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Paul's Request To Philemon Analysis

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Paul's Request To Philemon Analysis
Contagious grace:
PAUL’S REQUEST TO PHILEMON
__________________
A Paper
Presented to
Prof. Charles Carpenter
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
__________________
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for ENG-2103
__________________
by
Trace Aaron Thompson
November 6, 2013

Contagious grace: paul’s request to philemon

Slavery is spoken of all throughout the Holy Scriptures. One account is in the book of Philemon. In Philemon, Paul is writing to Philemon, a local slave owner, encouraging him to take back his runaway slave, Onesimus. Philemon contains the ingredients to change whole societies if understood in the correct light. In order to understand Paul’s request to Philemon, we must examine the societal …show more content…
In Paul and Rhetoric, Sampley says, “F Forrester Church provides the initial rhetorical analysis of Philemon. He argued that Paul’s petition to Philemon to receive the runaway slave Onesimus back as a brother in Christ is structured as a deliberative speech. The focus is on establishing two primary motives for action: honor and advantage. All proofs of ethos pathos and logo and used to persuade Philemon that the reception of Onesimus would be honorable and advantageous, especially in light of Paul’s relationship with Philemon, their shared relationship with Onesimus, and the relationship of all three with God and Christian ministry.“11 In my opinion, Paul uses a culmination of both rhetorical tools, therefor both are equally as important to …show more content…
de Vos, Craig S. "Once A Slave, Always A Slave? Slavery, Manumission And Relational Patterns In Paul 's Letter To Philemon." Journal For The Study Of The New Testament 82 (2001): 89. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.

In his article “Once a slave, always a slave? Slaver, Manumission and Relational Patterns in Paul’s Letter to Philemon,” de Vos is analyzing if the manumission of Onesimus would have affected the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon. De Vos frequently references the work of Melina and Neyrey, Portraits. De Vos broadcasts a methodical tone and an informative approach on the cultural anthropology of the society of Philemon. De Vos’s approach enlightened me of many cultural issues that I hadn’t previously known that will help me with my research. There was not much I disagreed with in his article.

Dockery, David S., ed. Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers,
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