Abstract
This paper examines the three central characters of the "Book of Philemon" and analyzes the influence their Christianity had on the way they dealt with the social conflicts they encountered. In particular, the paper looks at how each of the characters handles the issue of slavery and its innate contradiction with ethical, moral, and Christian behavior.

From the Paper
"One of the major tenets of Christianity supports the belief that all individuals are the same in the eyes of God. This belief has to include slaves and the issue of slavery is the basic foundation for Paul's letter to Philemon. Philemon was a wealthy Christian of Collosse who had at least one slave by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus apparently stole some money from Philemon and then ran away to Rome. (Halley 645) In Rome, Onesimus had an encounter with Paul, which eventually led to Onesimus' conversion. The problem that resulted as Onesimus' conversion and Paul's solution to that problem is the heart of this brief letter."

Tags:social, classes, men, women, rich, poor, jew, gentile, pious, pagan, slave, freedman, paul, collosse, onesimus