he denied the requirement of Paul. Moreover, Paul reminded Philemon that he had owned Paul his own self (1:19). If Philemon could welcome Onesimus back to home, in turn, Paul said that he would charge the loss that Onesimus had made to his own account (1:18). Besides that, Paul even plays the “sympathy card” by reminding Philemon that he was in the prison and was an old man. Through Paul’s letters, we can see that despite Paul had great power when he was writing this letter, he did not force Philemon to follow his orders. As a famous apostle of God, Paul only did as Jesus said. Paul did not occupy Philemon’s assets, and sat Oneimus free by Paul’s personal declaration. Instead, Paul wrote a letter and showed respect to Philemon’s decision. This righteousness attitude deserves me to