What you'll learn:
- Understand the background surrounding this wonderful but small letter of the Apostle Paul to Philemon.
- Describe the worldview that the Apostle Paul has in addressing a difficult matter and then to reflect on how that should be lived out today.
- Explain the stratification of social class within the Roman world as shown by the letter Pliny the Younger writes to Sabinianus.
- Delineate the differences between the solutions offered by Paul, on the one hand, and Pliny the Younger, on the other hand, when dealing with nearly identical issues.
- Develop a broader understanding of what it means to be a King Jesus follower in a countercultural way.
- Complete the (optional) assignment about processing ideas and thinking about some important questions.
The Apostle Paul is known particularly for some of his longer letters such as his letter to the Romans. In Paul's letter to Philemon, we encounter his shortest letter. But don't let that fool you into thinking there isn't much there. In this course Prof. N.T. Wright will presentabundant material from this little epistleto comprehend and ponder about those who became followers of King Jesus and how they were to live. This way of life was in contrast to the normal Roman way of living in the first century A.D.
The course compares two letters which address a nearly identical issue: what to do about a runaway servant. Prof. N.T. Wright unpacks Paul's letter to Philemon, which addresses concerns about the 'runaway' named Onesimus. Prof. Wright then explains the situation and setting surrounding the letter of Pliny the Younger to Sabinianus about an unnamed runaway. The social structures endemic to Rome become visible and understandable in such a way to see how Paul's new way of life was meant to confront social norms.
