Philemon is by far my favorite book in the Bible. It isn't exactly “P.C.” to have a favorite book in the Bible but I don't care — Philemon is my favorite book.
The “Book” of Philemon is actually a letter, written by Apostle Paul and addressed to a man named Philemon. As a prelude to writing the letter, Paul gets himself into a trouble with the locals (as he sometimes does) and is imprisoned together with a runaway slave named Onesimus. In his usual fashion, Paul converts Onesimus to Christianity. Onesimus fears, however, that his punishment for running away will be death as was common at the time. As the fortune would have it, Onesimus's master Philemon is a previous convert to Christianity himself, converted by none other than Apostle Paul. As Onesimus is about to be returned to Philemon, Paul hands Onesimus a letter where Paul pleads Philemon to spare Onesimus's life.
No one knows what really happened to Onesimus. There are many stories and traditions (a “tradition” is a story handed down from the early Christian ancestors; you can think of it as a little more reliable version of a “legend”) that tells the story of what happened to Onesimus. There are also several reliable historical stories involving someone named Onesimus who may or may not be the same person. In all cases, it is said that his life was spared by Philemon, and he went on to do great things. Most notably, it is said that the reason so many of Apostle Paul's writings survived through the ages (compared to other Apostles' writings) is because someone named Onesimus traveled from churches to churches to collect and preserve his writings. I'd like to think this Onesimus is the same Onesimus, who traveled to trace Paul's life and preserve his place in history.
The letter itself has been an interest of many theological discussions. What I find most interesting, however, is its parallel to the essence of Christianity — an imperfect man comes to terms and becomes a Christian, to have his life spared by the testimony of someone greater. And, in his gratefulness, works in goodness to spread the Gospel. I hope I can be remembered the same way someday.
