The letter to the Galatians is an extremely defining letter
when it comes to understanding the theology and person of Paul. To begin with, Galatians is a letter where
Paul’s teachings concerning Christ, as well as his view on earliest
Christianity are laid out. Paul makes it
clear that though the law could not provide salvation, its moral and ethical
dimensions were not diminished in the face of the message of the Christ.[1]
Galatians is also a tremendous indication of divergent
theologies. It is evident from the
content of Galatians that by the time of the letter, Christianity was already developing factions and
divisions. These factions and these
other opinions that were apparently contrary to Paul’s understandings are what
have forced Paul to write a response. In
the letter to the Galatians, Paul appears to be attempting to not only
legitimate his claims to his message and his apostleship, but also to discredit
the words of his unnamed opponents. “As
we have said before, so now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a
gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.”[2]
The issue of the apostleship of Paul, the fact of the
divisions, and the claims of the Pauline opponents are the setting for the message
of the letter itself; a message that centers itself on ones justification in
the sight of God. Justification in the
sight of God, according to Paul, comes through an acceptance of the free gift
of God’s grace and love as demonstrated through the death of Christ on the
cross.[3]
What Paul also seeks to elucidate (perhaps again to the
original readers, but perhaps also with more force) is that the distinctiveness
Judaism once claimed through the Law was not removed through Christ. Likewise, the promises of God, once reserved
for the Jews, now applied universally.[4]
Now before faith
came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should
be revealed. So that the law was our
custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer
under a custodian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.[5]
Newness of life is through Christ for, as Paul writes,
“neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation.”[6]
Galatians is also an attempt at a revision of Israel’s
history, by explaining in its third and fourth chapters how Abraham’s faith
presupposed Christ as well as offering allegorical interpretations of Abraham’s
wives.[7] Paul writes this in order to lead the readers
to the conclusions he is proposing – that salvation is through faith, like
Abraham had, and in that faith one might have life in the Spirit. Also, no longer being bound by the law, the reader
is to understand that the old self has died to sin, and it is now Christ who
lives in them.
Yet while Galatians should be understood as a critical recapitulation
of the basic Pauline themes, there are also pastoral
concerns being addressed as well. Too
critical an approach tends to miss the deep concern Paul had for the Galatian
church. Not only was he apparently being
discredited, the people he had worked for and with to develop a community of
faith were moving away from him. It
should not be overlooked that the letter to the Galatians is a letter of anger,
reproach, and heartbreak from the spiritual father of the Galatian church.
While Paul is certainly writing to convince, he is also
writing to remind the Galatian readers of that which he has already proclaimed to them.[8] Galatians begins
with Paul asking the remarkable question of who had caused the people to turn
away from that which he proclaimed.[9]
[1]
White p. 125; Hunter p. 10; Rogerson p. 102; Borg p. 252; Betz p. 30
[2]
Galatians 1:9
[3]
White p. 125; Duncan p. xv
[4]
Ibid
[5]
Galatians 3:23-26
[6]
Galatians 6:15
[7] See Galatians 4:27-31. Mack states not only that this is what Paul
is doing, but that this may well be the first instance of this reinterpretation
of Jewish scriptures and traditions in the New Testament(pp. 115-116). This would not be the first biblical
instance. For example, Chronicles sets
out to retell the story of David and some of the Kings from a very different
theological standpoint than was found in the books of Samuel and Kings.
[8] It should be noted here that the term, “the
Galatian readers” I utilized is, at best, ambiguous. Hans Dieter Betz, in his commentary on
Galatians, goes to some length to explain that the location of the Galatian
churches is "scarce" (p. 3).
Duncan also explains that in the time in which the letter to the
Galatians was written, the province known as Galatia included the old kingdom
of Galatia as well as parts of Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Phrygia (Duncan p.
xix). So to whom is he writing? While Duncan presents the arguments well, I
would draw the reader’s attention to Betz for a very detailed discussion as
well as Richard N. Longenecker (p. LVI) for a tremendous referencing of the
discussion to which there appears to be no consensus.
[9] Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-4; This eye-opening problem provides us with
tremendous insight into the tumultuous beginnings of Christianity. While the book of Acts provides us with a
very clean, centrist portrayal of early church development, the letter to the
Galatians implies (rather overtly) that all was not without difficulty and
division. The fact that Paul feels the
need to reiterate his argument lets the reader know that there were other
messages being proclaimed, possibly in the name of Christ as well, that were
not only drawing adherents, but were drawing Paul’s converts away from
him.
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