Onesimus of Byzantium (, meaning "useful"; died , according to Catholic tradition), also called ''Onesimus'' and The Holy Apostle Onesimus in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

,"Apostle Onesimus of the Seventy", OCA
/ref> was a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

to Philemon, a man of Christian faith. He may also be the same Onesimus named by

Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch (; ; died 108/140), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (), was an early Christian writer and Patriarch of Antioch. While en route to Rome, where he met his Christian martyrs, martyrdom, Ignatius wrote a series of letters. This ...

(died ) as bishop in

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

which would put Onesimus's death closer to 107. If so, Onesimus went from slave to brother to bishop.

In scripture

The name "Onesimus" appears in two

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

epistles — in Colossians 4 and in Philemon. In 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 The Epistle to Philemon is one of the books of the Christianity, Christian New Testament. It is a Prison literature, prison letter, authored by Paul the Apostle (the opening verse also mentions Saint Timothy, Timothy), to Saint Philemon, Philem ...

The Epistle to Philemon was written by

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

to Philemon concerning a person believed to be 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 (most probably

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea () also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Judaea (Roman province), ...

) to escape punishment for a theft of which he was accused. After hearing the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

from Paul, Onesimus converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. 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. The letter reads (in part):

In tradition

Though this is questioned by authorities such as

Joseph Fitzmyer Joseph Augustine Fitzmyer (November 4, 1920 – December 24, 2016) was an American Catholic priest and scholar who taught at several American and British universities. He was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Fitzmyer was considered ...

, it may be the case that this Onesimus was the same one consecrated a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

by the Apostles, and who accepted the episcopal throne in Ephesus following

Saint Timothy Timothy or Timothy of Ephesus (Greek language, Greek: , ''Timótheos'', meaning "honouring God" or "honoured by God") was an early Christian Evangelism, evangelist and the first Christianity, Christian bishop of Ephesus, whom the Acts of Timothy ...

. Whether in the reign of Roman emperor

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

or the

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, Onesimus was imprisoned in Rome. He may have been

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

(some sources claim he was beheaded). However, since the reign of Domitian was from 81 to 96 AD, and that of Trajan lasted to 117, Onesimus' death would have to fall within these years and not in 68, as above.

Veneration

Onesimus is regarded as a saint by many Christian denominations.

Lutheran Churches

The

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

commemorates him and Philemon on 15 February.

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.

Catholic Church

The traditional Western commemoration of Onesimus is on 16 February. But in the 2004 edition of the ''

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

'', Onesimus is listed under 15 February. There, he is described as " 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.

Notes and references

External links

* * {{Authority control 1st-century Byzantine bishops 1st-century Christian martyrs 1st-century Romans 68 deaths Christian slaves and freedmen Christian saints from the New Testament People in the Pauline epistles Saints from Roman Anatolia Year of birth unknown Bishops of Ephesus Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen People from Colossae Epistle to the Colossians Epistle to Philemon Christian abolitionists