I would encourage my readers to pick up the New Testament (NT) during the Great Fast and read Paul’s First letter to the Thessalonians. After reading this letter, read Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Scripture scholars assert that no other relatively short NT document has had as much influence on Christian theology as Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Its language of justification and the contrasts between grace and law and faith and works were central to Martin Luther’s thought and have been central to Protestant thought and preaching. Paul uses similar language in his letter to the Romans, which was written a half decade or so after his letter to the Galatians.

There is some debate as to whether Galatians should be the second letter in a chronological NT. Scholars date is as early as 50 CE. His letter to the Corinthians, however, and others are dated to the first half of the 50s. Because of the similarity of the language of Galatians and Romans, some scholars would not put Galatians as Paul’s second letter. There is unanimous consensus among scholars that Romans was the last of seven letters that are specifically attributed to Paul even though a total of 13 letters bear his name. Nothing in Galatians refers to the plans Paul speaks about in Romans.

This letter was sent to a group of communities in Galatia. Galatia was a region in central Asia Minor that contained several cities, the most prominent of them is the city now known as Ancyra, Turkey.

These communities became deeply conflicted after Paul left. When he was there he was under attack, being accused of having falsified the Gospel. The evidence is in the letter itself, the most polemical of all Paul’s letters. Only in part of second Corinthians is Paul’s tone as angry and combative.

When you reflect upon Paul’s thought, you can see why many became angry with him. He does not present stories about Jesus or His teachings. Rather, Paul presents the conclusions that he drew from the teachings of Jesus.

In Galatians Paul accuses the communities of deserting and turning to a different gospel, because of those who pervert the gospel of Christ. He pronounces a double curse on anyone who advocates a gospel other than the one they received from him. He calls them foolish and bewitched. He wishes that those who were troubling them would castrate themselves. These are truly strong and angry words.

Why was Paul upset? He had preached the Gospel all over Galatia with good results. He won converts and established churches. After he left, some Jewish-Christians began to preach their own version of the Gospel – namely reformed Judaism. They did not have the vision that Paul did – they did not abstract the message from Jesus’ teaching as he did.