Introduction to Galatians

                The following is a study and commentary on the book of Galatians. We begin with an overview of the book in general. Unlike many of the epistles we have from Paul in the New Testament, Paul’s authorship of this letter is virtually unquestioned. The letter is addressed to “the churches in Galatia” there has been great debate as to what specific churches the letter is addressed to.

            One theory holds that the letter was addressed to the congregations in the northern part of Asia Minor (now Turkey) who were known as racially Galatians including cities where Paul established churches on his second and third or is Paul is referring to the province of Galatia which included the northern cities as well as extending to the south of Asia Minor (the Roman province of Galatia) including cities where Paul had established churches on his first missionary journey.

            Establishing a date for this letter depends on which theory you believe in. If you follow the “southern” theory, then the date is 48-49 AD. However, if you follow the “northern” theory the date would be between 50-55 AD. There is also a third theory that includes both northern and southern routes. That theory has largely been discredited.

            The theme or reason for writing the letter is something that Paul makes painfully obvious from the first chapter. It seems certain individuals has gone into these congregations and tried to discredit Paul as an apostle and teacher saying that he was not a witness to the life of Jesus and therefore had the Gospel second hand. They insisted that the people in these churches eat according to the Jewish dietary laws and that the males among them submit to circumcision before they could be “real” Christians. They would in that was become true descendants of Abraham.

            Paul refutes these teachers by first defending his apostleship telling them that he had obtained the right to be called an apostle because Jesus himself had appeared to Paul on the Damascus road and he received the gospel directly from Jesus in that encounter. Then Paul asserts that the gospel he taught is the true gospel and all other claims teaching claiming to be “gospel” are accursed. Here we begin to see the separation between Judaism and Christianity.

            “In reconstructing the Galatian situation, two cautions are in order. First, Paul is very angry when he writes this letter, and we hear only his version of events. His descriptions of the other missionaries as coercive troublemakers who manipulate people by the threat of exclusion, and who themselves avoid persecution, probably differs significantly from their own self-understanding. Second, it is important not to confuse the issues posed by these teachers with Paul's own message. Their concern is how Gentile Christians can be Abraham's children and heirs. Paul insists that they already are children of Abraham, through Christ (3:29), and encourages them to stand fast in their reliance on Christ alone, rather than their own actions vis à vis the law.”¹

¹Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. The New Interpreter's® Bible One-Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.