GALATIANS: INTRODUCTION

I would like to introduce Galatians in a rather different way by comparing it to an entirely different passage in the Bible and that is Psalm137. Take a minute to read that psalm first.

One commentator states that “Psalm 137 has the distinction of having one of the most beloved opening lines and the most horrifying closing line of any psalm.'” “God does not ask us to suppress those emotions, but rather to speak about them in plain and heartfelt terms. In the speaking out, we give voice to the pain, the feelings of helplessness, and the burning anger. And we trust that God's justice will be done.” (The Book of Psalms, New International Commentary on the OT)

What in the world does this have to do with Galatians? Well, in the first place, the background to both works is similar in that they deal with problems arising from attempts to express an historic faith in a

completely different, and sometimes hostile, setting. “How can we sing the Lord's song in a new land?” asks the Psalmist. How can you be a Jew without the temple and its sacrifices? But the Jews did adjust to the new situation in Babylon and that is where they invented the idea of the synagogue where they could worship and learn. And that is what has kept the Jews going today, even far away from Jerusalem and without a temple to conduct sacrifices in. Also, it was in Exile that rabbis came to the forefront as leaders in place of the priesthood. Fast-forward several hundred years and we come to the Judaizers that Paul mentions in the Letter to the Galatians. They apparently don't mind accepting Gentiles as their brothers and sisters in the new faith, but they still have one major hang-up that they can't seem to adjust to. They ask the Galatians, “How can you be a Christian if you don't also accept the law?” And, of course, Paul reminds them how in this letter.

A second point of similarity is that both Psalm 137 and Galatians have had a large influence right up to the present time. The lyrics to one of the songs in the rock-musical Godspell are actually word-for-word from this psalm, and that musical had a huge influence on the Jesus People Movement of the 60's. And a little later the theologian Robert Short wrote a popular book called The Gospel According to Peanuts in which he used Peanuts cartoons to illustrate biblical truths. Psalm 137 was Short's proof-text to demonstrate that we need to be imaginative in reaching each succeeding generation by coming up with new ways to sing God's song – even through the use of cartoons.

How about Galatians? The continuing influence of that letter over the years doesn't need much proving either. It starts with the early theologian Marcion active around the mid-2^nd century. Marcion's list of Paul's writings is one of the earliest we have, and it starts out with the Letter to the Galatians at its head. Overbeck--“Paul had only one student who understood him, Marcion, and this student misunderstood him.” He made that statement because Marcion rejected the need for the OT law as Paul teaches in Galatians, but unfortunately he just didn't stop there. He also rejected the teachings of the whole OT as well as rejecting the God of the OT. Someone has said that heresy is a truth taken too far, and that is certainly what Marcion did. 

Then, during the early Reformation, it was said that Martin Luther conducted a “passionate love affair with Galatians.” Luther even called this letter “his sweetheart.” (That was probably before he got married.) And more recently commentators have called it not only “the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation” but also “the great charter of gospel liberty.” One commentator even said that Galatians was almost a rough draft of the later Epistle to the Romans, which was even more influential. This continuing interest in Galatians is really unusual since the letter revolves around a specific theological issue that is little debated today, the question of circumcision. Donald Guthrie puts it this way, “In few, if any, of Paul's other epistles is the argument so closely tied to an historically out-dated issue as in this epistle.”

What about the relative situations surrounding the writing of both Psalm 137 and Galatians. Psalm 137 describes a time when the Jews were in captivity far from their home. Similarly, Galatians was written while Paul was far away from the churches he had founded. In each case the authors were totally frustrated due to apparently hopeless situations with no help, except from God. We are sometimes tempted to feel that things are out of control and grasp for inappropriate ways to regain it such as through political power only. As taught in both psalms and Galatians, the only true solution to our problems is to turn to God Himself. Remember Paul's saying that when he is weak then he is truly strong because God is his strength.

Another similarity to point out is the emotionally charged atmosphere in both works and the apparent anger the author expresses toward his opponents:

“Happy shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (Psalm 137:9)

“I wish that the people who are upsetting you would go all the way; let them go on and castrate themselves!” (Galatians 5:12 TEV)

The Letter to the Galatians is perhaps the most emotional of Paul's letters. Commentators have used terms such as “unrestrained expression”, “spontaneous”, “passion”, “prophetic fervor”, “written white-hot with urgency, and under great emotional stress”, ”sense of urgency”, and “highly personal and controversial.” Here are some additional comments of Galatians:

“ In some ways this has been considered the most Pauline of the Pauline writings, the one in which anger has caused Paul to say what he really thinks.”

“We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down.”

“One may wonder, however, if in the excitement and urgency of the crisis with which he was suddenly confronted Paul would have been consciously careful to construct his letter according to the canons of the rhetorical schools.” In other words, Paul wouldn't have written it as a piece of polished literature.

“ It is difficult to trace a clear progression or sequence in its structure.”

But I would disagree with these last two comments entirely. It is easy to show that Paul took no less care with the composition of Galatians than with any of his other letters. This shouldn't be surprising in light of the fact that even the psalmists had the uncanny ability to combine a wide range of emotions within a very rigid formal literary structure. That can be demonstrated by coming back to Psalm 137.

Figure 1: The Structure of Psalm 137

A. Israel's Enemies (vv. 1-3)                                                   “Babylon remember” (v. 1)

                                                            mirth

                                                            Zion

        B. Psalmist's Response (vv. 4-6)

                                                            joy

                                                            Jerusalem

A'. Israel's Enemies (vv. 7-9)                                                  “remember Babylon” (v. 8)

                                                            happy

                                                            Jerusalem

The psalm has a symmetrical ABA structure with each section containing exactly three stanzas, each of which contains a variation on the idea of happiness and each one mentions Jerusalem. And the whole psalm is tied together by use of mirror image terms “Babylon” followed by “remember” at the start and ”remember” followed by “Babylon” at the conclusion. This technique is called an inclusio.

Galatians is no less organized as you can see in Fig. 2:

Figure 2: The Structure of Galatians

I. Introduction (1:1-5) “grace, peace”

II. The Gospel Received (1:6-2:21)

III. Abraham's Children (3:1-5:1)

A. Questions for the Galatians (3:1-5)

B. Old Testament Analogy (3:6-14)

C. The Promise (3:15-4:7)

A'. Questions for the Galatians (4:8-20)

B'. Old Testament Analogy (4:21-5:1)

II'. The Gospel Lived (5:2-6:15)

I'. Conclusion (6:16-18)

This similar chiastic (symmetrical) arrangement is designed to highlight section IIIC at the center as the heart of the whole letter. This center unit C is unified by repetition of the key word “promise” used exactly seven times. Also appearing seven times are references to being “under” a power of some sort or other. This section contains all the occasions in Galatians when the word “offspring” is employed (5x), referring to our adoption as sons of God through Christ. This unit repeats the main idea which we will see in the opening words of Galatians, especially verse 4: “the central conviction that a new era in God's dealings with his creation has dawned and that in this new era God has established a new covenant with a newly constituted people.”

Sections I (1:1-5) and I' (6:16-18)

Also, you can see that the structure in Fig. 2 places the opening five verses in parallel with the last three in the letter. The similarities between these two passages are fairly easy to pick out. Both small sections contain the only times in the letter that Jesus is called “Lord Jesus Christ;” Paul's audience is called “brethren” in each section; and both the start and conclusion include blessings on the recipients – “grace and peace” at the start and “peace and grace” at the conclusion. In other words, “grace” not works is the start and finish, the alpha and omega of the Christian faith. And that is the main theme of the letter. Remember that this same literary technique of inclusio is also in Psalm 137. Paul also throws in the blessing of “mercy” into the conclusion – Paul must have felt the Galatians needed mercy badly. And lastly, both the opening and closing sections end with “Amen.”

So in both Psalm 137 and Galatians we have strange mixes of well-reasoned theology or beautiful poetry, together with emotional outbursts. It is tempting to try to separate the human elements from the divine elements. But that is just as impossible as trying to separate the human and divine aspects of Jesus Christ because in a way the Bible is also wholly human and wholly divine.