CONNECTING POINT: The Ole Hatchet

Samuel Sewell reported in 1680 to the English-speaking world how some North American Indian tribes declared peace by burying a tomahawk, and as other colonists repeated the account, both sides of the Atlantic used the story by the end of the nineteenth century to describe peacemaking. We continue to use it to indicate the initiation of peace.

I’ll antedate the expression and relate it to Paul’s behavior in Philemon. Paul practiced “burying the hatchet” in his personal life and encouraged other Christians to do the same. The Book of Philemon is a compelling honesty about just how generous it is...