3. He was not sent back as a _servant_, much less a _slave_. How then? Why as a "brother beloved." "Thou therefore receive him as mine own bowels-- * * receive him as myself." "If he oweth thee ought put that on mine account." These directions are wholly inconsistent with the idea of slavery. If Onesimus was the _property_ of Philemon, Paul knew that he owed the service of his whole life. But Onesimus was no slave. Had he been a slave Paul would have said, "Receive him not as a slave (_andrapodon_) but above a slave," instead of saying, "not as a servant (_doulos_) but above a servant." Onesimus was a relative of Philemon, probably a natural brother,--brother "in the flesh;" as may be inferred from Philem., verse 16. He was undoubtedly a young man of great promise, and was not only entrusted with the epistle of Paul to Philemon, but jointly with Tychicus was the bearer of the venerable apostle's letter to the church at Colosse. On the authority of Calmet, and indeed of Ignatius, it is affirmed that he succeeded Timothy as bishop of Ephesus. They who affirm that the New Testament writers sanctioned Roman slavery, seem not to be aware of the serious imputation they cast upon that book and its authors. Look at that awful despotism, that you may understand what a savage, scaly, bloody-mouthed beast was welcomed into the church and baptized with a Christian baptism, if we may believe the advocates of human bondage. 1. "The (Roman) slave had no protection against the avarice, rage, or lust of the master, whose authority was founded in absolute property; and the bondman was viewed less as a human being subject to arbitrary dominion, than as an inferior animal, dependent wholly on the will of his overseer.[14] 2. "He might kill, mutilate or torture his slaves for any or no offence; he might force them to become gladiators or prostitutes. 3. "The temporary unions of male with female slaves were formed and dissolved at his command; families and friends were separated when he pleased. 4. "Slaves could have no property but by the sufferance of their masters. 5. "While slaves turned the handmill they were generally chained, and had a broad wooden collar to prevent them from eating the grain. 6. "The runaway when taken was severely punished, * * * sometimes with crucifixion, amputation of a foot, or by being sent to fight as a gladiator with wild beasts; but most frequently by being branded on the brow with letters indicative of his crime. 7. "By a decree passed by the Senate, if a master was murdered when his slaves might possibly have aided him, all his household within reach were held as implicated and deserving of death." Is it possible that the holy apostles gave their sanction to a system based on such laws? But all the fundamental principles of revealed religion are against slavery.