...Grace School of Theology NORTH OR SOUTH: Destination and Date of Galatians A Paper Submitted to Gregory P. Sapaugh, Th.M. Ph.D In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of RS-503: Research Methods, Writing, and Technology by William (Brant) Wallace Houston, Texas February 25, 2015 Contents Introduction 1 General Debate 1 Geography of Galatia 2 Diversity and Strategy 2 Advantage for Missional Activities 3 The North 3 Evidence for the Northern Theory 4 History 4 Biblical Reference 4 Character 5 The South 5 Evidence for the Southern Theory 6 Establishment of Churches 6 Inclusion of Galatian Churches 6 Judaizing Controversy 7 The Date 7 Southern Theory 8 Northern Theory 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction The date and destination of the Apostle Epistle to the Galatians is a topic of debate.1 The general debate is framed around when and to whom Paul wrote the letter. The two theories surrounding when and to whom Galatians was written are: (1) The North Galatia Theory; and, (2) The South Galatia Theory.2 In an attempt to address the questions of when and to whom Paul wrote Galatians, this paper will address both theories. General Debate In order to understand the prevailing theories, it is important to understand the positions of the general debate. The general debate is whether the letter was addressed to the churches...
Words: 2312 - Pages: 10
...Galatia 5 bible study 1. Who is author Paul? 2. Who is Paul writing to? 3. what was the occasion purpose of Paul writing? Occasion found chapter 3 Purpose was to tell the Christian Paul's Occasion and Purpose For Writing Galatians From Acts 13-14 we have learned that Paul and Barnabas evangelized the southern part of Galatia[1] during their first missionary journey. Their practice was to first go to the synagogues and preach to Jews and God-fearing gentiles. Shortly after their arrival in each city, Jews raised opposition to Paul and Barnabas causing them to turn to the gentiles and make converts among them. Based on Paul’s previous persecution of Christians, it is not surprising to me that after Paul and Barnabas would move on, other Jewish Christians would come on the scene with a different message. These false teachers, called Judaizers[2], The problem Paul encountered with these Judaizers was with their teaching that those who embrace Christian salvation must also submit to Jewish law, known as “legalism”.[3] Paul’s purpose in writing Galatians was to express his anger and astonishment that not only were the new Galatian believers in the process of turning away (deserting, metatithesthe, as in a military desertion) from the truth but because it was happening so quickly after his last visit to them, or so soon after the false teachers began their work. The departure was not simply from a system of theology but from God Himself, the One who had called...
Words: 597 - Pages: 3
...Galatians The book of Galatians is the ninth book in the New Testament. The apostle Paul wrote it to early Christians who resided in Galatia around 49 AD. The genre it falls under is an epistle, which is a letter. The main reason for Paul’s writing this epistle was to show the Gentile believers that the teaching that they had received from their Jewish upbringing, which was that salvation is gained through good works was false and or misdirected and was in need of some tweaking. Instead, the focus needed to be not on following the rules, but on the union and relationship with God. At he beginning of his letter Paul expresses shock because of the way the Galatians were acting. He was specifically concerned about their attitudes towards the Mosaic Law. In the first two chapters of his letter Paul puts emphasis on his personal testimony. He then proceeded to writes about how he received the gospel and how this was the only true gospel. After that in chapters three through five, Paul writes about the importance of faith and how the only way to attain salvation is by trusting and believing in Jesus Christ who is our Savior. The Apostle Paul The apostle Paul also known as the apostle of Christian liberty was born in the city of Tarsus in 10 AD. He came from a devout Jewish family. At the age of fourteen, he left home and went to Rabbi school and was trained by Gamaliel, who was the best rabbi teacher at that time. During this time Paul received his education in Judaism...
Words: 608 - Pages: 3
...Summary of the books of the New Testament Mark Mark is the first written gospel of the New Testament. Mark is not an apostle, nor is he one of the disciples. It is traditionally thought that Mark is a disciple of Peter. It is unclear as to where Mark was when he wrote this gospel. The gospel of Mark appears to set the stage or pattern for the other written gospels as it may have been used as a source in the composition of Matthew and Luke. Mark uses narrative form to tell the story of Jesus’ life, beginning with His early career continuing until His death. Mark uses stories about Jesus’ teachings, travels, and miraculous works to aid the understanding of His intentions. Mark focuses on the death of Jesus and all the events that led up to the crucifixion. Thus, it is the death of Jesus that is the guiding principle of this gospel, not the life. Many important facts are presented Mark. First, Jesus Christ is the Messiah as stated throughout the Old Testament. Second, Jesus lived a sinless and perfect life, proving He was the Son of God as he claimed. Third, the Gospel tells of His numerous miracle-performing capabilities. Most importantly, Jesus overcame death through His resurrection. In this miraculous event, He proves that there is no power that can conquer Him. The gospel of Mark gives perfect instructions on how God’s people should live; having faith (Mark 2:5), believing in the power of God (Mark 5:36), replacing fear with trust (Mark 4:40), following...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
...David Parker on the Origin of the New Testament, the Historical Jesus, and How Manuscripts Can Reveal What Texts Conceal Tom Dykstra I grew up with a picture of Paul traveling through Asia and Europe, founding congregations, counseling and teaching the men and women who had given their life to Jesus. If he could not visit them, he sent letters. When Paul died, his letters were kept as treasures. Each church that had received one of his letters saved it, had it read during worship services, and exchanged copies of the letter with other congregations close by. Later the congregations tried to complete their collection. But this view does not match the uniformity of manuscript evidence. --David Trobisch 1 It is even more remarkable that attempts to reconstruct the supposed document 'Q' (the lost collection used by both Matthew and Luke postulated by those who argue that Matthew and Luke are independent) use text-critical terminology to describe their activities. However, since all they are doing is making selections from a twentieth-century printed text, which does not even presume to provide confidently the text of the four-Gospel collection, never mind that of the independent first-century texts, this use of language must be dismissed as illusory. --David Parker 2 Modern scholarship has produced detailed biographies of Paul, massive multi-volume inquiries into “the historical Jesus,” and mountains of exegetical literature that claims to extract the author’s meaning from each word...
Words: 12334 - Pages: 50
...of characters in the Bible. In I Thessalonians, He is your hope. In II Thessalonians, He is your glory. In I Timothy, He is your faith. In II Timothy, He is your stability. In Titus He is your reason for serving. In Philemon, He is your benefactor. In Hebrews, He is your perfection. In James, He is the power behind your faith. In I Peter, He is your example. In II Peter, He is your purity. In I John, He is your life. In II John, He is your pattern. In III John, He is your motivation. In Jude, He is the foundation of your faith. The two letters to Timothy and the one to Titus were labeled Pastoral Epistle. The content of the letters reveals the...
Words: 1785 - Pages: 8
...The Epistle to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament of the Bible. The book of Galatians is Paul the Apostle’s letter to several Early Christian communities in Galatia. The churches of Galatia were comprised of both Jewish and Gentile converts, and Paul’s purpose for writing to them was to confirm them in the faith. The truth of justification by faith, and not those of human works alone, was being denied by Jewish missionaries trying to de-authenticate Paul’s teachings. Paul learned of this, and wrote his defense of the apostolic authority and of the correct understanding of the faith. Galatians 2 and 3 are a portion of Paul’s epistles to the churches of Galatia. Chapter 2 begins by acknowledging the people’s perseverance, but remarks on how far they have fallen. Chapter 3 focuses on the application of their faith. This book also encourages the Galatians to have faith in God, no matter the circumstances, and to always show their love for Him through their actions. As...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...without. He suggested that the righteousness not only comes from Christ but is also Christ’s righteousness that is ascribed to Christians through faith. In this regard, Luther explored the dissimilarities between the righteousness accorded to Christians as a gift through faith and Christian’s own proper righteousness which works in the power of the gift through Jesus to do different works of mercy and love. Consequently, Luther presented a Latin phrase that further described Christian justification, “Simul Justus et Peccator” which is directly interpreted as “simultaneously just and sinners.” Therefore, this paper will explain and evaluate Martin Luther’s ideas of the double righteousness possessed by Christians using his commentaries on Galatians and Romans as well as his 1519 sermon on two kinds of righteousness. Luther’s ideas on Simul Justus et Peccator and Justification Luther’s sermon on the two kinds of righteousness is associated with the reformers belief of salvation and living by faith and not works. The original justice presented by Luther is the alien righteousness that comes from without. This kind of righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ and is ascribed through faith. Luther quotes the Bible in John 14:6 where Jesus Christ says ‘I Am the way, the truth, and the life.’ this form of righteousness is accorded to people in baptism after believing in Jesus Christ and beyond doubt being repentant. Luther’s argument is that the...
Words: 2814 - Pages: 12
...Nathanael, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Simon and Judas Iscariot and James.) In the city of Galilee Jesus turns water into wine. Jesus disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the four gospels of Jesus Christ. Jesus travel different cities like, Galilee, Capernaum, and Jerusalem. Jesus is known for his mercies and healing the sick, rising the dead, opening the blinded eyes. Jesus had to stand trial before the authorities about “9am on Friday outside the walls of Jerusalem to the hill of Golgotha.” Jesus was 33 when he died, possibly in the year of “28 or 29 A.D.” THE BOOK OF GALATIANS. “The Epistle of Paul the Apostle of the Galatians.” Paul wrote the book of Galatians in the year around about (49 to 56 A.D.) The book of Galatians is in the New Testament. The book of Galatians has six chapters, “Paul’s Hebrew name was “Saul of Tarsus” and his Roman/ Greek name was Paul.” Paul was born in Roam and his mother and...
Words: 859 - Pages: 4
...The Galatians from this passage I have just read, are actually the group of early Celtic Christians who settled in the area now known as Turkey. Paul the apostle, wrote this book, Epistle to the Galatians, originally as a letter to the Galatians. It is known that Paul was the creator of the churches of Galatia and was responsible for the alteration from Paganism to Christianity within that area. The primary copy of this letter was not found but a similar copy was located in 200AD. The original copy is said to have been written sometime during 50AD, a significant time for Christianity as Jesus had only died around 20 years prior and there was already a large flow of conversions from other religions to Christianity. In any case, the people that...
Words: 800 - Pages: 4
...The Galatians from this passage I have just read, are actually the group of early Celtic Christians who settled in the area now known as Turkey. Paul the apostle, wrote this book, Epistle to the Galatians, originally as a letter to the Galatians. It is known that Paul was the creator of the churches of Galatia and was responsible for the alteration from Paganism to Christianity within that area. The primary copy of this letter was not found but a similar copy was located in 200AD. The original copy is said to have been written sometime during 50AD, a significant time for Christianity as Jesus had only died around 20 years prior and there was already a large flow of conversions from other religions to Christianity. In any case, the people that Paul was addressing were new Christians who had converted from Paganism but were now being tempted by other missionaries to add parts of the Jewish law to the cross of Christ as a way to salvation. Since Paul had visited, a different interpretation of Christianity had been brought to the people by converts...
Words: 439 - Pages: 2
...Paul the Apostle (Greek: Παῦλος Paulos; c. 5 – c. 67), original name Saul of Tarsus (Greek: Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς Saulos Tarseus), was an apostle (though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul used his status as both a Jew and aRoman citizen to advantage in his ministry to both Jewish and Roman audiences. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul, and approximately half of the Acts of the Apostlesdeals with Paul's life and works. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, with varying degrees of argument about the remainder. The Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries but almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries, is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive. Other scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, his epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Roman and Protestant traditions of the West, as well...
Words: 4306 - Pages: 18
...strengthen the believers. Paul realizes that there will be both easy and difficult times for the followers of Jesus Christ as they face strengthening persecution. To the church at Corinth, it was important to understand that they were not facing what was ahead alone. For this purpose, Paul expresses his own experiences as an authentication of how familiar is with suffering. In doing so, he is able to offer the church comfort. As one commentator writes, the comfort is not mediated directly to both parties, but given in the first instance to Paul, that he might “comfort” them. Likewise, a leader is in the position to convey the good and buffer the bad that will be coming his team’s way. By protecting those he or she leads from immediate impacts, he or she lets the team focus on execution and what they need to deliver, rather than exposing them directly to sometimes difficult political´ discussions that are being held at the top level of an organization. By freeing the team from needing to invest emotionally in topics that are possibly still undecided or that need refining, the leader sets his or her people free to keep driving towards delivery of plans that were put in place at a certain point in time. If these plans are ultimately changed, the leader can communicate this in a manner that is more refined and buffered. Book: Galatians Principle: A good leader takes the necessary time to think through strategic next moves. Key Verse: Galatians 1:15-17 (ESV): “But when...
Words: 1322 - Pages: 6
...Kimatu Life and Writings of Paul REL-327-DL01 December 7, 2014 Word Count : 3185 Word Count w/outline: 3286 Galatians 3:1-29 Abstract The purpose of this writing is to discuss the book of Galatians Chapter 3 verses 1-29. My goal is to give you the when, what, who, where and why. I will also do some examination of each verse in this chapter. I hope to give further insight to myself and others on this chapter in the bible. A thesis statement and stated approach in the Introduction Paul is writing this letter to the people of Galatia to combat the teachings of the Judaizers. After he came to tell them about God after he left the Juadaizers came in and started to teach them that they had to follow the Jewish laws. Paul felt that they had been led astray and he wanted to get them back on track. Now the where, who and Paul’s occasion for writing. The first where is Galatia located? Galatia is located in Northern Asia Minor. It was originally populated by Celts. It was reorganized into a Province by the Romans after the last Galatian King died. It added other districts to it to make the Province these areas are Isauria, parts of Lycaonia, Palphlagonia, Pisidia, Phrygia and Pontus. Who was Paul writing to? This is up to debate for the people that Paul was writing to. There is a Northern Galatia Theory, Southern Galatia theory. People that favor the Northern Galatia Theory contend this for a couple of reasons. One would be his use of “You foolish Galatians. This refers to words used...
Words: 3348 - Pages: 14
...Christian Life, according to Romans 8, should not be based on condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Based on the fact through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (verse1-2). In the early Christian Practical Issues, The Apostle Paul forms the main character in relation to examining the respective entities attached to the issue. He was charged with three different assignments which were; preaching the gospel to the gentiles, providing the church leaders with the biblical instructions and encouragements, and lastly to teach the Christian community ways to live righteously in an unsaved world. Through endless efforts and dedication, Paul was able to accomplish these tasks via his ongoing missionary journeys plus the letters he wrote to various churches. It is evident that while Jesus’ life and teachings tend to offer Christianity with the required foundation, the letters that Paul wrote availed the structure on the foundation. However, the Gentiles urgently embraced the message of salvation, the conflicting ideas on how to live righteously altered their faith. The complexity of the cultural differences however, didn’t stop Paul from managing to address some of the areas of contention using the letters that he wrote to the Romans. The assumptions...
Words: 3091 - Pages: 13
