Editing Onesimus

{{Short description|Bishop of Byzantium from 54 to 68 AD}}
{{About|the biblical figure||Onesimus (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = [[Saint]]
| name             = Onesimus of Byzantium
| patriarch_of     = Bishop of Byzantium
| image            = St.Onesimus.jpg
| image_size       = 220
| caption          = Saint Onesimus
| ordination       = 
| consecration     = 
| enthroned        = 54 AD
| ended            = 68 AD
| province         = 
| diocese          = 
| see              = 
| church           = 
| predecessor      = [[Stachys the Apostle]]
| successor        = [[Polycarpus I of Byzantium]]
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 
| birth_place      = 
| death_date       = {{circa|107}} AD
| death_place      = 
| buried           =
| nationality      =
| religion         = [[Early Christianity]]
}}
{{Infobox saint
| feast_day        = 15 February (formerly 16 February in the West)
| venerated_in     = [[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Lutheranism]]
| image            = Onesimus of Byzantium (Menologion of Basil II).jpg 
| imagesize        = 220
| caption          = Painting depicting death of Onesimus, from the [[Menologion of Basil II]] ({{circa|1000}} AD)
| death_place      = [[Rome]] (then [[Roman province]])
| titles           = The Holy Apostle Onesimus<br />Bishop of Byzantium
}}

'''Onesimus of Byzantium''' ({{langx|grc|Ὀνήσιμος|Onēsimos}}, meaning "useful"; died {{circa|107 AD}}, according to [[Sacred tradition|Catholic tradition]]),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ec-patr.org/list/index.php?lang=en&id=3 |title=Onesimus |publisher=Ecumenic Patriarchate of Constantinople |access-date=2 April 2011}}</ref> also called ''Onesimus'' and '''The Holy Apostle Onesimus''' in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]],<ref name=oca>[https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2018/02/15/100526-apostle-onesimus-of-the-seventy "Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy", OCA]</ref> was a [[Roman slavery|slave]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=Philemon 1:15-16 |url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/phm/1/15/s_1133015 |quote=For perhaps [Onesimus] was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back 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.}} ([[New American Standard Bible]] (NASB))</ref> to [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]], a man of Christian faith. He may also be the same Onesimus named by [[Ignatius of Antioch]] (died {{circa|107}}) as bishop in [[Ephesus]]<ref>{{Cite book |author=Ignatius of Antioch |author-link=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch |translator=[[James Srawley]] |publisher=[[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]] |date=1919 |orig-date=1900 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WMMAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Onesimus,+whose+love+surpasses%22&pg=PA39 |pages=39–40 |quote=... Onesimus, whose love surpasses words, in the flesh as your bishop. I pray that you may love him with a love according to Jesus Christ and that you may all be like him. For blessed is He Who granted unto you, worthy as you are, to possess such a bishop.}} (chapter 1)</ref> which would put Onesimus's death closer to 107. If so, Onesimus went from slave to brother to bishop.

== 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]])}}

== In tradition ==
Though this is questioned by authorities such as [[Joseph Fitzmyer]],<ref>Fitzmyer paragraph 4</ref> it may be the case that this Onesimus was the same one consecrated a [[bishop]] by the Apostles, and who accepted the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|episcopal throne]] in Ephesus<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0104.htm The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians]</ref> following [[Saint Timothy]]. Whether in the reign of [[Roman emperor]] [[Domitian]] or the [[Persecution of Christians|persecution]] of [[Trajan]], Onesimus was imprisoned in Rome. He may have been [[martyred]] by [[stoning]] (some sources claim he was beheaded). However, since the reign of Domitian was from 81 to 96 AD, and that of Trajan lasted to 117, Onesimus' death would have to fall within these years and not in 68, as above.

== Veneration ==
Onesimus is regarded as a saint by many Christian denominations.

=== Lutheran Churches ===
The [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]] commemorates him and [[Philemon (New Testament character)|Philemon]] on 15 February.<ref>Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, ''Lutheran Worship'', [[Concordia Publishing House]], 1982, updated by the same church's ''Lutheran Service Book'', [[Concordia Publishing House]], 2006.</ref>

=== Eastern Orthodox Church ===
The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Onesimus on a variety of dates: 
* 15 February: Primary Feast Day;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lives of all saints commemorated on 15 February |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/02/15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827212739/https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/02/15 |archive-date=27 August 2024 |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=[[Orthodox Church in America]]}}</ref>
* 4 January: [[Synaxis]] of the [[Seventy disciples|Seventy Apostles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lives of all saints commemorated on 4 January |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/01/04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827213043/https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/01/04 |archive-date=27 August 2024 |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=[[Orthodox Church in America]]}}</ref>
* 6 July: The Apostles [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]], [[Archippus]], and Onesimus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendar: 6 July |url=https://orthochristian.com/calendar/20240706.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718214401/https://orthochristian.com/calendar/20240706.html |archive-date=18 July 2024 |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=Orthochristian}}</ref>
* 22 November: The Apostles [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Philemon]], [[Archippus]], Onesimus, and [[Equal-to-apostles|equal-to-the-apostles]] [[Philemon (biblical figure)|Apphia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lives of all saints commemorated on 22 November |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/11/22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827213343/https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/2024/11/22 |archive-date=27 August 2024 |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=[[Orthodox Church in America]]}}</ref>

=== Catholic Church ===
The traditional Western commemoration of Onesimus is on 16 February.<ref>Livingstone (2000), p. 414</ref> But in the 2004 edition of the ''[[Roman Martyrology]]'', Onesimus is listed under 15 February. There, he is described as "[a] runaway slave, whom the apostle Paul received to the faith of Christ while in prison, regarding him as a son of whom he had become father, as he himself wrote to Philemon, Onesimus's master".<ref>''Martyrologium Romanum'', 2004, [[Holy See Press Office|Vatican Press]] (Typis Vaticanis), p. 150.</ref>

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

== See also ==
* [[Christianity and slavery]], relative to Paul's attitude on slavery
* [[Onesimus (Bostonian)]], unrelated to the Bible, arguably the founder of modern inoculation

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4908 |title=St. Onesimus |website=catholic.org}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/41200 |title=St. Onesimus |website=santiebeati.it |language=it}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|grt}}
{{Succession box
| before = [[Stachys the Apostle]]
| title  = [[List of Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople|Bishop of Byzantium]]
| years  = 54 – 68
| after  = [[Polycarpus I of Byzantium|Polycarpus I]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Patriarchs of Constantinople}}
{{New Testament people}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1st-century Byzantine bishops]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:68 deaths]]
[[Category:Christian slaves and freedmen]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the New Testament]]
[[Category:People in the Pauline epistles]]
[[Category:Saints from Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Bishops of Ephesus]]
[[Category:Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen]]
[[Category:People from Colossae]]
[[Category:Epistle to the Colossians]]
[[Category:Epistle to Philemon]]
[[Category:Christian abolitionists]]