Onesimus: A Slave’s Story That Still Haunts Me 5 Years Later

I’ve written four novels now, each pulling from different corners of history, science, and speculation. But Onesimus, a tale of a runaway slave in the Roman Empire, hits differently. It’s the one readers email me about most, and the one I revisit when questioning faith, freedom, and forgiveness. Five years after publication, it still feels raw. Let me explain why I wrote it, and why it became so personal.

The seed came from the shortest book in the New Testament: Philemon. It’s a letter from Paul to a slave owner, pleading for mercy on his slave, Onesimus, who’d fled and become a Christian. Studying this letter in its ancient context raised questions for me.

• What’s a single letter doing in the canon?
• Why preserve this intimate plea amid grand theology?

So I dug deep reading commentaries, Roman law texts, and archaeological reports on ancient Roman slavery. Ephesus, where Paul probably wrote it, became real during my travels there: crumbling forums, slave quarters etched in stone. History isn’t abstract; it’s people crushed under systems.

But research alone doesn’t make a novel. I approached it skeptically: Could a pagan slave truly convert amid persecution? Would forgiveness hold in a world of power imbalances? I tested assumptions—cross-checking with sources like Seneca’s letters on slaves as “friends” (a Roman fiction) and Pliny’s accounts of Christian trials. The story emerged: Onesimus as a literate, cunning protagonist navigating betrayal, love, and revelation. No heroes or villains—just mortals grappling with truth.

Why personal? Writing coincided with my own doubts. Like Onesimus, I’ve wrestled with faith’s chains—literal in his case, metaphorical in mine. Travels amplified it: Standing in Ephesus’s amphitheater, imagining crowds baying for Christian blood, mirrored modern divisions. The novel forced me to confront issues of whether redemption real, or just a story we tell? Readers say it haunts them too—emails about lost relationships mended, or faiths questioned.

If you haven’t read it, Onesimus explores Christianity’s messy birth through a slave’s eyes. It’s historical fiction that questions without preaching. Grab it here – ebook, paperback, or audiobook.. Or bundle with my other novels for 20% off this holiday here.

What story has haunted you? Reply below—I’d love to hear.

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