Freedom to Thrive
The book of Philemon is a letter from Paul and Timothy to a house church in Colossae (modern southwest Turkey). Paul addresses the letter to three influential believers who had some leading role in the church: Philemon, the wealthy homeowner, Apphia, believed by some to be his wife while other scholars/historians believe she was more likely to be a deacon like Phoebe (Mowczko, 2016) , and Archippus was a minister of some sort within the body of believers there. Colossae was a city known for its syncretism (HarperChristian Resources, 2022), which is the blending of incompatible religious beliefs or worldviews. Verse 6 of Philemon states that Paul and Timothy are eager for the believers in that church to have “fellowship that would lead to quote faith [becoming] effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in [them] for Christ's sake” (NASB, 1995). This letter to Philemon has some background history. Onesimus had stolen from his master Philemon and then had run awa