Paul's letter to the Galatians

OUTLINE

I. When and where Galatians was written

II. Why Galatians was written

III. Who wrote Galatians

IV. Paul's stand on his authority in the Letter to the Galatians

V. The primary themes of the book of Galatians

VI. Conclusion

Paul's Letter to the Galatians

Where, when, why, and by whom Galatians was written as well as the issue, of Paul's authority, addressed by him in his letter and the primary themes are all important in order to understand this book. "The Letter of Paul to the Galatians" is the ninth book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is one of the ten Pauline books, and there are three more books that are possibly Pauline. Galatians is one the Pauline letters that has little debate of authorship attributing it to Paul. "In the long period of critical studies in the New Testament there have been very few who have questioned the Pauline authorship of this epistle" (Guthrie, 1).

Scholars of the Pauline writings have divided them into the following categories: (1) those unquestionably by Paul: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, I Thessalonians, and Philemon; (2) a letter that was probably written by Paul, but has had serious questions raised about its' authorship: II Thessalonians; (3) letters that were not actually written by Paul but were developed from his thought: Colossians and Ephesians; (4) letters that bear Paul's name but clearly come from another time and different set of circumstances in the church: I and II Timothy and Titus (the so-called Pastoral Letters); (5) a letter not bearing Paul's name and which evidences a wholly different thought and religious vocabulary from that of Paul: the Letter to the Hebrews (Kee, 5th Ed. 224).

Galatia, ancien...

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