Purpose and Main Themes of Galatians

Probably written ~AD48 - 49
Purpose
1. 1) To defend Paul's authority
2. 2) To defend Paul's message of justification by faith
3. 3) To explain the meaning of Christian freedom
Background
1. Judaisers in Galatia claiming that for a Gentile to become a Christian, they first needed to be circumcised and follow the Jewish Law
Dispute Over the Destination of the Letter
1. North Galatian Theory
  1. Galatia thought to cover the land in the central parts of Asia - Paul was here on his Second Missionary Journey
    1. Most likely theory
2. South Galatian Theory
  1. Galatians thought to have been written to the Roman province of Galatia (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe)
    1. First Missionary Journey - Before the Council of Jerusalem
Tone of the Letter
1. Drane - The letter to the Galatians "was written hastily in the middle of a raging controversy"
2. Paul was so angry because of the seriousness of the issue at stake
  1. Paul feared that Christianity was becoming a Jewish sect

Resource summary

	Created by Jamie_472 about 12 years ago