Onesimus

 ( 1st-century Byzantine Bishops ) 

Onesimus (, meaning "useful") was a Christian mentioned in the New Testament. He was a Roman slavery to Philemon, a Christian, and is the subject of Paul's Epistle to Philemon. (New American Standard Bible (NASB))

He may also be the same Onesimus mentioned by Ignatius of Antioch (died ) as bishop in Ephesus. Eastern Orthodox tradition also list an Onesimus as the third bishop of Byzantium.

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In the New Testament The name "Onesimus" appears in two of Paul's epistles. The Epistle to Philemon was written by Paul the Apostle to Philemon concerning a runaway slave named Onesimus. The traditional designation of Onesimus as a slave is doubted by some modern scholars. Onesimus turned up where Paul was imprisoned (Rome or Caesarea Maritima)"The Letter to Philemon", Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J.; paragraph 5, pages 869–870, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1989, Geoffrey Chapman to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused. After hearing the Gospel from Paul, Onesimus converted to Christianity. Paul, having earlier converted Philemon to Christianity, sought to reconcile the two by writing the letter to Philemon which today exists in the New Testament. Christian Bible - Philemon verses 19–16 The letter reads (in 1:10-16):

In the Epistle to the Colossians 4:9 Christian Bible: Colossians 4:9 a person of this name is identified as a Christian accompanying Tychicus to visit the Christians in Colossae; nothing else is stated about him in this context. He may well be the freed Onesimus from the Epistle to Philemon.

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In tradition He mayThis identification is questioned by Joseph Fitzmyer SJ, "The Letter to Philemon"; paragraph 4, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1989, Geoffrey Chapman also be the same Onesimus named by Ignatius of Antioch (died ) as bishop in Ephesus The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians In his Epistle written to the Ephesians while on his way to be executed in Rome, Ignatius wrote:

Onesimus must have accepted episcopal see of Ephesus following Saint Timothy.http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4908 If so, Onesimus went from slave to brother to bishop. According to Sacred tradition), Onesimus was imprisoned and may have been martyred by stoning (some sources claim he was beheaded). "Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy", OCA Given that Ignatius of Antioch died under Roman Emperor Trajan (97-117), Onesimus's death more likely fell under that Emperor as well.

The 4th-century Apostolic Constitutions (VII, 46) mention Onesimus as the first bishop of /ref>

Eastern Orthodox tradition also list an Onesimus as the third bishop of Byzantium, dating his reign from 54 to 68 AD. However, the authenticity of the first 25 bishops of Byzantium are met with skepticism by scholars as "there is no evidence of any significant Christian community at Byzantium before Metrophanes of Byzantium".

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Veneration Onesimus is regarded as a saint by many Christian denominations.

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Catholic Church The traditional Western commemoration of Onesimus is on 16 February.Livingstone (2000), p. 414 But in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Onesimus is listed under 15 February. There, he is described as "a runaway slave, whom the apostle Paul received to the faith of Christ while in prison, regarding him as a son of whom he had become father, as he himself wrote to Philemon, Onesimus's master". Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), p. 150.

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Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Onesimus on a variety of dates:

• 15 February: Primary Feast Day;
• 4 January: Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles.
• 6 July: The Apostles Philemon, Archippus, and Onesimus.
• 22 November: The Apostles Philemon, Archippus, Onesimus, and equal-to-the-apostles Apphia.

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Lutheran Churches The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod commemorates him and Philemon on 15 February.Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran Worship, Concordia Publishing House, 1982, updated by the same church's Lutheran Service Book, Concordia Publishing House, 2006.

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Notes and references

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See also

• Christianity and slavery, relative to Paul's attitude on slavery

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External links

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