The First Christian Slave: Onesimus in Context

by Mary Ann Beavis, Susan Elliott (Foreword by)

Overview

The slave Onesimus is the central figure in the letter to Philemon, but he remains silent throughout the discourse. Studies of the letter focus on whether or not Onesimus was a fugitive slave, and on the question of Paul's intentions for him: did he want Philemon to accept him back as a brother in faith; did he expect Philemon to return Onesimus to him for his own use; or was Paul hinting that Philemon should manumit Onesimus? This study centers on Onesimus as an intentional convert; the first Christian slave whose name we know. Using research about early Christian slavery, slavery in the Roman world, and comparative evidence from African-American slave narratives, this study starts from the assumption that Onesimus had his own motives and aspirations in pursuing his association with Paul, and reconstructs his voice using hints within and outside the text that suggest his agency and subjectivity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725270190
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/06/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	136
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mary Ann Beavis is Professor Emerita, St. Thomas More College, The University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. She is the co-author, with HyeRan Kim-Cragg, of What Does the Bible Say? A Critical Conversation with Popular Culture in a Biblically Illiterate World (2017).

Mary Ann Beavis is Professor of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, Saskatoon, Canada. She is the author of many academic articles and several books.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“As the world continues to grapple with the legacy of colonialism, including the history of slavery, Mary Ann Beavis’s insightful work on Onesimus is timely. Readers, preachers, and scholars of the Bible alike are compelled to engage her masterful ‘doulocentric’ (slave-centered) exegesis on the epistles of Colossians and Philemon. This is an audacious construction of the first Christian slave who had the name and was called as ‘disciple, deacon, apostle, bishop, witness, and saint.’”

—HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Emmanuel College, Victoria University in the University of Toronto



“What feminist biblical scholars have done in retrieving the voices of women in the New Testament and early church, now Mary Ann Beavis has done for slaves. Retrieving hints within and outside the biblical text from Greco-Roman sources and slave narratives from more modern times, she has brought Onesimus alive in ways that attest that slaves were persons in their own right, with feelings, aspirations, and agency. This groundbreaking work is a must-read for any serious student of the Bible.”

—Barbara E. Reid, Catholic Theological Union

Editorial Reviews

As the world continues to grapple with the legacy of colonialism, including the history of slavery, Mary Ann Beavis’s insightful work on Onesimus is timely. Readers, preachers, and scholars of the Bible alike are compelled to engage her masterful ‘doulocentric’ (slave-centered) exegesis on the epistles of Colossians and Philemon. This is an audacious construction of the first Christian slave who had the name and was called as ‘disciple, deacon, apostle, bishop, witness, and saint.’”

—HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Emmanuel College, Victoria University in the University of Toronto



“What feminist biblical scholars have done in retrieving the voices of women in the New Testament and early church, now Mary Ann Beavis has done for slaves. Retrieving hints within and outside the biblical text from Greco-Roman sources and slave narratives from more modern times, she has brought Onesimus alive in ways that attest that slaves were persons in their own right, with feelings, aspirations, and agency. This groundbreaking work is a must-read for any serious student of the Bible.”

—Barbara E. Reid, Catholic Theological Union

From the Publisher