Paul's Letter to Philemon
This Letter (63 A.D.) was written as the result of Paul's deep interest in Onesimus, a slave who had fled from Colossae to Rome to get free from Philemon his master (Col 4:9).
"A Phrygian slave was one of the lowest known types to be found in the Roman world, displaying all the worst features of character which the servile condition developed. Onesimus had proved no exception. He ran away from his master, and, as Paul thought probable (verses 18,19), not without helping himself to a share of his master's possessions. By the help of what he had stolen, and by the cleverness which afterwards made him so helpful to Paul, he made his way to Rome, naturally drawn to the great centre, and prompted both by a desire to hide himself and by a youthful yearning to see the utmost the world could show of glory and of vice.
"But whether feeling his loneliness, or wearied with a life of vice, or impoverished and reduced to want, or seized with a fear of detection, he made his way to Paul, or unbosomed himself to some Asiatic he saw on the street. And as he stepped out of the coarse debauchery and profanity of the crowded resorts of the metropolis into the room hallowed by the presence of Paul, he saw the foulness of the one life and the beauty of the other, and was persuaded to accept the gospel he had so often heard in his master's house.
"How long he remained with Paul does not appear, but it was long enough to impress on the Apostle's mind that this slave was no common man. Paul had devoted and active friends by him, but this slave, trained to watch his master's wants and to execute promptly all that was entrusted to him, became almost indispensable to the Apostle. But to retain him, he feels, would be to steal him, or at any rate to deprive Philemon of the pleasure of voluntarily sending him to minister to him (verse 14). He therefore sends him back with this Letter, so exquisitely worded that it cannot but have secured the forgiveness and cordial reception of Onesimus" (Marcus Dods, D.D., New Testament Introduction).
The Letter to the Hebrews
As regards the date of this Letter, the only sure conclusion appears to be that it was before 70 A.D. The book itself claims to have been written at the end of the Jewish Age (1:2; 9:26), whilst the earthly temple was still in existence (9:8), and it is inconceivable that such an overwhelming comment upon the writer's whole position as that afforded by the destruction of Jerusalem would have been overlooked, had it been available. Hence 67-68 A.D. may with probability be alleged as the time of composition. The only fact clear as to the author is that he was not the Apostle Paul. The early Fathers did not attribute the book to Paul, nor was it until the seventh century that the tendency to do this, derived from Jerome, swelled into an ecclesiastical practice. From the book itself we see that the author must have been a Jew and a Hellenist, familiar with Philo as well as with the Old Testament, a friend of Timothy and well-known to many of those whom he addressed, and not an Apostle but decidedly acquainted with Apostolic thoughts; and that he not only wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem but apparently himself was never in Palestine. The name of Barnabas, and also that of Priscilla, has been suggested, but in reality all these distinctive marks appear to be found only in Apollos. So that with Luther, and not a few modern scholars, we must either attribute it to him or give up the quest.
There has never been any question as to the canonicity of this Letter, nor can there be any doubt as to its perennial value to the Church of Christ. Where it was written cannot be decided. "The brethren from Italy" (13:24) proves nothing. Nor is it possible to decide to whom it was sent. "The Hebrews," to whom it was addressed, may have been resident in Jerusalem, Alexandria, Ephesus, or Rome. The most remarkable feature of the Letter is manifestly its references to the old Covenant. Here there is a mingling of reverence and iconoclasm. The unquestionably divine origin of the Jewish dispensation is made use of for laying emphasis upon the infinitely superior glory of the Christian order. Thus an a fortiori argument pervades the whole —if the shadow was divine, how much more must the substance be! "The language of the Epistle, both in vocabulary and style, is purer and more vigorous than that of any other book of the New Testament" (Westcott).
James's Letter
Four persons bearing the name of 'James' are mentioned in the New Testament.