Our Brother Beloved: Purpose and Community in Paul's Letter to Philemon

The Letter to Philemon has been read by generations of interpreters, including towering figures such as John Chrysostom, as having to do with Paul returning the fugitive slave Onesimus to his master. Hence the letter, at best, was made complicit in the institution of slavery and, at worst, was foundational for the view that slavery was God ordained. This oppressive interpretation still holds sway in the academy and church alike.

In his interdisciplinary study, Stephen E. Young sets a new tra...