Onesimus Our Brother

In one of the shortest books in the New Testament, Paul raises a thorny issue in his letter to his friend Philemon. His bold request is that Philemon accept his former slave Onesimus "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother." This five-week study will explore unconscious assumptions about religion, race and culture that permeate contemporary interpretations of Paul, and invites us to learn what reading Philemon from the perspective of African Americans might teach us anew.