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The Letter to the Galatians

Martin Taylor

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Introduction to Galatians

Form
Author
Audience
Date
Why

It is common practice, when studying a book such as Galatians to have an introduction that covers some of the standard concepts. Form, Author, Audience and Date before embarking on a more detailed look at the internal structure and in depth review of the content.

Let’s start with the Form. I have called Galatians a ‘book’, and in some ways it is. More strictly though, it is a letter.

In the 21^st century, we have got out of the habit of writing letters. Even email seems a bit ‘old hat’ these days. Whether you Tweet or Face-Book/time, Zoom, Team or Skype, you are still likely to follow some social convention in your approach.

Now, if like me, you failed to learn the social graces of communication, you might be tempted to dive straight in to the heart of the communication. However, if you were better educated in such matters, like my good friend, Francis, then you would always commence a conversation with a ‘hello, how are you? Hope you are well’. I am trying to emulate Francis in this, though I still dive straight in on occasion.

The point I am trying to put across is this. Even though this is the 21^st century, and informality of communication rules, people still appreciate a little form and structure. That was much more the case in the 1^st century.

Back in the 1^st century, good structure in speaking an writing was considered important, even essential. If you wanted to make a speech, you followed the guidelines in a book on ‘rhetoric’. If you wanted to write a letter, there was an accepted structure to be followed. Galatians can be said to start with ‘forensic rhetoric’ as it uses an approach that might be taken in a court of law to address the judge when accusing someone regarding their past actions. However, part way through, it switches tack at 4:12 and takes on a ‘deliberative rhetoric’ approach. In other words, it switches from legal accusation to reasoned persuasion.

In an email, the top of the email contains the author / author’s address, followed by a list of the desired audience / their addresses.

In the first century, that format was used, though there might be a bit more floweriness in the language as the author added in their credentials up front so the recipients knew who was writing and why they ought to listen.

There might also be a little ‘buttering up’ of the recipients, if the author needed to make a request.

Galatians is a bit different to other New Testament letters. Rather than buttering up, or even expressing thanks for the recipients, it contains a stinging rebuke. “I am astonished that …”. This is referred to as a ‘rebuke-request’ with the change-over occurring at 4:12.

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Introduction to Galatians

Form
Author
Audience
Date
Why

From soon after it was written, up to the present day, Galatians has been studied by every serious Bible teacher. Just summarising each approach in a paragraph can fill up half a commentary. Because every teacher wants to put their own ideas forward, and feels the need to pass comment on what has been said before.

Nonetheless, up to the 19^th century, everyone agreed that it was written by Paul. Even today, the vast majority of theologians accept Paul as the author.

Having said that, it must be noted that most letters were actually dictated to a scribe or secretary. These might have been trained in shorthand. There is evidence of Latin shorthand being invented in the 1^st century BC, and evidence of people going to Greek-shorthand school for 2 years in the 2^nd century AD. These scribes were often good enough to accurately record speeches in real time. One can imagine Paul pacing up and down talking whilst his secretary attempts to keep up, and to keep it accurate as Paul’s moves through his subject matter, occasionally asking for a re-run of the last few lines. Then the shorthand would need to be transcribed to longhand – and depending upon the skill of the scribe, the Greek might be improved or worsened in the process. Then some form of checking process by Paul, or the carrier of the letter – who might be required to read it out loud at its destination.

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Introduction to Galatians

Form
Author
Audience
Date
Why

When it comes to audience, the situation gets more complicated. The letter is clearly addressed to the Galatians. What is more difficult is understanding who the Galatians were.

This might be a bit clearer by looking at a bit of history, and then trying to capture that information on a map.

You might not be aware that the words Celt and Gaul are related. They started as a people group in the Danube River basin in central Europe. They expanded north and west into Switzerland, parts of Germany, France where they were known as Gauls, and then Britain where they were known as Celts. Later other sub-tribes, possibly about 20,000 strong, moved south east through what is now Romania and then into Asia Minor in about the 3^rd century BC. They settled around what is now known as Ankara, the capital of Turkey and established a small kingdom. In the 2^nd century BC they became subject to Rome. From that point, they both benefited and suffered as Rome added and subtracted territory.

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Here you can see the area of modern Turkey divided up into 1^st century Roman provinces with the one-time kingdom of Galatia centred around Ankara. However, it didn’t look like that for long and by the 2^nd century, Pisidia and Iconium et al were removed leaving mainly the original ethnic area.

Remember, that Paul was a Roman citizen, and more likely to address geography in terms of Roman provinces.

Luke was a Greek, and tended to address geography from a people-group / historical perspective. Hence there is room for discrepancy between descriptions in Acts and descriptions in Galatians et al.

Acts describes Paul’s first missionary journey as Cyprus, Pamphylia (provinces and historic places) then towns including Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

It describes Paul revisiting those places on his 2^nd and 3^rd missionary journeys. Acts does not describe the 2^nd missionary journey path in significant detail between Pisidian Antioch and Troas.

Up to the 19^th century most but not all, scholars assumed Galatia was the northern, ethnic area. This despite total lack of evidence that Paul actually visited there. This changed and most commentaries have discussions comparing theories of North Galatia versus South Galatia. It has to be noted that ‘North Galatians’ theorists claim the existence of the letter is itself proof that Paul must have reached the ethnic area.

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Introduction to Galatians

Form
Author
Audience
Date
Why

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Introduction to Galatians

Form
Author
Audience
Date
Why

The ‘Why does Paul write this letter’ is also tricky to answer succinctly and clearly in detail.

Broadly speaking, it is easy enough to say that Paul was countering bad teaching. It appears he had been told about one or more people passing through Galatia, telling Christians that they must become fully fledged Jews in order to be proper Christians. What we don’t know is exactly who they were or whether they had been sent deliberately by someone. There are clues that they had come from Jerusalem, and that they at least claimed to have the blessing of the Jerusalem leadership for their message. See Gal 2:11-12 for an implication that James, the brother of Jesus and Peter had been tainted by these concepts.

However, we have to pick this from the text as interpretation and reading between the lines. So, we will leave the rest of the detail to the points where there are clues in the text.

What becomes obvious though, is that the result is a magnificently detailed description of the gospel that we still follow. Salvation is through Jesus alone, through faith in Jesus alone. It is not dependent on ceremony or custom or good deeds or anything else. Only God is allowed to gain glory when He enables us to follow His Way.

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Galatians 1:1

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

Let us turn to Galatians 1:1

The verse serves to identify the author as ‘Paul’. Apparently Paulos is a Greek word with a Latin background meaning ‘little’. See also Sergius Paulus in Acts 13:7 – the Governor of Cyprus.

What is interesting is Paul’s immediate defensiveness. His opening asserts his claim to apostleship, and puts that claim on a level with the 12 disciples, and above all others who might have had a claim to apostleship beyond the 12. The New Testament names at least another 3 which are disputed by few, and suggests that there were up to 12 others in total.

So, why is Paul so defensive? Reading between the lines, his mission, his claim to purpose, his very gospel has been brought into question. Now, is it necessary to declare that his apostleship had been challenged directly? That these people said ‘Don’t follow Paul, he is not one of the 12, he isn’t a proper apostle’ is a valid speculation. Maybe they did say exactly that. Maybe they just said ‘we know better because we have come from Jerusalem where we have heard Peter himself, and James, the brother of Jesus – surely they have first-hand knowledge of Jesus. Well, yes – such an oblique message casts aspersions on Paul – without needing to be explicit.

That is the trouble with deploying speculation to take you somewhere. It is pure conjecture and is shaped as much by your own imagination as it is by anything else. What is clear is that Paul does not see himself as being dependent upon nor subject to those who were appointed apostles before him see 1:17, 2:6, 2:11-14

It is here worth a comment about a common practice today of equating apostle with someone who has a so-called trans-local ministry. Ie someone who looks after more than one church. Paul says nothing hereabouts looking after multiple churches. On the contrary, his only defence of his position is that he was made an apostle by Jesus Himself. Paul always takes his ministry back to his conversion on the road to Damascus. He saw Jesus in person. He was given a task and was sent off to accomplish it. At the point of being sent – at the point of becoming an apostle, he didn’t have a single convert in one location to look after, let alone multiple converts in multiple locations. He had nothing and nobody. And yet, he still claims he was an apostle from that moment.

OK, we have made but a start in to Galatians, but hopefully, that will be enough to whet your appetite for next week.

Back to the Worship Leader.