Galatian Letters

1. We have studied many letters from Paul and others who have been influenced by Paul. Pick your favorite letter and explain the major aspects of it and why you liked it.
One of my favorite letters of Paul is Galatians. Paul here is writing to a group of churches in the Roman province of Galatia, in Asia Minor (now modern day Ankara, Turkey) (New American Bible). Paul is writing to this region because other missionaries had arrived there proclaiming a different version of the gospel. The other missionaries were called “Judaizers” and they were insisting on Gentile circumcision and keeping Jewish Law. They were also questioning Paul’s authority, saying that he had not been trained by Jesus himself and that his gospels did not agree with that

When Paul heard of this situation, he wrote this letter of defense of his apostolic authority and of the correct understanding of the faith. “He set forth the unique importance of Christ and his redemptive sacrifice on the cross, the freedom that Christians enjoy from the old burdens of the law, the total sufficiency of Christ and of faith in Christ as the way to God and to eternal life and the beauty of the new life of the Spirit.” (New American Bible) Galatians overall is a summary of basic Pauline theology. I choose the book of Galatians because it justifies how through faith alone we are the children of God in Christ Jesus. Paul warns us that if we live by the flesh and not of the spirit, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is especially important in today’s world with all of the temptations such as: greed of money, impurity, hatred against others, idolatry, selfishness, drinking

It is said in 2 Corinthians that Paul had experienced divine intervention in his personal life and afterwards continued to receive mystical visions. His relationship with God, Christ, and the unseen world was dynamic and creative. (Harris) Paul believes that the eschatological consummation of history is at hand. Paul’s letters thus burn with special urgency to believe in the Lord and in his salvation. “God will soon rescue us [believers] from this present age of wickedness and establish his direct rule over a renewed creation.” (Galatians 1:4) Paul reiterates that those who believe must then prepare for the impending visitation, pursuing lives of unblemished virtue. (Harris) I think that this urgency that Paul writes about is important to Christians because if we didn’t have an importance for our actions, then we would be lost with no direction or sense of eagerness. But since Paul writes about Christ coming of age and rescuing the believers, we have a direction (towards Christ) and a sense of urgency because Christ is coming soon. A central part of Paul’s thought is his conviction that, in Jesus, God achieves the world’s salvation. (Harris) One of Paul’s most influential concepts was his understanding that the faith in Christ Jesus delivered him from sin more effectively than had obedience to the Mosaic Law. Paul’s personal experience of divine mercy, expressed through a revelation of Jesus, convinced him