Editing Onesimus (section)

== In scripture ==
The name "Onesimus" appears in two [[New Testament]] epistles — in Colossians 4 and in Philemon. In Colossians 4:9<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+4&version=NIV Christian Bible: Colossians 4:9]</ref> a person of this name is identified as a Christian accompanying [[Tychicus]] to visit the Christians in [[Colossae]]; nothing else is stated about him in this context. He may well be the freed Onesimus from the [[Epistle to Philemon]].
[[File:Onesimus and Philemon.jpg|thumb|Decorated [[initial]] with Paul, Onesimus (delivering letter) and [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]].]]

The Epistle to Philemon was written by [[Paul the Apostle]] to Philemon concerning a person believed to be a runaway slave named Onesimus. The traditional designation of Onesimus as a slave is doubted by some modern scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tolmie |first1=D. F. |title=Onesimus – 'n wegloopslaaf? Oor die ontstaansituasie van die Filemonbrief |trans-title=Onesimus - a runaway slave? The origin of the Letter to Philemon |language=af |journal=Verbum et Ecclesia |date=17 July 2009 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=279–301 |doi=10.4102/ve.v30i1.74 |hdl=10520/EJC114225 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Onesimus turned up where Paul was imprisoned (most probably [[Rome]] or [[Caesarea Maritima]])<ref>"The Letter to Philemon", [[Joseph Fitzmyer]], S.J.; paragraph 5, pages 869–870, ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', 1989, Geoffrey Chapman</ref> to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainto01.htm |title=Saint Onesimus at SQPN website |access-date=15 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061224233115/http://catholic-forum.com/saints/sainto01.htm |archive-date=24 December 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After hearing the [[Gospel]] from Paul, Onesimus converted to [[Christianity]]. Paul, having earlier converted Philemon to Christianity, sought to reconcile the two by writing the letter to Philemon which today exists in the New Testament.<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philemon%201:10–16;&version=47; Christian Bible - Philemon verses 19–16]</ref> The letter reads (in part):
{{blockquote|I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave — a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. |[[Paul of Tarsus]] to [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]] 
|[[Epistle to Philemon]] 1:10-16 ([[New King James Version|NKJV]])}}