Galatians
Survey the Land
Field study 1
Todd Bolen, www.BiblePlaces.com
Corrupting the gospel is an age-old tendency
Ruins of the Church of St. Paul at Pisidian Antioch In Acts 13 Paul and Barnabas first arrive at Antioch in Pisidia to preach the gospel. Today, there are remains of a church building there, built several centuries after Paul’s arrival, but demonstrating the lasting impact of Christ’s message. According to the South Galatian theory, this would have been a church that Galatians was written to.
Acts 15. This is called the North Galatian Theory. On the other hand, if Galatians is used in the political sense of the Roman province, the letter could have been written immediately after Paul’s first missionary journey to the Galatian cities recorded and detailed in Acts 13–14. This is known as the South Galatian Theory. In this case, the letter was written before the Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts 15 and would explain why Paul never mentions it. Good arguments are made for either option and the matter is not settled. Our study follows the South Galatian Theory particularly because of the decision made at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. There the church leadership unanimously declared and disseminated the same position Paul advances in the letter of Galatians. It is hard to believe Paul would not appeal to the Council’s decision when his letter deals with the very same issue. It certainly would have helped settle the matter.
When did this happen? The date of the writing of Galatians is clearly based on the location of these churches. If we follow the North Galatian theory, this would imply a date sometime around A.D. 53–57. On the other hand, if 50
52
54 53–57?
56
58
60 A.D.
Paul writes Galatians (North Galatian Theory)
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