Slavery in the Pauline epistle to Philemon: Theological, social, and economic implications for Nigerian context

Abstract

The point of departure for this study is the slave identity of Onesimus and the inter-relationship of Paul and Onesimus, Philemon and  Onesimus, Paul and Philemon in the Pauline epistle to Philemon with the aim of comparing the resurgence of contemporary slavery in  the Nigerian context. The study adopts semiotic analysis intending to proffer a solution to the puzzle of Onesimus‟ identity. Slavery was  an acknowledged part of the world in which the biblical authors lived. It was a dynamic part of the empires in the ancient Near East, the  Greco-Roman and the Mediterranean world. The Hebrew Bible contains laws regulating slavery and even uses it as a metaphor to  describe God‟s relationship with Israel. The New Testament, engrained in the Greco-Roman world, accepts the fact of slavery. But as  psychology transforms, abolitionism became an inspiring force, Biblicists were challenged to reconsider the Bible in the light of the novel  worldview. It is problematic that the Bible was used both to support and condemn slavery. The study reveals that Nigeria has also  become a transit corridor through which modern slavery thrives highest in Africa. Modern slavery is occurring through poverty,  unemployment, hunger and ignorance. One has to reassess how slavery is studied. The paper in conclusion recommends equality of  humanity in God‟s sight irrespective of skin colour, language, tribe, or religion. In general, slavery is viewed through negative eyes for the  fact that slaves are not treated as human beings, but as animals or inanimate things in the first century C.E.