ETDS Galatians April 18-19,2016 Kevin Kay, Doug Focht, Stephen Rouse, Jeff Smelser, Bob James, Gardner Hall Table of Contents i Reconciling Acts & Galatians TOC (Kevin Kay) .................................................................. ii Reconciling Acts & Galatians (Kevin Kay) ............................................................................ 1 Paul’s Disputed Apostleship (Doug Focht ........................................................................... 94 The Judaizing Teachers (Stephen Rouse) .......................................................................... 106 Justification by Faith, 2:15-4:7 (Jeff Smelser) ..................................................................... 117 The Allegory (Galatians 4:21-5:12) (Bob James) ................................................................ 166 False Freedom Versus True Freedom (Gardner Hall) ...................................................... 176 Reconciling Acts & Galatians ii ETDS 2016―GALATIANS Reconciling Acts & Galatians TOC Kevin Kay Table Of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Who Are The Galatians?........................................................................................................................................... 6 The North Galatian Theory ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Argument #1: The popular use of the terms “Galatia” (Gal. 1:2) and “Galatians” (Gal. 3:1) usually signified the Gauls living in “North Galatia” ............................................................................. 7 Argument #2: In Acts Luke describes places according to geographical region rather than political province .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Argument #3: In Acts Luke does not use the terms “Galatia” or “Galatians” when recounting Paul’s evangelistic efforts in “South Galatia” on his First Missionary Journey ................................... 9 Argument #4: In Acts Luke indicates that the apostle Paul evangelized in “North Galatia” ........... 9 Argument #5: It is unlikely that Paul would use the term “Galatians” (Gal. 3:1) to address Pisidians or Lycaonians (Acts 13:14; 14:6) .............................................................................................. 15 Argument #6: Paul reminds the Galatians that he initially preached among them “because of physical infirmity” (Gal. 4:13), but Luke says nothing about this in Acts ......................................... 16 Argument #7: Luke reports that Paul was persecuted in “South Galatia” during his First Missionary Journey, but Paul says nothing about this in Galatians .................................................... 17 Argument #8: The problems addressed in Galatians, involving Gentile Christians, were more likely to have arisen in “North Galatia” than “South Galatia” since there were more Gentiles in this area ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Argument #9: It is unlikely that Paul would have referred to Barnabas as he does in Galatians (Gal. 2:1, 9, 13) if he were writing to churches in “South Galatia” ..................................... 19 Argument #10: The character traits of the Gaul’s fit Paul’s description of his readers .................... 20 Argument #11: The “Church Fathers” believed that Paul wrote to churches in “North Galatia” ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 Argument #12: Until the 19th century, most commentators believed that Paul wrote to churches in “North Galatia” ..................................................................................................................... 22 The South Galatian Theory .................................................................................................................................... 23 Argument #1: Paul preached to the Galatians before his Visit After 14 Years to Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1, 4-5) ................................................................................................................................................ 23 Reconciling Acts & Galatians iii Argument #2: The terms “Galatia” and “Galatians” were used to refer to the Roman province of Galatia and its inhabitants .................................................................................................... 26 Argument #3: Paul normally describes places according to political province rather than geographical region .................................................................................................................................... 27 Argument #4: “Galatia” and “Galatians” were the only terms available to include all the people in all the cities that were visited on Paul’s First Missionary Journey ..................................... 30 Argument #5: It is unlikely that Paul would have established churches in “North Galatia” ......... 30 Argument #6: Luke gives us virtually no information about the alleged churches in “North Galatia” ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Argument #7: We know of no churches at this early date in “North Galatia” from the NT or other sources ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Argument #8: It seems highly unlikely that Paul would write a letter to virtually unknown churches in “North Galatia” and not write a letter to well-known churches in South Galatia” ............................................................................................................................................. 33 Argument #9: The Judaizing teachers were more likely to infiltrate churches in “South Galatia” than “North Galatia” ..................................................................................................... 34 Argument #10 The content of Paul’s letter to the Galatians is consistent with Luke’s account of Paul’s work in “South Galatia” ............................................................................................................ 36 Argument #11: Paul’s modus operandi better fits the “South Galatian Hypothesis” ......................... 36 Argument #12: The collection delegation contained no representative from North Galatia .......... 37 Argument #13: Paul’s references to Barnabas in Galatians (2:1, 9, 13) suggest that he was already well known to the Galatians ....................................................................................................... 39 Argument #14: The absence of any reference to Timothy is strong circumstantial evidence that Paul wrote Galatians before he became one of Paul’s assistants ................................................. 40 Argument #15: Paul’s silence in Galatians about the Jerusalem Council decree indicates that Galatians must have been written before the Jerusalem Council; and therefore before Paul could possibly have visited “North Galatia” ..................................................................... 41 Argument #16: Paul was charged with practicing circumcision in spite of preaching against it (Gal. 5:11) ................................................................................................................................................ 42 Argument #17: Paul addresses the Galatians in Greek ........................................................................ 42 Argument #18: Paul’s comment that the Galatians had received him as “an angel of God” (Gal. 4:14) could be an indirect allusion to his reception as Hermes at Lystra (Acts 14:11-15)....... 43 Argument #19: Paul’s comment that “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17) could be an allusion to his stoning in Lystra (Acts 14:19) ................................................. 43 How Should Paul’s Visits To Jerusalem, Mentioned In Acts And Galatians, Be Correlated? .................. 43 Five Visits to Jerusalem in Acts; Two Visits to Jerusalem in Galatians ....................................................... 43 Paul’s Visit After 14 Years (Gal. 2:1-10) corresponds with the Famine Relief Visit (Acts 11:27-30) ...................................................................................................................................................... 44 Reconciling Acts & Galatians iv Argument #1: Paul mentions two visits to Jerusalem after his conversion (Gal. 1:18; 2:1), and according to Luke, Paul’s second visit to Jerusalem after his conversion was the Famine Relief Visit (Acts 11:29-30; 12:25) ............................................................................................... 45 Argument #2: Logically, Paul would not omit a reference to any visit to Jerusalem ....................... 47 Argument #3: There are similarities between the Visit After 14 Years (Gal. 2:1-10) and the Famine Relief Visit (Acts 11:27-30; 12:25) ............................................................................................... 49 Argument #4: Peter’s withdrawal from Gentile Christians