GALATIANS
INTRODUCTION
§ Contributions to NT _______________ and _______________
§ The Gospel vs. The Law
§ The Doctrine of Justification
§ The Role of the Spirit and the Law
§ The New Israel
§ Part of Paul’s “____________________” Letters
§ Called the "____________________of Evangelical Christianity”
§ Martin Luther – “my own epistle, to which I plighted my troth”
AUTHORSHIP
§ External Evidence - early and _______________acceptance of Paul's authorship
§ Internal Evidence
§ Author presents himself as Paul the _______________ (1.1; 5:2; 6:11)
§ Similarities with what we know of Paul from _______________and other Pauline
letters
§ Controversy regarding the relationship of the _______________to the Gospel
§ One issue of literary _______________– Gal 2:7b-8 (Peter and Cephas)
§ Conclusion
§ Galatians is said to be the ____________________of all Paul's letters when it
comes to authorship
§ Galatians is the _______________by which the authenticity of other letters is
tested
AUDIENCE
§ _______________Galatian Theory - Paul writing to Christians in North Galatia
§ No other view existed until comparatively recent times
§ Assumes Galatia naturally refers to the _______________-geographical region in
north central Asia Minor
§ No hint in Galatians that Paul had experienced strong _______________when he
preached in the Galatian cities
§ According to Acts, Paul met opposition in southern Galatia
§ Assumes Galatians 2.1-10 naturally refers to the _______________visit in Acts
15
AUDIENCE
§ _______________Galatian Theory - Paul writing to Christians in South Galatia (Best
Option)
§ No hard evidence in Acts that Paul ever visited _______________Galatia
§ North Galatia was _______________the beaten track
, § Paul's use of Roman _______________titles thus Galatia is the only term that
would encompass Antioch, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe
§ _______________mentioned more than in any other letter
§ Assumes Galatians 2.1-10 naturally refers to the _______________visit in Acts
11:27-30
DATE & PROVENANCE
§ Date (Based on South Galatian Theory)
§ If post 1MJ - _______________ (Best Option) - Gal 2.1-10 = Acts 11.27-30
§ Prior to Jerusalem Council Visit in Acts 15
§ If post 2MJ - _______________- Gal 2.1-10 = Acts 15.1-20
§ If 3MJ from Ephesus - _______________
§ Similarities to Romans
§ Provenance – Paul most likely wrote Galatians from _______________after he returned
from his 1st missionary journey (Based on South Galatian Theory)
§ Some manuscripts suggest _______________?
OCCASION
§ Upon return from his 1MJ Paul heard that "_______________" were encouraging his
Galatian Gentile converts to _______________
§ The _______________of the "Agitators" - Local Jews? Gentile Christians? Jewish
Christians? (Best Option)
§ The _______________at Stake - Relationship of Gentiles to the Covenant
§ Should Gentile believers observe the Jewish Law? - circumcision, Jewish
feasts, purity codes, etc.
§ The _______________of the Conflict - Paul's Christ centered gospel vs.
Agitators' Law centered gospel
§ A _______________issue? - how you enter into covenant with God
§ An _______________issue? - how you live in covenant with God
PURPOSE
§ Purpose – to defend the _______________Gospel against the _______________Gospel
of the Agitators
§ The True Gospel came directly from God through _______________not from the
Jerusalem church
§ The True Gospel is _______________centered not Law centered
§ Old Perspective – Paul attacking Jewish _______________with respect to how
one enters into covenant with God (By faith not by good works)
§ New Perspective – Paul attacking Jewish _______________with respect to how
one lives in covenant with God (By faith through the Spirit not by Jewish works
of the law through the Flesh)
OUTLINE
§ Main Thesis - The Galatians are _______________Children of Abraham