Date: April 2015 - May 2015

Text: "Pros Philemona" (The Letter to Philemon)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1508463077

ISBN-13: 978-1508463078

The Letter to Philemon is one of the seven letters that almost all biblical scholars hold were written by the apostle Paul.  Having only 25 verses in its English rendering from the 335 words in the apostle’s Greek original, Philemon is the shortest among the Pauline writings.  The textual integrity of the letter is complete in twelve of the major uncial manuscripts, and there is a near-total word agreement among the Greek texts of the letter, with but few orthographical differences.

           Most commentators and I agree that Philemon reflects Paul’s spirit, theology, moral tone, language, and style, as do 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, and Philippians, the six other undisputed letters.  Ancient Church tradition links the letter to Paul, and the major catalogs of the New Testament canon from the early centuries (e.g., the late 2^nd century Muratorian Fragment and Bishop Athanasius’ 39^th Festal Letter to his clergy in 367 C.E., among others) list it among Paul’s writing.