Day 112 - Onesimus, Part II

Onesimus, Part II

The main character of my new novel is of course, Onesimus.  He is the boy captured and sold into slavery.  As a man, he steals from his master and escapes to a life of dissolution until he runs out of money.  He meets the Apostle Paul, who leads him to Christ.  Though slavery is wrong, Paul convinces him he needs to make his life right with his master, Philemon, even if that means he stays a slave.

Paul is going to be hard to write as one of my main characters.  People know so much about him and have strong opinions about him.  In my novel, he will be met twice; the first time, in his months of starting a church in Ephesus; and the second time, in year of his death by the hand of Nero.  He will know he is about to die and desperately trying to make things right with his churches and with Onesimus.  He is a man of God who sees so much work that needs to be done.

Philemon will be easier for me to write.  He is a rich kid who gets a slave near his age.  He wants a little brother, but he is unable to treat him any different than a slave, because that is the world of first century Rome.  At the end of the novel, he is forced to change.  Read the letter of Philemon sometime.  Paul asks him to accept Onesimus as a brother.  He doesn’t mean a brother by blood or marriage, but a brother in Christ.  That is an amazing thing to think about considering the world they all lived in.

Both Onesimus and Philemon will be characters changed by events.  A character who changes is a dynamic character. 

But what about the other characters?  Who will they be?  The Spartan Sisters had a hundred characters, almost all based on the Trojan War stories of the Greeks and Romans.  What about Onesimus?

Paul gave me a great source of material.  He wrote letters to Philemon, Ephesus, and Colossae.  Those three letters, and a possible lost fourth were sent by the hand of Onesimus about the time of Paul’s death.  Those letters have dozens of names mentioned.  Who are they?  Well I am doing a bit of research to find out who they are.  If there is nothing to be found about them, then watch them become characters created by me.  Thank you, Paul.

Another character I am just now figuring out how to incorporate is Timothy.  He was a constant companion of Paul, who thought of him as a son.  If you have ever led anyone to Christ, they will forever be your child in the faith.  I believe this is how Paul saw Timothy. 

Paul, while imprisoned, sends Timothy to Ephesus to clear up some problems.  Paul put Timothy in charge.  Church history says that Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus.  The cities of Ephesus and Colossae were close to each other and will be where much of my book takes place.  

What am I adding on my own?  I am making Timothy a runner.  He will also be a childhood friend of Philemon.  Because of their closeness, he resents Onesimus, who has escaped to Rome.  Part of the forgiveness process that Onesimus goes through, includes Timothy.  An interesting note.  Later a man named Onesimus becomes the bishop of Ephesus, following Timothy.  Is it possible they are the same person?  I think yes.

Characters are one of the main elements of any piece of literature.  I am excited to watch my characters develop in the novel, Onesimus.