Friday, May 4, 2018

Pauline Epistles Background SERIES: GALATIANS

And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
Galatians 1:2

"The letter to the Galatians claims the apostle Paul as its writer (1:1, 5:2), and this is attested by the brief autobiography in 1:12-24, as well as by the epistle’s language, style, vocabulary, and theology.

Galatians derives its title (pros Galatas), from the region in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), where the churches addressed were located. It is the only one of Paul’s epistles specifically addressed to
churches in more than one city.

The course of Paul’s life took a sudden and startling turn when, on his way to Damascus from Jerusalem to persecute Christians, he was confronted by the risen, glorified Christ. That dramatic encounter turned Paul from Christianity’s chief persecutor to its greatest missionary. His 3 missionary journeys and trip to Rome turned Christianity from a faith that included only a small group of Palestinian Jewish believers into an Empire wide phenomenon. Galatians is one of 13 inspired letters he addressed to Gentile congregations or his fellow workers.
 
In chapter 2, Paul described his visit to the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 so he must have written Galatians after that event. Since most scholars date the Jerusalem Council about A.D. 49, the most likely date for Galatians is shortly thereafter.
 
Paul and his missionary team planted the Galatian churches during his second missionary journey. So the epistle was written to them from either Ephesus (A.D. 54), or Macedonia (A.D. 55), while on his third missionary journey." BooksOfTheBible