Elsewhere in this chapter he notes that whether or not a slave attempted to flee their master had much to do with how much they knew about the outside world. Often people sold themselves into slavery as a means of survival. In other words, better to live a slave than starve to death as an impoverished free person.
In fact, his language suggests that he hoped that Philemon would consider his relationship to Onesimus to be more than that of slave-master. What we do find is Paul functioning in an acceptable social role as an advocate. Onesimus is not a fugitive because he fled to Paul. He did the proper thing. If Onesimus would have fled to escape he may have been treated far, far worse if caught and who is to say whether he could have survived if he had not been caught. Paul himself was not a political or socially powerful man.
While I appreciate that this entry tries to bring out some relevant historical context for understanding the Epistle to Philemon, it as best I can tell from this blog post about it unfortunately reproduces some very unhelpful apologetic that is common among New Testament scholars about slavery in the ancient Mediterranean. This is selective use and interpretation of ancient evidence and comparisons.
The various scholars, often NT scholars, who emphasize the lesser severity of Greco-Roman slavery are, beyond apologetically refracting the ancient evidence, reproducing the ideologies of certain ancient literate elites who likewise minimized the bodily and physically treacherous, dangerous, brutal, and insecure aspects of ancient slavery.
For example, since most authors of ancient extant sources considered it virtuous for a male higher up on the social hierarchy to sexually penetrate those lower on the social hierarchy and certainly those who were property! You get the idea. They are discussed as well. Thank you for sharing your concerns and resource recommendations. Also, I tried key word to be clear that slaves had it bad. I said that very thing, emphasizing that the only ones who may have had it worse were those who could barely survive, which is why some chose to sell themselves as slaves.
If this post conveyed the idea that slavery was a jolly option then I apologize. That was hardly the intent of it. Thanks for posting this quote from Bartchy.
While I appreciate that Dr. Bartchy blazed a new trail in slavery studies for NT scholars in teh s, I am a bit perplexed that he seems to be promoting some very outdated ideas. His suggestion that Onesimus was not a legal runaway is not a new one.
Bartchy then promoted this idea in his article on Philemon in the Anchor Bible Dictionary The problem with this hypothesis, however, is that Al Harrill demonstrated that legal texts cannot be used this way nor with such confidence ZNW 90 []: Most of us who study slavery recognize that using the law is problematic on several levels.
While I am grateful that he gives me credit, I am not sure for what. The quote, as you have presented it, seems to suggest that my chapter on Philemon supports this hypothesis. In reality, I do noting of the sort. Moreover, at the end of my book I have this to say about using legal texts, which undermines the notion of the whole hypothesis see below. So I am a bit confused by what he is doing here. One area which has been a particular stumbling block for NT scholarship is the problem of what sources should be used to inform our understanding of slavery and how we should use them.
The most obvious resource would be Roman legal texts regulating slavery. But using these is problematic for three reasons. First, the primary source for Roman law is the Digest of Justinian, which was not published until C. The Digest is a compilation of legal excerpts from which all obsolete rulings had been excised and only those still relevant to C. While some laws in the Digest undoubtedly go back to the first-century, many may also be missing.
Though the relevance of the Digest for NT studies cannot be dismissed out of hand, it is not necessarily an accurate indicator of which laws were in vogue in the first-century. It is quite possible that there were other laws that did not survive and could shed light on NT texts. Thus, while a picture of the legal situation of early Imperial Rome is very good, it is also inherently incomplete.
Second, the use of legal texts to define the nature and practice of slavery is methodologically questionable. The danger is that it results in monolithic claims about Roman slavery. Legal texts were not necessarily positive indicators of social practice. Reading law codes as descriptive rather than prescriptive overlooks the course of juridical decisions in the practice of law.
Whether or not they actually mirror social practices and attitudes is debatable. Roman law applied only to Roman citizens while non-Romans typically retained their own local rules. Provincial governors applied Roman law as part of their official duties, but how effectively and thoroughly are questions difficult to decide.
Governors were under no compulsion to hear particular cases, and their authority was probably felt more in cities than in rural areas, where local practices are likely to have predominated. This being the case, it would be difficult for us to determine, for instance, which, if any, Roman laws applied to the case of Onesimus and Philemon. Byron, Recent Research on Paul and slavery [], Although solidarity or analogous concepts can be found in other Christian traditions, as well as other religious and philosophical systems of ethics, the Catholic social tradition has perhaps most fully developed a concept of solidarity over the last century.
This article contends that solidarity as conceived in Catholic social teaching CST provides a robust and useful understanding of the social obligations of individuals, communities, institutions, and nations. As a general overview of the concept of solidarity in CST, the article elucidates its biblical, theological and experiential foundations, its historical antecedents, and the goals, methods and scope of solidarity. The article also describes contemporary applications of the Catholic ethic of solidarity, and theoretical and practical challenges to its realization.
But what is solidarity? Many thinkers have pointed to the ambiguity of the term and its nebulous usage in theological and ethical discourse. Mary Ann Hinsdale and Phyllis H. The goals of this article are modest: it provides a general overview of the concept of solidarity in CST, elucidating its foundations, historical development, goals, methods, and challenges. Given the present limitations, this article will overlook some important aspects of solidarity.
Solidarity is not unique to Catholic thought. Numerous social theorists and philosophers have developed this concept. Other religious and cultural traditions also speak of solidarity, or analogous ideas. The black star became a symbol of pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism.
Smoothly interjecting that it was a Trinidadian, Sylvester Williams, who coined the term pan-African, Anderson spoke briefly of his interview with Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Kwame.
Fortunately, we reconnected, and several conversations led to the framework. It was a time of innocence where excitement was hearing the engine of a car far down the road. I got into the stunt industry in , and this is not really for the faint of heart.
I can relate to this. In this digital age, sometimes I forget to write notes. But this is always an effective tool of reminding you of your goals, whether short term or long term. Good luck in achieving them!
Jellybeans in the City Yep, to reach for your dream you just need to get started! Every day you hold back is a day wasted. Blair Villanueva Kidding aside but, your gifs are so entertaining! Yup, we should decrease our habit of procrastinating so that we can achieve our goal.
Sherile Palmaira Guinto Agree specially number 1, 3 and 6. And yes you dont have to rush everyone has their own time to shine. Nicole San Miguel Totally agree with all of these!! Erk Zek Ranoco Tolentino This is one great read. Very inspiring and makes me think about it.
Thanks for sharing, I love this most. You have moved me. Share this post and tag your friends,.
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