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Here begins the FFF discussion of Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. I'm going to begin with a few notes on authorship and dating in this post. The next one will outline the major themes, and the third will bridge the gap between Paul's day and ours by discussing the letter's contemporary significance.
After that, I'll shut up for a little while, and let the discussion ensue. Basically, I want to buy myself some time to start in on the text itself. But feel free to chime in anytime with comments, questions, or what have you (and I will try to answer the latter in time).
Authorship
Almost certainly Paul. Of all Paul's letters, Galatians is the one usually deemed the most authentic. Where the authorship of other Pauline letters was uncertain, Galatians has often been used for comparison to establish their authenticity.
Dating
Traditionally, it was believed that Galatians was written no earlier than about AD 50-52 following Paul's third missionary journey, to the churches that he established in the northern part of Asia Minor in the Roman province of Galatia. "North Galatianism" was assumed until the 17th century, and hence that is the dating you'll find in older commentaries. See the subscript to Galatians in the KJV, for example: "Unto the Galatians written from Rome."
However, when archaeology began to uncover new knowledge about the world of the Bible, conservative Bible scholars became persuaded that it wasn't the northern political district that Paul was writing to, but a southern ethnic district that was populated by Gauls who had immigrated there in the third century BC. Therefore, this was actually the region Paul had gone through on his first missionary journey, and therefore Galatians was written around 46-50 BC, probably from Jerusalem or Antioch. South Galatianism is now the dominant theory amongst conservative scholars, and amongst liberals you will find them split between North and South Galatian theories.
The South theory resolves some dating and harmonization problems with the book of Acts. For example, if the later date is true, then why does Paul need to write a complicated theological argument to the Galatians in favour of justification by faith? Why could he not simply have appealed to the apostolic letter circulated after the Jerusalem council of Acts 15?
On the other hand, if Paul's meeting with the Twelve in Jerusalem was not the Acts 15 council, but an earlier meeting (Acts 9:26-28) and the Galatian epistle was written between the first missionary journey (Acts 13-14) and the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), then the need for this letter makes sense.
After that, I'll shut up for a little while, and let the discussion ensue. Basically, I want to buy myself some time to start in on the text itself. But feel free to chime in anytime with comments, questions, or what have you (and I will try to answer the latter in time).
Authorship
Almost certainly Paul. Of all Paul's letters, Galatians is the one usually deemed the most authentic. Where the authorship of other Pauline letters was uncertain, Galatians has often been used for comparison to establish their authenticity.
Dating
Traditionally, it was believed that Galatians was written no earlier than about AD 50-52 following Paul's third missionary journey, to the churches that he established in the northern part of Asia Minor in the Roman province of Galatia. "North Galatianism" was assumed until the 17th century, and hence that is the dating you'll find in older commentaries. See the subscript to Galatians in the KJV, for example: "Unto the Galatians written from Rome."
However, when archaeology began to uncover new knowledge about the world of the Bible, conservative Bible scholars became persuaded that it wasn't the northern political district that Paul was writing to, but a southern ethnic district that was populated by Gauls who had immigrated there in the third century BC. Therefore, this was actually the region Paul had gone through on his first missionary journey, and therefore Galatians was written around 46-50 BC, probably from Jerusalem or Antioch. South Galatianism is now the dominant theory amongst conservative scholars, and amongst liberals you will find them split between North and South Galatian theories.
The South theory resolves some dating and harmonization problems with the book of Acts. For example, if the later date is true, then why does Paul need to write a complicated theological argument to the Galatians in favour of justification by faith? Why could he not simply have appealed to the apostolic letter circulated after the Jerusalem council of Acts 15?
On the other hand, if Paul's meeting with the Twelve in Jerusalem was not the Acts 15 council, but an earlier meeting (Acts 9:26-28) and the Galatian epistle was written between the first missionary journey (Acts 13-14) and the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), then the need for this letter makes sense.