An Introduction To The Book Of Galatians
By: David Malick
I. AUTHOR: The Apostle PaulExternally and internally the
evidence has been overwhelming in critical scholarship in
favor of Pauline authorship of this letter.1 Galatians is
the standard by which Paul's other epistles are often
measured.Only the Dutch school of W. C. van Manen2 has
questioned Pauline authorship of Galatians, and Bruce
appropriately identifies this as, "a critical abberation in
the history of NT Study."3
II. DESTINATION: Those churches who lived in the larger Roman
provincial region of Galatia extending south
A. Northern Theory:
1. Lightfoot identifies these people with the Celts
or Gauls who moved across Italy, Macedonia, and
Thessaly to the coast of the Hellespont across the
sea into Asia Minor where they put the whole
continent west of Taurus under tribute only to be
defeated by Pergamene, placed into a strip of land
200 miles long from the northeast to the northwest
and to establish three cities: Tavium, Ancyra, and
Pessinus4While this understanding of the migration
of the people is agreed upon by all, it does not
necessitate that those in the north were the
recipients because the northern region of Galatia
became subjected to Rome under the campaign of
Consul Manlius in 189 BC, and 25 BC became a Roman
province with the death of Amyntos under Augustus
including the above ethnographic region of
Galatia, but also Lycaonea, Isauria, Southeast
Phyrgia, and a portion of Pisidia5
2. It has been unanimously held to be the northern
region until the eighteenth century6
3. Luke's normal practice is to use geographical
expressions7
4. Luke does not refer to those living in the cities
of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch as
Galatians.Luke uses geographical titles (Acts
13:13,14; 14:6). Therefore, Galatia in Acts 16:6;
18:23 is not political8
5. The phrase thVn frugivan kaiV GalatikhVn cwvran
(the Phrygian and Galatian region) in Acts 16:6
and 18:21 refers to two districts and not one9
6. The characteristics of Paul's readers are those
seen in the Gallic peoples10
7. The participle kwluqevnte" in Acts 16:6 insists
that Paul went into north Galatia to preach11
B. Southern Theory:
1. Even though there was a unanimous northern
position until the eighteenth century, it may be
explained by a common error made by the church
fathers which was continued by the
commentatorsBruce points out that in AD 37
Lycaonia Galatia was detached and united with
Cilicia and Isaurica to form an enlarged province
of Cilicia, and in 297 the remainder of south
Galatia, with some adjoining territories, became a
new province of Pisidia with the Pisidean Antioch
as its capital and Iconium as its second city12By
this action the province of Galatia was reduced
once again to north Galatia. Therefore, when the
church fathers read of the churches of Galatia,
they would have naturally thought of the Galatia
of their day--north Galatia
2. It is grammatically argued that the absence of the
article in the phrase thVn frugivan kaiV
GalatikhVn cwvran in Acts 16:6 and 18:23 causes
the anartherous terms to be adjectives and not
nouns thus reading, "The Phrygian and Galtic
region."13
3. Bruce demonstrates that geographical descriptions
were added with provincial ones such as Pontus
Galaticus14 thereby demonstrating that Luke may
have modified the provincial term in a
geographical manner with frugiVan thereby making a
more geographical statement which supports Paul's
movement in the southern area of provincial
Galatia
4. The lack of information in the Bible about any
north Galatian churches, especially in light of
the mention of south Galatian churches in Acts 13-
-14 supports a southern theory
5. The north Galatian area was isolated, and since
Paul was sick when he went there (Gal. 4), it is
unlikely that he would have gone three hundred
miles to the northAlso, Paul concentrated in his
journeys on the main roads and centers of
communication in the Roman provinces, and until AD
292 there was no main road to north Galatia15
6. Paul usually used provincial titles as he pitted
churches of one Roman province against another.
This would make 1 Corinthians 16:1 a provincial
use of Galatia16
7. "Galatians" was the best term to use to describe
the people of the southern districts since it
included all without ethnical distinctions17
8. Even though the participle (kwluqevnte") in Acts
16:6 forces Paul to go north, it does not
necessitate that they go as far as northern
Galatia. There were other routes18
9. There are other arguments such as Paul's
mentioning of Barnabas as one they should have
known (Gal. 2), and the fact that none of Paul's
traveling companions in Acts 20:4ff are from north
Galatia, which support a southern theory (but
these are weaker arguments)
C. Conclusion:Although the evidence is not definitive, the
clear references in Acts to the churches in south
Galatia, Paul's use of provincial titles, and an
acceptable harmonization of Luke's geographical terms
with Acts 16:6 and 18:23 cause this writer to consider
the churches of south Galatia to be the recipients of
Paul's epistle
III. DATE: AD 49-50
A. Since the northern theory is not being considered as an
option, the late date of the epistle will not be
addressed19
B. However, within the sphere of the southern theory,
there are two options for dating the letter: (1) after
the Jerusalem council, and (2) before the Jerusalem
council
1. After the Jerusalem Council:Although this is a
viable option, a problem arises in placing
Galatians 2:1-10 with Acts 15 because Paul only
mentions two visits to Jerusalem in Galatians
(1:18; 2:1) while Acts records three (Acts 9:26;
11:30; 15:4). Such an inconsistency would
completely invalidate Paul's argument in
Galatians, and therefore, cancels this option for
a later date20
2. Before the Jerusalem Council:
a. There are also problems with placing
Galatians 2:1-10 with Acts 11:30:
1) There are no apostles mentioned in Acts
11:30 as in Galatians 2
2) Titus does not fit will in Acts 11:30;
he actually fits better with Acts
15However, these are not as major as the
above problem with Acts 15
b. There is good support for placing Galatians
2:1-10 with Acts 11:30:
1) The apostolic decree of Acts 15:22 is
not mentioned in Galatians 2:1-10
2) Paul could not have omitted the famine
visit as is asserted by some who hold to
the Acts 15 view because his argument
depends on accuracy
3) Luke does not need to be charged with
error as some do to harmonize this with
Acts 1521
4) In Galatians 2:1-10 the meeting with
Paul and Barnabas took place with
leaders of the Jerusalem church whereas
in Acts 15:1-35 the meeting takes place
before an assembled church
5) Peter's actions in Galatians 2:11ff are
less likely after Acts 15 than before
it.
C. Conclusion:Although one cannot be dogmatic, it seems
that the earlier date has the fewest major problems.
Therefore, the epistle should be dated before the
Jerusalem council (c. AD 49-50)
IV. OCCASION AND PURPOSES FOR THE LETTER
A. The gospel message of the Apostle Paul (that the
Christian life began and continued by the grace of God
through the faith of His people) was under attack by
Judaizers22 who taught that the Mosaic Law23 was still
a necessary standard for obedience24
B. Although Paul does spend considerable time in Galatians
defending his apostleship, this is not the primary
design of the epistle Paul defends his apostleship in
order to exhort the believers in Galatia to continue to
adhere to the true gospel which not only includes
justification by faith, but also sanctification by
faith.25 He defends his personal life and his
theology as a means of defending his gospel message to
the Galatians
___________________________
1 Donald K. Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, p. 468; F.
F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, pp. 1-2.
2 Encyclopaedia Biblica, s.v. "Paul". 1-3, 33-51; "A Wave
of Hypercriticism" Expository Times 9 (1897-98): 205-211.
3 Bruce, Galatians, p. 1.
4 J. B. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians,
pp. 5-7.
5 Ibid., p. 7.
6 James Montgomery Boice, "Galatians", in EBC, 10:412.
7 Lightfoot, Galatians, p. 20.
8 Boice, "Galatians," 10:416.
9 James Moffatt, An Introduction to the Literature of the
New Testament, p. 93.
10 Lightfoot, Galatians, p. 4.
11 Moffatt, Introduction, pp. 93-95.
12 Bruce, Galatians, p. 6.
13 Ibid., 13.
14 Ibid., p. 5.
15 Ibid., 9.
16 Ernest DeWitt Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, ICC,
p. xxv.
17 Colin J. Hemer, "Acts and Galatians Reconsidered,"
Themelios 2:3 (May 1977): 84.
18 Bruce, Galatians, 257-258.
19 For further discussion see Guthrie, Introduction, pp. 457-
458.
20 Bruce, Introduction, pp. 295-296.
21 Guthrie, Introduction, p. 459.
22 The identity of these Judaizers is difficult to pinpoint.
In Galatians Paul clearly considers them not to be part of the
church (4:21-31; 5:12). In the book of Acts there may have been
some believers among their number (Acts 15:5). In any case, they
were Jewish and thought that the code of Moses should be followed
by believers in Jesus.
23 The Mosaic Law may well be subdivided into three
categories: Promise, Ethic, and Code. One must always be careful
to grasp the aspect of the Law which is being emphasized when the
writers of Scripture address it. In Galatians Paul is not
concerned about the imposition of the moral Law of Moses (Gal.
5:13-14ff), and he recognizes the fulfillment of promise through
Jesus (3). He himself will encourage the Galatians to obey the
Law of Love. Paul's concern is with the imposition of the code
of the Law upon the Galatians (Gal. 2:11-21; 3:1-5; 4:9-10; 5:2-
6,12).
24 The problem seems to have been two-sided. The Judaizers
were concerned that Paul was not requiring the Gentiles to obey
the code of Moses (Acts 15:5), and that Paul was encouraging Jews
to cease their following of the code of Moses (Acts 21:21).
Although Acts 21 may seem to be anachronistic to a discussion of
Galatians, it is apparent through the book of Acts that Paul is
not against Jews practicing Judaism (Acts 16:3; 18:18; 21:26), or
against Gentiles making concessions in order to reach the Jews
(Acts 15:22-35; 16:4; 21:25). However, Paul is against the
imposition of the Law (code) of Moses upon Gentiles (or Jews) for
the sake of their justification or their sanctification (Gal.
2:3, 11-21; 3:2-5).
25 As Dr. Toussaint often said in the classes of this
student, "The method of justification determines the method of
sanctification."
