Southern Galatia Theory
The so-called South Galatia theory denotes that Galatians
was written to the churches of South Galatia which Paul established on his
first missionary journey, and the North Galatia to those churches established on
the second and/or third journey.
The North Galatia theory identifies Galatians 2:1-10 with Acts 15:1-35 and Gal 2:11-14 with Acts 15:35, thus dating the
letter to the Galatians somewhat later (see Brown,
Fitzmeyer). Although there are many good reasons for this view, I slightly favor
the so-called South Galatia theory regarding the date of Paul’s letter to the Galatians
(also see Trobisch). Specifically, I view Paul’s first Jerusalem visit Gal 1:18-20 = Acts 9:23-29; Paul to Tarsus and Syria-Cilicia area Gal 1:21 = Acts 9:30; Relief visit (second) to Jerusalem Gal 2:1-10 = Acts 11:30; 12:25. It seems to me that the issue of the
Gentiles and the early Jewish-Christian community came up repeatedly.
Therefore, I view Gal 2:1-10 as an informal exchange and Acts 15:1-35 as a
later more formal council––this eliminates reconciling conflicting details
within these passages. Thus, I take it that the incident between Paul and Peter
at Antioch (Gal
2:11-14) occurred upon
Paul’s return from the first missionary journey (Acts 14:26-28), and that
Galatians was written in response to the work of Judean circumcision group (15:1)
just prior to Paul’s third trip to Jerusalem
for the Council (15:1-35).
References
Raymond Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament
(Doubleday, 1997) ,
474-477.
Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, The
Acts of the Apostles, Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1998).
David Trobisch, “The
Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and Paul’s Letter to the Galatians,” 331-38, in
Christopher Seitz and Kathryn Greene-McCreight, eds., Theological Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Brevard S. Childs (Eerdmans,
1999).
Copyright © 2010
ScriptureWorkshop.com
|
|