THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS - PART I - INTRODUCTION AND STRUCTURE

I. Galatia was both an independent nation and then a province of the Roman Empire in what is now central and northern Turkey.

II. The Christian faith came to the southern part of Galatia early on, and St. Paul himself was involved in leadership there. St. Paul may have brought the gospel to the northern part of Galatia during his missionary journeys.

III. In either case, at least two related issues seem to have arisen: (1) whether the new Christians, especially those who converted straight from paganism, had to adopt Jewish ritual law before becoming Christian, effectively meaning they would become Jewish to become Christian; and (2) whether the old Jewish ritual laws still apply to Christians.

IV. The letter has a fairly clear overall structure that flows along traditional classic argumentative style.

B. The first five verses form the greeting, which is a bit curt for St. Paul's larger letters.

earlier, more informal council. See Acts 15.

F. Chapters 3 and 4 then give five arguments for this proposition.