Readjusting enslavement ritually: The case of Paul's Letter to Philemon

This contribution argues that the letter to Philemon is a ritual instrument and that the oral performance of it within the assembly (ekklēsia) functions as a status transformation ritual, negotiating the social status of Onesimus. The new, ambivalent status of Onesimus, both brother (adelphos) and slave (doulos), is conceptualized in three ways. First, by means of ritual theory, it is shown that rituals portray the world as it should be and thereby inherently introduce tensions and ambivalences into a community. Second, by means of gender and queer theory, it is shown how both Philemon and Onesimus are gendered in new and ambivalent ways, given that both are now placed on the same level as brothers. Third, drawing on philosophical readings of Paul, the ambiguous language in the letter is understood as indicating that binary categories remain in place while also being revoked within a prefigurative community that draws the ideal into the real.