Galatians: context, audience and the crisis in Galatia

Overview

South Galatian theory of the letter's destination and north Galatian theory.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   To whom is the Letter to the Galatians addressed, and what is unusual about the way it opens?

   Model answer

   Paul writes to “the churches of Galatia”, a circle of congregations rather than a single church. Galatians is the only letter in the Pauline collection in which the customary thanksgiving is replaced by a rebuke, Paul saying he is astonished that his readers are so quickly deserting the one who called them.

2. 2

   Outline the South Galatian theory of the letter's destination.

   Model answer

   The South Galatian theory, argued by William Ramsay, takes the readers to be the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in the southern part of the Roman province of Galatia. On that reading the letter is among Paul's earliest, written about AD 48–49.

3. 3

   Outline the North Galatian theory.

   Model answer

   The North Galatian theory, defended by J.B. Lightfoot, takes the readers to be ethnic Galatians of the northern highlands, descendants of Celtic settlers. On that reading the letter belongs to the middle 50s, after the visits to Galatian territory mentioned in Acts 16:6 and 18:23.

4. 4

   Who were Paul's opponents in Galatia, and what were they asking of Gentile believers?

   Model answer

   Paul's opponents are usually called Judaisers, teachers who held that Gentile converts must come under the Law of Moses to belong fully to the people of God. They pressed circumcision on Gentile men and the observance of the Jewish calendar of days, months, seasons and years.

5. 5

   State the strongest case that could be made for the Judaisers' position.

   Model answer

   Circumcision was the covenant sign given to Abraham and commanded in the Torah, and the promises Paul appeals to were made to Israel. On that basis the agitators could claim to be defending scripture and continuity with God's covenant people, while Paul looked like the innovator.

6. 6

   What does Paul claim about the origin of his gospel in Galatians 1:11–12?

   Model answer

   Paul insists that the gospel he preaches is not of human origin and that he did not receive it from any person or by instruction. Paul claims to have received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ, which makes his authority independent of Jerusalem.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.