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AUTHOR: The letter leaves no room for doubt, all admit the authorship to the apostle Paul.
THEME: Sometime after Paul left Galatia, some Jewish teachers emerged insisting that the Gentiles should observe the Law of Moses. This issue was resolved at the Council of Jerusalem [Acts 15]. The fathers of the Church, that is, the apostles who followed Jesus, understood that the Gentiles were justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. However, the decision did not convince the Judaizing party, which continued to insist that, although the Gentiles were saved by faith, this was to be perfected by obedience to the Law of Moses. It has become evident that the apostle's main concern was that the Galatians not lose their confidence in the one true Gospel. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians has been called "the rallying cry of the Reformation, the great author of religious liberty, the declaration of Christian independence."
COMPILATION: There is a great diversity of opinions; some accept as the date of this letter the close of the first missionary journey (about A.D. 50) in Antioch; another opposite strand says that the letter was written in the Roman prison of the apostle (60 A.D. and later); others suggest that the book was written on Paul's second journey to Corinth, before the arrival of Timothy and Silas. It consists of 6 chapters and 149 verses.
CHRONOLOGY (ESTIMATED) | |
AD 47-49 | Paul's first missionary journey |
A.D. 50 | The Council of Jerusalem |
AD 50 to 53 | Paul's second missionary journey |
A.D. 50 | One of the probable dates of the Galatians letter |
AD 53-57 | Paul's Third Missionary Journey |
A.D. 58 | Paul Arrested in Jerusalem |
AD 60 to 62 | Paul is Imprisoned in Rome |
AD 60 to 62 | Another probable date of the Galatians letter |
AD 67 | Peter and Paul are executed |