Introduction to Galatians to Paraphrase Biblical Scholar, Timothy George: Galatians Is Different from Every Other Letter Penned by the Apostle Paul

Dr. J. K. Minton August 2021 Introduction to Galatians To paraphrase biblical scholar, Timothy George: Galatians is different from every other letter penned by the Apostle Paul. From beginning to end, the six chapters with 149 verses bristle with passion, sarcasm, and anger. Of course, there is an occasional touch of tenderness—near the middle of the letter, Paul referred to the Galatians as his “dear children” (Galatians 4:19). However, as the context demonstrates, this is the cry of a distraught mother who had to endure the pains of childbirth because her children, who should have known better, were in danger of committing spiritual suicide. Paul was astonished and “perplexed” by their departure from the truth of the gospel. He feared that they had been “bewitched” and deceived. In frustration he dubbed them, as J. B. Phillips translates it, “my dear idiots” (Galatians 3:1).” The Author: Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul, but who was Paul? His letter to the Galatians contains one of his most important autobiographical comments. In Galatians, he wrote of his “previous way of life in Judaism,” his ardor for the “traditions of my fathers,” and his zeal as a persecutor of the Christians (Galatians 1:13–14; cf. Philippians 3:5–6). None of his letters indicate the city of his birth—however, on five occasions in Acts (9:11, 30; 11:25; 21:39; 22:3) he was identified as a native son of Tarsus, the chief city of the Roman province of Cilicia, a major center of commerce, culture, and education. Paul was reared in a Jewish family that was part of an estimated 4.5 million Jews who were scattered (the diaspora) throughout the Roman Empire in the first century. Some estimate that there may well have been more Jews in Rome than in Jerusalem. Apparently, Paul’s family maintained strong personal ties with Judaism in Jerusalem. Paul’s father probably fled Jerusalem following its capture by Pompey in 63 B. C. This would explain how Paul had relatives in Jerusalem, including an older sister and a nephew, who assisted in arranging his transfer from Jerusalem to Caesarea (Acts 23:12–22). By identifying himself as “a Hebrew of the Hebrews,” Paul identified himself with the Aramaic-speaking Jews of Jerusalem. After he learned the trade of tentmaking and completed his basic education at the local synagogue in Tarsus, Paul went to Jerusalem, where he became the prize pupil in the Pharisaic school of Rabbi Gamaliel, known as “the Glory of the Law”, the grandson of the famous Jewish teacher, Hillel. Under Gamaliel, Paul became a scholar of the Old Testament— knowledge he used to confound the Jews after his “Damascus Road experience”. Paul’s conversion was not merely switching from one religion to another. When Paul became a Christian, he did not cease to be a Jew. What he received by revelation from the risen Christ was the true meaning of God’s historic dealings with His ancient people, the Jews. The law, the covenant, the temple, the Old Testament sacrifices, the destiny of Israel, and the fate of the world itself were all illuminated in the light of God’s decisive intervention through the life, death, and resurrection of His promised Messiah, Jesus. Paul wrote as a man who had been told an incredible secret, a “mystery” that though “hidden for ages and generations” had now been “disclosed to the saints” (Colossians 1:26). 1 Dr. J. K. Minton August 2021 After his conversion, the burden of Paul’s life was to make this secret known to all people everywhere. He was compelled to preach the word of God in its fullness to Jew and Gentile alike (1 Corinthians 9:16; Colossians 1:25). Prior to his conversion, Paul was not only an Old Testament scholar, but he was also an aggressive Jewish activist. Some commentators believe that Paul, in his desire to advance in Judaism “beyond many Jews of my own age” (Galatians 1:14), had committed himself as a full-time Jewish missionary, perhaps, with a special focus on the Gentile world. This might explain why, after his conversion, Paul was called as an apostle of the gospel to the Gentiles: “Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished” (Galatians 5:11). If this hypothesis is true, Paul’s Christian missionary journeys may well have retraced some of his earlier Jewish missionary trips where he had pursued and persecuted the followers of “the Way” into “foreign cities” (Acts 26:11–12}. The Cultural and Religious Situation Though Rome ruled the world in the first century, the culture was heavily influenced by the Greeks. Greek philosophical concepts drawn from the teachings of Plato, the Stoics, and the Epicureans became the general understanding of educated people throughout the empire and provided the basis for an interpretation of reality in objective and rational terms. A new form of the Greek language, the koiné or common tongue, had come into general use. The impact of the Greek culture on the Jewish faith was most clearly seen in Alexandria, a major center of culture and learning at the mouth of the Nile. By the authority of the Ptolemaic king of Egypt, the most influential of the Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures was produced in the third century B. C. It was called the Septuagint (LXX) because tradition taught that seventy-two scholars had completed the translation process in seventy-two days. Early Christian writers, including Paul, commonly quoted the Old Testament passages from the Septuagint (e.g., all scripture quotations in the epistle to the Hebrews are from the Septuagint). Obviously, Paul was thoroughly familiar with the major currents of Greek philosophy since he appealed to such views in presenting the gospel before a pagan audience (Acts 17:16–34), and in quoting Greek poets (e.g., Menander, 1 Corinthians 15:33; Epimenides, Titus 1:12; and Aratus, Acts 27:28). Under Roman rule, the Roman Empire was fused into a unified political entity with one common language, a centralized military organization, a shared legal system, a uniform mail and transportation service, a single monetary currency, and an interconnected pattern of trade and commerce. The earliest messengers of the Christian gospel traveled along the highways and sea routes of the Roman Empire as they carried the story of Jesus to all the great urban and commercial centers of the known world. The Pax Romana was highly significant in the expansion and early development of Christianity. 2 Dr. J. K. Minton August 2021 The Recipients of the Letter The destination of most of Paul’s letters in the New Testament are clear—Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Colossae, Philippi, and Thessalonica are all specific cities. Galatians is the only one of Paul’s letters that is not addressed to an individual or to Christians in a specific city. In the first century, “Galatia” was a general designation that reflected the changing political developments in central Asia Minor. The geographical boundaries of “Galatia” expanded and contracted with the rise and fall of invading tribes, nations, and empires. The English word “Galatians” comes from the Latin Galatae, an exact transliteration from the Greek. The name came from a group of Celtics/Gauls who spread southeastward from central Europe into the Balkan peninsula and from there into Asia Minor—they were fierce warriors who gained control of that area around 300 B. C. As the Roman Empire expanded eastward, all the people groups of Asia Minor fell under the power of Rome. By that time, the Celtic/Gauls, called Galatians, had organized themselves into an independent kingdom with their own distinctive language and center of government at Ancyra. The Galatians were described by Caesar as a fierce and hearty race, impetuous and fickle in their dealings with one another. For a while, Augustus Caesar allowed the Galatians to maintain their status as a client-kingdom within the empire, but around 25 B. C., he reorganized the Galatian kingdom into a Roman province. During the days of Paul’s ministry, the Roman province of Galatia stretched all the way across the heartland of Asia Minor from Pontus on the Black Sea to Pamphylia on the Mediterranean (cf. 1 Peter 1:1). The term “Galatia” occurs twice in the Book of Acts—at the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey and at the beginning of his third missionary journeys (Acts 16:6; 18:23): Paul and Timothy traveled “through the Phrygian and Galatic region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” In returning from a visit to Antioch to begin his missionary work in Ephesus, Paul “went from place to place through the Galatic region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.” It is believed that “the churches of Galatia” were the congregations at Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch—all started on Paul’s first missionary journey (cf. Acts 13–14). These cities were situated along the Sabastian Way, a major Roman trade route linking Ephesus in the west to the provinces of Syria and Cilicia in the east. Paul and Barnabas traveled along this highway preaching, planting churches, appointing elders to lead the churches, and evangelizing the surrounding region. The Time the Letter Was Written Since the letter was written to the first churches started by Paul and Barnabas, it is probable that Galatians was Paul’s first letter. It is likely that Galatians was written from Antioch after Paul’s return and prior to the Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15 (around A.D.

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