Galatians chapter 1

I started these studies by picking the books I'd done the least amount of study on. I almost picked Hebrews, but it's 13 chapters long, and I really think I've heard more on Hebrews than on Galatians. Weird. If I were to be honest, I'd probably have to say I've heard less on all the gospels as individual gospels, but I might to one of those next. We'll see.

I also want to note that I recently read "The King James Version Debate: a plea for realism" recently, and it has opened my eyes far more to the science of textual criticism, shown me how little I know, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone even if you're not dealing with KVJ-ites. Whether it means I should go through and re-do my studies, who knows. I'll probably just keep plugging away. Most of the answers and comments I have come up, when checked with a commentary at a later time, have been reasonable.

vs 1

Straight away I am hit by the fact that the word "sent" is not in the greek. And so nor does it appear in the KJV. However, the term used here may be idiomatic, and hence there's nothing wrong with the other translations.

So the idea is that Paul wants to strongly show that his apostleship comes from Christ. It might have been questioned by people in Galatia.

vs 2

He also adds to the letter all the Christian people with him, which gives the letter a different edge. One, he doesn't name them, which is odd considering how often Timothy, Silas, and others get a mention. It almost puts me in mind of a "2-3 witnesses" situation - Paul is saying that this letter, which at times is quite critical, is witnessed by a number of other Christians, so take note of it.

We're also told here it is to multiple churches in the region of Galatia.

vs 3

Typical Pauline greeting. Haven't seen it for a while.

vs 4

It's interesting what Paul is emphasising here - the rescuing sacrifice of Christ, what it rescues us from (the present evil age, a term loaded with meaning), and why (because it was God's will). Present evil age - this is as opposed to the "age to come", which will be fulfilled in "the day of the Lord".

vs 5

This is a pretty typical mini-doxology of praise to God. Amen.

vs 6

Verse-in-the-middle-of-sentence-and-idea man (Vitmosai Man?) strikes again! Paul dispenses with the usual "I thank God in my prayers for some good thing you do" and goes straight to "I can't believe you're so slack". I think that gives a nice tone to the letter. The Galatians (remember, this is a whole series of churches in a region - there's no country or state called Galatia) have obviously done something to tick Paul off, and it would seem that it involves not following the gospel. Instead, someone else has brought them a different gospel, and they're turning to that.

vs 7

Problem is, it's not really good news at all (greek is literally "which not is another only")! It's the result of people 'troubling' the minds of the Galatians (lit. tarasso, which means to cause commotion and to agitate, either literally (like shaking someone) or figuratively in the mind).

These troublemakers are also charged with wanting to pervert the gospel, and that purposefully. That's a bold claim.

vs 8

Paul is saying "Let it be the gospel you first heard, and no other, no matter who brings it to you!" Which suggests, doesn't it, that part of the force of this "new gospel" which they are infected with was the people who brought it to them. But even if an angel, even if Paul himself, should bring a different gospel, you don't accept it because of them who brought it. The gospel commends itself by its message.

vs 9

Paul is forceful in this point - if anyone is preaching another gospel, they are eternally condemned. Ouch.

vs 10

This seems a little thrown in here. It's almost like Paul is reacting to a comment made to him. "Am I trying to please men now? Huh? HUH?!" It is possible that someone from the churches of Galatia made this accusation, and his comments regarding the gospel should clear him of the accusation. He retorts that were he serving men (he says still serving, probably referring to his old life), then the gospel would be anathema to him - he'd be better off following his own Pharisaical teaching.

vs 11

How much does the modern world need to hear this message! The gospel is not something man made up! Though it might come from the lips of men, doesn't mean that it was created by them.

vs 12

Ok, so not everyone can say this the way Paul says it. And I'm not sure how far we can take this either. I mean, I could just as easily say that I received a revelation from Jesus, but of course it came through the Bible. Other people could say they received a revelation from Jesus, but that it came through fellow Christians. Paul of course had his Damascus road experience, and that didn't really involve people.

But I don't know if I can say "Just as Paul says here, neither did I receive the gospel from men". I was both taught it and received it from people. Either way it doesn't really matter - because I am prepared to trust Paul who says that he received it straight from Christ. Easier for me to do, actually, because I have the gospels to corroborate what he says - the Galatian churches would probably not have had them.