Finding those hidden in the New Testament
Bible trivia: In the letter Paul wrote to his friend, a slaveholder, what was the name of the person who had escaped slavery?
If you said Philemon, you would be wrong, but it is an easy mistake. The letter is not named for the enslaved individual, but for the person the letter was written to, Paul’s friend Philemon.
Here is a very, very brief summary: Paul’s scribe, Onesimus, was once enslaved in Philemon’s household. Paul sent Onesimus to Philemon with a letter asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus, set him free, and allow him to return to Paul and continue as his scribe.
It is a letter from one friend to another, referencing another person. It is a letter about liberating someone who, aside from being named, has no apparent active voice in the letter. He is only interpreted by Paul—by Paul’s deep affection for him.
It leaves so much room for imagination, for us to ask questions about Onesimus, other enslaved people in the New Testament, and underrepresented communities more broadly. For example, is Onesimus worthy of freedom because Paul loves him? Because he is “useful” (the meaning of his name and a word Paul uses to describe him)? Would he be worthy of freedom if he were less useful, or if he had not befriended Paul?
Where else do enslaved people figure into the scriptures? Consider anywhere there is a banquet. For example, when the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15:22 calls on the servants to bring robes and a ring, to slaughter a fatted calf, and to celebrate. Who is celebrating? Who is slaughtering and roasting the feast?
To consider enslaved people and other hidden groups in a particular text, it sometimes takes a little imagination. Where are the women? Where are the queer people? Where are the children?
And here are some more questions you could ask of a text:
What are the relationships between the people in this text?
Who is named? Who is unnamed? What significance do names have?
Who has power? Who has free will?
What liberation is possible? Who is liberated?
These kinds of questions can bring us to a fuller understanding of what liberation means for everyone in the New Testament, not just for the ones with names. For everyone living today, not just for ourselves.
