Allegorical interpretation of Letter to Philemon

[otrrl]

The “book” of Philemon is about 20 verses. But, there’s a lot packed in there. Go ahead and read it now.

Allegorical interpretation: Philemon represents God the Father against whom Onesimus has sinned and is worthy of death. Paul, writing the letter, represents God the Son interceding on behalf of Onesimus.

The general picture is that of Christ interceding for sinners, one at a time. And, beyond that, the short letter summarizes the gospel of salvation through Christ.

extra for Protestants: Onesimus is not required to do any “works” to earn his salvation except to return to the Father, represented, again, by Philemon.

 

[Genesis315]

I don’t think the letter was intended to be allegorical. St. Paul is working to have the Gospel put into practice and this will naturally reflect the Gospel. St. Paul is imitating Christ and encouraging another to forgive a sinner as the Father does. Following the truth and way of Christ will often look like the Gospel message–it’s called preaching the Gospel by our deeds It’s not an allegory–it’s the literal meaning of this letter.

As for your note to Protestants, quite the opposite. The initial forgiveness is freely given upon repentance, but Onesimus is expected to return and serve Philemon with his works–he is to be “useful” to him (and St. Paul)–but now out of love, not compulsion or fear. If he were forgiven by Philemon, but then did not do deeds worthy of repentance and did not serve Philemon and the church with charity, this whole letter from St. Paul would be in vain on his behalf.

 

[otrrl]

For the sake of discussion, you’re saying that an allegory in scripture must be intentionally written as an allegory? Can you give an example of this? The parable of the sower and the seed, perhaps? Is there a difference between an allegory and a parable?

 

[BartholomewB]

I agree with @Genesis315. Paul’s epistle as it stands is an exemplary exposition of the doctrine of Christian forgiveness. He is returning Philemon’s property with a plea not only that he should forgive Onesimus for stealing his property but that he should warmly welcome him as a full brother in Christ. Speaking as an apostle appointed by Christ himself, Paul does not presume to give orders to Philemon. Instead, he expresses his wishes in the form of a polite request.

I see no advantage to be gained by attempting to superimpose an allegorical reading on what is already magnificent Christian teaching read literally.

 

[midori]

The letter was a real letter, written about real people, going through a real situation, with real legal consequences. Your allegory works, because we’re all called to imitate Christ, and that’s part of the point Paul was making: Christianity isn’t an empty set of gestures and abstract beliefs, but permeates our entire worldview and colors the way we perceive and interact with our fellow humans.

So, someone can owe me $x. I can either evict them, because they haven’t paid rent, or I can say, “Hey, I’ll work with you.” And they can throw me a fraction of $x, just enough to act like they’re cooperating, but they ultimately take advantage of the mercy I show them and pay in their own sweet time, whatever they feel like they can spare, but I’m not really their priority, and keeping me happy isn’t their priority, and they don’t care one bit about honoring their obligations. So I can write an allegory about that as well— I’m like the patient and merciful God, and I know they’re flawed, just like the Israelites (or any other group of humanity), and I gently remind them, “Hey, you owe me a thousand dollars–” and they halfheartedly give me $200 or whatever, but don’t really make any effort to prioritize “paying the rent” over “eating at Hooters” or “buying new electronics for the kids”, just like we might throw a halfhearted prayer God’s way once in a while when we think about it, but we don’t really realize how much in debt we are to God for all his graces and generosity. And eventually, he’ll understandably grow tired of putting up with us, and he’ll allow the Babylonians to conquer us, just like I’ll eventually evict them when I’m ready to renovate the house they’ve trashed— and then they’ll be surprised, just like the Israelites were, and just like the Israelites said, “Why are you so mean, dear God? We love you! Why have you abandoned us?! We’re so sorry!!! We really do want to be your people again, for realz!!!” my ex-tenants will say, “You’re such a hard person, Midori!! We’re so sorry! We’ll be good, really!”

So, there’s an allegory about real people, with a real situation, and real legal consequences— we can look for parallels everywhere. But ultimately, it’s easiest to read things in the way they’re intended to be written: poetry as poetry, law as law, history as history, allegory as allegory, letters as letters. That’s not to say we can’t find any symbolism, or extrapolate allegory to apply certain truths into our own lives— but there’s plenty going on in all of Paul’s letters to be able to apply them into our lives, because he’s writing about truths that don’t just apply to Philemon and Onesimus, but apply to each of us in our own circumstances.

 

[otrrl]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that there are four senses of scripture. ( see paragraphs 115 to 119).

My original post above was to expound on a possible allegorical sense of the letter of Philemon.

Several comments above seem to be from non-Catholics (which is OK) who do not, perhaps, subscribe to this idea of the senses of scripture.

So, here, in short, is the revision of my original post, to show the difference in senses that I was referring to.

1. Literal: sure, this letter is about what it says, Paul interceding on behalf of Onesimus, who seems to be a runaway slave.
2. Spiritual sense: (allegorical) Onesimus is a representative of each of us sinners. In this sense, the letter is not just about Onesimus, it’s about us, individually. And, Paul represents Christ interceding on behalf of each of us individually with the Father (represented by Philemon.)

Now, the third sense of scripture, the moral sense, and the fourth sense, the eschatological sense, I’m not talking about here.

The allegorical sense of scripture, like the moral and eschatological senses, depend on the literal sense, of course.

Now, even among Catholic scholars, the allegorical sense may not be agreed upon, especially if it seems that it is too imaginative. There may also be an alternate allegorical view of the same scripture. In the famous document of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum - The Word of God–, the Church Fathers point out that scripture presents us with inexhaustible source of inspiration for all time.

Paul, the author of the letter to Philemon, may not have reflected on the allegorical sense of what he was writing. But, that does not limit us to the strictly literal sense of the letter.