Paul and The Pauline Letters: Galatians

Introduction. The crisis at Galatia ; Paul's response to the crisis at Galatia ; The identity of the Galatians ; Galatians today ; Bibliography -- Translation, notes, interpretation. Introduction : greeting and statement of astonishment (1:1-10) ; The truth of the gospel (1:11-2:21) ; The children of the promise (3:1-5:12) ; Living by the spirit (5:13-6:10) ; The conclusion (6:11-18).

This book offers a new interpretation of Paul's Letter to the Galatians.The prevalent interpretation of Galatians is deeply influenced by the controversies about faith and works which have dominated the interpretation of Paul from the Reformation to modern times.Paul's picture of the Jews as a people without faith,lost in the aberration of a false justification by works,needs reconsidering in the light of Paul's own vocation to the Gentiles and the religious background of his day.

As its predecessors in the Anchor Bible series have done Galatians successfully makes available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of this important New Testament book. A personal letter written by Paul in the mid-first century to friends in the churches emerging in the region of Galatia, where it was circulated, Galatians is down to earth and pragmatic. This biblical book requires the modern reader to take a seat in one of the Galatian congregations, to listen to Paul's letter with Galatian ears, and discern the contours of Paul's theology. That is exactly what Dr. Martyn makes possible in his marvelous commentary, with its careful translation and creative interpretation of Galatians. Though relatively brief, Paul's letter is filled with complex theological and historical issues that demand a thorough treatment. Readers will not be disappointed in Dr. Martyn's sensitive handling of difficult passages, and all will be delighted to have a fresh translation that makes sense to our modern ears. All in all, this volume will stand out as a shining example of top notch scholarship written for the general reader.

Through phrase-by-phrase exegesis of the Greek text,consistent awareness of the historical and geographical context,and in dialogue with virtually every scholar who has ever written on the subject,renowned scholar F.F.Bruce here in perhaps his best effort succeeds admirably in bridging the hermeneutical gap and making the text come alive.
While this commentary,and the entire NIGTC,is based on historical-critical linguistic exegesis,it is primarily theological in character.Thus,the emphasis throughout is on Paul's insistence on justification before God by faith apart from works of the law,and the presentation of the Spirit as the principle of the new life in Christ.

Grace in Galatia is an innovative socio-rhetorical study of Paul's most polemical letter. Ben Witherington breaks new ground by analyzing the whole of Galatians as a deliberative discourse meant to forestall the Galatians from submitting to circumcision and the Jewish law. The commentary features the latest discussion of major problems in Pauline studies, including Paul's view of the law and the relationship between the historical data in Galatians and in Acts. Yet the narrative character of Witherington's work allows it to remain exceedingly accessible. The volume also includes sections following the major divisions of the commentary that point to the relevance of the text for believers today, making Grace in Galatia of special value to pastors and general readers as well as students and scholars.

Jerome's exegesis is characterized by extensive learning,acute historical and theological criticism,lively and vigorous exposition,and homiletic ehortation.
It is noteworthy that throughout, Jerome,like his contemporary St.Ambrose and his theological mentors St.Basil and St.Gregory Nazianzen,carefully and thoroughly assimilates Origen of Alexandria's Greek exegesis into his own work.Indeed,Scheck regards Origen as the fountainhead of Jerome's exegesis.As an interpreter of these three Pauline epistles,Jerome exhibits a deeply Christian sensitivity.He articulates the necessity of both faith and good works found in Pauline theology and interprets St.Paul to mean that post-baptismal good works are a necessary out-flowing of paschal grace.This is the grace that enables the Christian to merit God's favor and to achieve the blessings associated with asceticism and discipleship.

This commentary in the New Testament Library series is not a systematic study of Pauline theology; rather, the aim of this study is to trace Paul's theology as it unfolds in his letter to the church at Galatia, and to attempt to illuminate, as far as possible, how the Galatians likely comprehended it, at the time they received it. The author asks readers to imagine themselves as silent witnesses to Paul's dictation of the letter and to observe, through a historical perspective, how the Galatian Christians might have understood Paul's words.

Paul's letter to the Galatians is one of the most creative and subversive of the New Testament writings, drawing its energy from the fierce controversy which, to his great distress, was disturbing the congregation recently founded by Paul.

The literary composition and function of Paul's letter to the Galatians / Hans Dieter Betz -- The rhetorical outline for Galatians : a reconsideration / Robert G. Hall -- The letter of Paul to the Galatians : a deliberative speech / Joop Smit -- Galatians (1:1-5) : Paul and Greco-Roman rhetoric / Robert M. Berchman -- Apostasy to paganism : the rhetorical stasis of the Galatian controversy / Troy Martin -- St. Paul's Epistles and ancient Greek and Roman rhetoric / Carl Joachim Classen -- Paul's letter to the Galatians : epistolary genre, content, and structure / Nils A. Dahl -- A paradigm of the apocalypse : the Gospel in the light of epistolary analysis / G. Walter Hansen -- Rhetorical identification in Paul's autobiographical narrative : Galatians 1:13-2:14 / Paul E. Koptak -- Paul's argumentation in Galatians 1-2 / Johan S. Vos -- Epideictic rhetoric and persona in Galatians 1 and 2 / James D. Hester -- The incident at Antioch (Gal. 2:11-18) / James D.G. Dunn -- Judaism, the circumcision of Gentiles, and apocalyptic hope : another look at Galatians 1 and 2 / Paula Fredriksen -- Making and breaking an agreement Mediterranean style : a new reading of Galatians 2:1-14 / Philip F. Esler -- What was at stake in Peter's 'eating with Gentiles' at Antioch? / Mark D. Nanos -- The opposition to Paul / A.E. Harvey -- The agitators and the Galatian congregation / Robert Jewett -- A law-observant mission to Gentiles / J. Louis Martyn -- Paul and the opponents of the Christ-Gospel in Galatia / Nikolaus Walter, translation by Mark D. Nanos -- Mirror-reading a polemical letter : Galatians as a test case / John M.G. Barclay -- The argumentative situation of Galatians / B.C. Lategan -- The inter- and intra-Jewish political context of Paul's letter to the Galatians / Mark D. Nanos -- Foolish Galatians?--a recipient-oriented assessment of Paul's letter / Dieter Mitternacht

This monograph challenges the increasingly accepted notion that Galatians is either a sample of classical rhetoric or should be interpreted in light of Graeco-Roman rhetorical handbooks.It demonstrates that the handbook of Aristotle,Cicero,and other such writers discuss a form of oratory which was limited with rspect to subject,venue, and style of communication,and that Galatians falls outside such boundaries.
The inapplicability of ancient canons of rhetoric is reinforced by a detailed comparison of Galatians with the handbooks,a survey of patristic attitudes towards Paul's communicative technique, and interaction with twentieth-century discussions of the nature of New Testament Greek.Dr.Kern concludes that rhetorical handbooks were never a tool of literary criticism and that they cannot assist the search for a distinctly Pauline rhetoric.Thus this study has implications not only for Galatians but also for other New Testament epistles.

Contents: Paul's defense of his apostolate -- The gospel versus the other gospel in Galatia, Jerusalem, and Antioch -- Paul's response to Jewish-Christian separatism and the threat of Galatian apostasy -- Summary and further issues

Charles Cosgrove challenges both classical and current interpretations of Galatians by contending that the issue of the letter is not justification,ethics,or the status of Gentile believers in Christ but whether works of the law promote charismatic life in the Spirit.His thesis is developed through a rigorous methodological arggument regarding the proper place to begin interpreting Galatians.Cosgrove argues that the interpreter must enter Paul's debate with the Galatians via Galatians 3:15,where the apostle first addresses the problem at Galatia both directly and with material specificity.

Using his vast knowledge of classical history and language,William Barclay has given a detailed study of the fruits of the spirit,and the works of the flesh. He has carefully examined the meaning and usage of each word-in the original Greek,in the New Testament,and in the works of such philosophers as Plato and Aristotle.Dr.Barclay has,however,given us much more than a study of words,for Flesh and Spirit thoroughly examines Paul's idea of the warfare that takes place between body and spirit.The material in this book is so skillfully brought together that even those entirely unfamiliar with Greek will find it interesting,and,along with the author will become aware that there are times when English,as compared to Greek,is a poverty stricken language.

Galatian disputes. A volatile mix ; New perspective and beyond ; The use and abuse of Paul -- Paul's context. Paul's commissioning ; Jewish pluralism in Paul's time ; Paul's zealous faith ; Paul's symbolic horizon ; Jewish restoration eschatology ; New creation -- Challenges and challengers in Galatia. The Galatian assemblies ; Jewish missionaries and Gentile proselytes ; Gentile converts ; Paul's polemics ; The problems Paul faced ; Sarah and Hagar ; Who were Paul's opponents? ; Covenant fidelity as the opponents' ideal -- Women in the Galatian assemblies. Gender and Torah ; Greco-Roman women ; Jewish women in the diaspora ; Women proselytes in Pauline communities ; The threat to the Galatian women -- Recovering Paul--and the gospel. Paul's pregnant silence about women ; Questioning the doctrinal reading of Paul ; What were the men thinking? ; A different gospel ; Difference and its absence

Paul and the Crucified Christ in Antioch offers an innovative interpretation of Paul's account of response to this event,creatively combining historical reconstruction,detailed exegesis,and theological reflection.S.A.Cummings argues that the nature and significance of the central issue at stake in Antioch-whether the Torah or Jesus Christ determines who are the people of God-gain great clarity and force when viewed in relation to a Maccabean martyr model of Judaism as now christologically reconfigured and redeployed in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul.