Galatians, Lesson One

Galatians 1:1-10

How does Paul describe his reaction to news that he has heard about the Galatians? What is that news? Why does he have this reaction?

Paul speculates about what has happened in Galatia. What does he think has happened there? What is his opinion of those who have influenced the Galatians?

Comment. Although there is some disagreement about where the churches of Galatia were, all scholars agree they were in present-day Turkey. My own opinion, and it is one that I have drawn from several scholars, is that the Galatian churches are the ones Paul and Barnabas visited on their first missionary journey, described in Acts chapters 13 and 14. These churches were in the southern part of present-day Turkey. Others believe the Galatian cities were in the northern half of present-day Turkey.

Acts chapters 13 & 14 and the first four verses of chapter 15

After getting a sense of where they went, read the sections that describe their visit to each city. In just a sentence or so, describe in your own words what went on in each location.

Comment. Just as there is disagreement about where the Galatian cities were, so there is disagreement about when Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians. Those who believe the cities were in the north also believe that Paul wrote the letter rather late, about the same time as he wrote Romans. That would place Paul in Ephesus or Corinth as described in Acts 20 and 21. Those who believe the cities were in the south are often willing to date Galatians quite early, perhaps the earliest of all New Testament books. That's what I believe. For more detail on these issues, see Bible Org's discussion of Galatians.

So I place Paul in Antioch after his return from the first missionary journey prior to his and Barnabas's trip to Jerusalem in Acts 15. It seems likely that he wrote it after he encountered the legalistic teachers described in the first few verses of Acts 15. He evidently also got word at the time that people in the churches of Galatia were either taking up a legalistic form of Christianity that made it a sect of Judaism, or they were giving up on the whole thing and going back to pagan beliefs. I believe Paul wrote Galatians quickly and sent it before leaving for Jerusalem. He didn't want the negative influences to go unchecked while he was at the council in Jerusalem.

Galatians 1:11 through 2:21

Notice the time and sequence marker words in this passage. These indicate that Paul is giving an account of his own experience with Christ and the Church up to that time. List the events or episodes he describes in this passage. What happened first? Where and when was that? What happened next? Where and When? and so on.

What is Paul trying to do by giving this account of his experience? What is there about this account that would build his reader's confidence in Paul?