Corpus-Paul

[jtiona AT comcast.net]

Hi Jim,

 

I do not see that anyone really answered your question whether Paul broke the Torah by sending back Onesimus, so I will give it my try.

 

In the Deut. passage, most of the Jewish commentaries consider this slave as having been escaped from a pagan master, not a jewish master.  For instance, when two countries were at war, it was common for the slaves of one country to try to escape to the other country.  (a slave of my enemy is my friend so to speak)  Even if they were not at war, slaves from neighboring countries would surely escape to Israel from time to time.  Since their masters were pagan, returning these slaves was returning them to a life of idoltry which is why Yaweh would not have allowed it.   It is usually overlooked that it was better to be a slave of a Hebrew who worshipped Yaweh than a free man who worshipped idols.

 

It seems unlikely that we are dealing with a similar scenario with regards to Paul and Onesimus because there was no Hebrew camp anymore and the entire region was under Roman control.  It is hard to say whether Paul would have had his own slaves while under house arrest. But as a Roman citizen who was allowed to rent a house and entertain guests, it is possible that he could have had slaves of his own. 

 

--
Jeffrey L Tiona
tiona AT comcast.net

 

> -------------- Original message -------------- 
>
> > > -----Original Message----- 
> > > From: corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:corpus-paul- 
> > > bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jim West 
> > > Sent: 12 January 2005 16:53 
> > > To: Corpus-Paul 
> > > Cc: biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com 
> > > Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Did Paul break the Law? 
> > > 
> > > At 11:47 AM 1/12/2005, you wrote: 
> > > >Jim, I think Paul recognized that the Mosaic law came 
> > > >to an end or was rendered inoperative with Christ 
> > > >(Rom.10:4). Thus I don't think Paul saw the Mosaic law 
> > > >as binding on the Christian any longer. Paul saw 
> > > >himself as not being under the law, "though I myself am 
> > > >not under the law" (1 Cor.9:20), but that he was under 
> > > >a new law, the "law of Christ" (1 Cor.9:21)which I take 
> > > >to mean the new covenant law. 
> > > 
> > > When Paul speaks of "not being under law" Isn't it the case that he is 
> > > talking about the ceremonial law? Or would Paul also have seen himself as 
> > > outside [ potentially even 'above' ] the moral law too? 
> > > 
> > Where exactly do you find any evidence that Paul made a distinction between 
> > ceremonial and moral law in his writing about Torah? 
> > 
> > Doug Chaplin 
> > 
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