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Work #1013 · Late

Philemon

Paul of Tarsus (Saul / Saint Paul)
c. 60-62 CE (composed in prison alongside Colossians) · Koine Greek
Short personal letter (25 verses) · Earliest Christianity

Paul's short prison letter on behalf of a runaway slave — and the principal early-Christian text on slavery, manumission, and the gospel's social implications

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Philemon (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Philemon

Specific moment of first-century slavery; long history of Christian engagement with slavery that the letter has shaped.

Space

Philemon

Colossae; Paul's prison.

Matter

Philemon

Embodied Onesimus; embodied institution of slavery.

Observer

Philemon

Paul as mediator; Philemon as addressee; Onesimus as third person.

Energy

Philemon

Energies of Christian friendship and charity; political-economic energies of the slave-system.

Information

Philemon

Specific request; broader theological-ethical framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Philemon

Variously read — defenders of slavery in antebellum South cited the letter's failure to demand manumission; abolitionists cited its implicit transformation; contemporary postcolonial readings (Callahan, Punt) see rhetorical subversion of slave-system from within.