Search

Historically, interpreters of Gal. 4 have found the literal sense of τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου , "the elements of the world" to be unintelligible in context. Although a compelling Pauline vision of enslavement to these στοιχεῖα has remained elusive, this paper argues that it is possible to recapture that vision with recourse to the traditional usage of the phrase in ancient Greek philosophical literature. By examining one of the earliest extant quotations of Gal. 4 – i.e., that of Clement of Alexandria in his Protrepticus (c. 190 CE) – and the philosophical language with which Clement associates Paul's στοιχεῖα , this paper argues that Paul uses the phrase τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου according to its meaning in the ancient philosophical Sondersprache. Because an ambiguity between matter and divinity already characterized ancient philosophical thought about στοιχεῖα , Paul's "elements" need not be either "cosmological" or "principial" (as most previous interpreters have thought), but both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four Naga tribes of northeast India, regardless of their tribe, socio-economic status or gender, all wear the same type of shawl, known as the Lohe Shawl. This inclusive tradition could be a contemporary life illustration of Galatians 3:28--except that the Nagas do not fully live out the shawl's implications or properly apply Paul's climactic declaration that 'all are one in Christ Jesus.' This article carefully pairs real-life and biblical exegesis to deepen the power of a classic Pauline lesson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul says that Peter ate with τὰ ἔθνη in Antioch (2:12). In this context, the majority of commentators read the phrase τὰ ἔθνη as a reference to gentiles who believe in Christ, departing from its predominant usage in Paul's writings. However, this widespread and consequential assumption that Peter ate only with Christ-believing gentiles is not compelling. In fact, such an understanding is mainly based on prior scholarship that assumed that Jews, even in the diaspora, lived in isolated contexts and could not have eaten with non-Jews. In contrast, I argue that there are neither linguistic nor contextual reasons in Gal 2 for limiting the people with whom Peter eats to Christ-believing gentiles. Instead, historical studies suggest that the expression τὰ ἔθνη refers to Peter eating with different kinds of gentiles, which also includes non-Christ-believing gentiles at everyday occasions such as private dinner gatherings. This changes our understanding of the context of Peter's commensality as well as Peter's position itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baptism has long been a point of contention among Christians. One passage that may have more to offer than has previously been suggested, particularly with regard to the relationship between faith and baptism, is Gal. 3.27. Of special interest is the precise way that the two clauses pertaining to (i) baptism and (ii) putting on Christ are related. Usually, it has been understood that baptism is, in some sense, the means by which Christ is put on. But an exploration of ὅσος, which connects the two clauses, together with the study of Gal. 3.27 and its context, suggests that 'putting on Christ', which is best understood as the action of faith, is the appropriate response to baptism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the likelihoods of competing textual reconstructions in the Chester Beatty Papyrus ⁴⁶ based on the available space in its lacunose lines. To quantify these relative probabilities, the author uses statistical models of line lengths in ⁴⁶ and a recently described technique for calculating the likelihood of a reconstructed lacunose text. He first demonstrates the power and versatility of this approach with examples in Gal 4:17 and 3:1. He then revisits two more contested textual reconstructions proposed for ⁴⁶: the absence of τῷ θεῷ in Heb 11:4, suggested by G.D. Kilpatrick in 1941, and the absence of σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις in Phil 1:1, suggested by T.C. Skeat in 1995. He shows that Kilpatrick's proposed shorter reading in ⁴⁶ is six times more likely than the longer reading in Heb 11:4, while the evidence is not decisive between the readings in Phil 1:1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gregory's Homily 12 on the Song of Songs offers one opportunity to trace the legacies of the compelling claim, in Galatians 6:17, that Paul bears "the marks of Christ" on his body. Gregory appeals to this verse to aid his exegesis of Song 5:7 (a violent passage he calls "repellant in its plain sense") and develop his claims that "the wound", after all, is "an admirable thing". My paper probes social and ethical dimensions of this exegetical and cultural conceptual lineage. It surveys wounds and marks in Homily 12; suggests how other works by Gregory support "striking and wounding" as enacting spiritual healing (ἴασιν); considers contexts for violence in the name of guardianship and instruction in late antiquity; and closes by considering violence enacted in the name of Christianization and "civilization" in Canada's residential schools. This study embeds Gregory's treatment of Gal 6:17 in a larger attempt to raise critical questions about the persistence of benevolent understandings of trauma and violence across diverse Christian exegetical contexts and the harms such understandings may perpetuate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay considers the blunt and controversial statement of Paul at the conclusion of Galatians (Gal 6:17). Paul says, "from now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks (stigma, brand or tattoo) of Christ". Scholars agree that Paul is speaking metaphorically about the scars he received in ministry. By calling his scars "tattoos", Paul makes an odd sort of honour claim, since tattoos typically were inflicted on low-status slaves in the Roman empire as a mark of ownership and punishment. This essay looks at a common thread of trauma and violence in the letter to the Galatians. Paul works through the traumas he received in two ways. First, he presents a variety of traumatic episodes in the Galatian community - at times, lashing out at his opponents. Second, he deliberately inverts honor and status categories. By boldly claiming to be Christ's slave Paul asserts his status and finds meaning and vindication in his suffering. This essay takes a more wholistic view of the letter to the Galatians that has previously been done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Augustine's Epistolae ad Galatas Expositionis Liber Unus, I would like to explore two insights into the therapeutic understanding of persona trauma. First, for Augustine, Paul's past turbulentas contentions are not in and of themselves stigmata domini Iesu Christi. What, then, is the meaning and significance for Augustine of Paul's statement "For I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in my body" (Gal 6:17)? Secondly, Augustine recognizes that Paul has been fighting his "alios conflictus et certamina". What is his struggle and how does it relate to the stigmata of the Lord Jesus Christ in the body? In traumatic experiences, our hearts may be troubled by the guilt of the traumatic experiences (for example, by asking questions like: "Did I do something wrong to cause this?"). Paul is able to recognize and reject anyone (or anything) that might tempt him to return to the accusation of the law, hence the declaration: "De cetero, inquit, laborem nemo mihi praestet". I argue that by interpreting the metaphorical sense of ad coronam uictoriae proficiebant, Augustine pronounces Christ's victory on the Cross over sin and death by explaining Paul's proclamation of his hermeneutic of Christ's stigmata. Through this soteriological lens, Augustine brings his interpretation of Galatians to its climax by proclaiming "Gratia domini nostri Iesu Christi cum spiritu uestro, fratres, Amen" (Gal 6:18). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Epistle to the Galatians, which is the richest in historical references to Paul's conversion and his apostolic activity (Gal 1:11-2:21), contains one of the most interesting remarks in Paul's letters, "I went to Arabia" (Gal 1:17b). This brief autobiographical statement is not easy to clarify. A careful consideration of all the factors leads to the conclusion that Paul travelled to the territory of the Nabatean kingdom to do missionary work there. In keeping with Paul's later missionary activity, which is oriented toward large cities, and which usually begins in a Jewish synagogue, it is plausible to assume that Paul followed a similar missionary strategy in Arabia and that he therefore focused on large cities (Petra, Hegra, Bosra) in which Jewish communities, perhaps with a certain circle of sympathizers, may also have been present. The main reason for Paul's journey to Arabia was in all probability the fact that this territory had been neglected by Christian missionaries in the early church and that he could therefore preach the gospel where the name of Christ was not yet known. Paul's missionary activity in Arabia, which undoubtedly must have involved a longer period (one or two years), as is evident from the later conflict with the governor under King Aretas after his return to Damascus (2 Cor 11:32), was probably not successful and met with considerable opposition, since there is no evidence of Christian communities having been established in the territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul’s calling presents a conundrum to which many have proposed varied solutions. Not trying to solve the conundrum in toto, this study investigates the existential dynamics of Paul’s calling as narrated to the Galatians within the context of their apostasy. The model used is Heidegger’s understanding of conscience as a call towards authenticity and away from inauthenticity. Rhetorical analysis assists in identifying Paul’s new understanding of authenticity, by analysing the propositio, especially its expositio, which contains soteriological peculiar existential first-person singular expressions. Paul’s preaching of his gospel and his letter to the Galatians are in turn also to them, a call to authenticity and away from inauthenticity. His preaching thus resembles the phenomenological idea of conscience. Thus, Paul’s gospel cannot be separated from his calling. Both are about the same understanding of authenticity. It is at the same time a new self-understanding: to have been crucified with Christ and therefore Christ living in him and the faithful (Gl 2:19–20). This is a concise formula of soteriology as symbolised in baptism. Such calling is never completed: it remains a dynamic process, a tension and movement between authenticity and inauthenticity. This is reflected in the Galatian apostasy and Paul’s letter calling them back to authenticity. The study underlines the crucial importance of soteriology for kerygma and baptism, but especially for understanding a person’s call to faith or ministry. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The model is suitable for studying the religious phenomenon of calling in religious texts and in life.

Drawing on Augustine’s Epistolae ad Galatas Expositionis Liber Unus, I would like to explore two insights into the therapeutic understanding of persona trauma. First, for Augustine, Paul’s past turbulentas contentiones are not in and of themselves stigmata domini Iesu Christi. What, then, is the meaning and significance for Augustine of Paul’s statement “For I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in my body” (Gal 6:17)? Secondly, Augustine recognizes that Paul has been fighting his “alios conflictus et certamina”. What is his struggle and how does it relate to the stigmata of the Lord Jesus Christ in the body? In traumatic experiences, our hearts may be troubled by the guilt of the traumatic experiences (for example, by asking questions like: “Did I do something wrong to cause this?”). Paul is able to recognize and reject anyone (or anything) that might tempt him to return to the accusation of the law, hence the declaration: “De cetero, inquit, laborem nemo mihi praestet”. I argue that by interpreting the metaphorical sense of ad coronam uictoriae proficiebant, Augustine pronounces Christ’s victory on the Cross over sin and death by explaining Paul’s proclamation of his hermeneutic of Christ’s stigmata. Through this soteriological lens, Augustine brings his interpretation of Galatians to its climax by proclaiming “Gratia domini nostri Iesu Christi cum spiritu uestro, fratres, Amen” (Gal 6:18).

Gregory’s Homily 12 on the Song of Songs offers one opportunity to trace the legacies of the compelling claim, in Galatians 6:17, that Paul bears “the marks of Christ” on his body. Gregory appeals to this verse to aid his exegesis of Song 5:7 (a violent passage he calls “repellant in its plain sense”) and develop his claims that “the wound”, after all, is “an admirable thing”. My paper probes social and ethical dimensions of this exegetical and cultural conceptual lineage. It surveys wounds and marks in Homily 12; suggests how other works by Gregory support “striking and wounding” as enacting spiritual healing (ἴασιν); considers contexts for violence in the name of guardianship and instruction in late antiquity; and closes by considering violence enacted in the name of Christianization and “civilization” in Canada’s residential schools. This study embeds Gregory’s treatment of Gal 6:17 in a larger attempt to raise critical questions about the persistence of benevolent understandings of trauma and violence across diverse Christian exegetical contexts and the harms such understandings may perpetuate.

This essay considers the blunt and controversial statement of Paul at the conclusion of Galatians (Gal 6:17). Paul says, “from now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks (stigma, brand or tattoo) of Christ.” Scholars agree that Paul is speaking metaphorically about the scars he received in ministry. By calling his scars “tattoos,” Paul makes an odd sort of honour claim, since tattoos typically were inflicted on low-status slaves in the Roman empire as a mark of ownership and punishment. This essay looks at a common thread of trauma and violence in the letter to the Galatians. Paul works through the traumas he received in two ways. First, he presents a variety of traumatic episodes in the Galatian community – at times, lashing out at his opponents. Second, he deliberately inverts honor and status categories. By boldly claiming to be Christ’s slave Paul asserts his status and finds meaning and vindication in his suffering. This essay takes a more wholistic view of the letter to the Galatians that has previously been done.

The aim of this study is to shed light on the development of "an ecclesiology from below" for our time from the Letter to the Galatians. For this purpose, Schoemans' view of "an ecclesiology from below" is taken as point of departure, namely that it is "a theology lived and experienced in the faith community" (Schoeman 2020:102). To achieve this, the ecclesiology of the letter is scrutinised for aspects that might be relevant for communities of faith in our time. The following aspects are identified and discussed: God's calling as the point of departure; the centrality of the gospel; the importance of "the hearing of faith"; the role of ritual, and the guidance of the Spirit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes a mariological analysis of Galatians 4:4-5 and seeks to highlight their contributions to the foundation of the christian faith. The oldest biblical reference to Jesus’ mother is found in Gal 4:4-5. The “apostle of the gentiles” (Rom 11:13) refers to Mary of Nazareth in the context of the incarnation of Son of God, without mentioning her name. The pauline expression “born of woman” (Gal 4:4) refers to the precarious and fragile human condition assumed by the Son of God. The expression “born under the law” (Gal 4:4) indicates Jesus’ ethnic origin. He is the son of a jewish woman. Galatians 4:4-5 served as the basis for future mariological elaborations. The Church Fathers resort to this pauline reference to answer to gnostic currents and nestorianism. The Letter to the Galatians indicates Mary’s divine motherhood and her collaboration in the history of salvation indirectly. Paul’s mariology is quite sober and strictly christocentric. The analysis of this protomariology leads to the rediscovery of the first foundations of biblical and systematic mariology. Initially, the article deals with the mystery of the incarnation in the corpus paulinum and analyzes the chiastic structure of Gal 4:4-5. Then, it delves into the expressions “born of woman” and “born under the law” and highlights the importance of Galatians as an early response to docetism and nestorianism. Finally, it suggests in Paul an elementary biblical mariology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the interpretation of nomos in Galatians 2:11–21 within the light of Greco-Roman associations and Palestinian chavurot. As such, it proposes a reading of the text and conflict as a localized issue of conflicting association by-laws between Jews and Gentiles. The members of Jacob's association in Jerusalem demonstrated Pharisaic behavior in requiring circumcision for membership in the association and requiring the additional observance of purity and tithing regulations as interpreted by the association as crucial elements of its by-laws. Paul chastises Peter for breaking the by-laws of the Jewish assembly when eating with the Gentiles but then "separating himself" from them and requiring the Gentiles to observe the by-laws that he had just broken. Paul then explains how the Jewish association's by-laws are not required for his Gentile followers and redirects them to the faithfulness of Christ as their means of being set right and the means of acquiring justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution the author will proceed in three steps. First, he will raise questions about the various rhetorical approaches one might follow in order to study the argumentative development of Galatians, considering the different methodological options. Second, he will offer a survey of existing rhetorical research on Galatians. Then he will seek to outline the argumentative structure and development of Galatians, in order to understand what is really at stake in this Pauline letter. At the end it will be proven that the literary rhetorical approach in studying Galatians is highly useful for a deep understanding of the text of the letter and its aim: Paul wants to re-evangelise the addressees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Galatian community is disrupted with different notions of the gospel than Paul intended. Paul, surprised that this community is confused so easily, sets out in Gal 3 to explain what justification by faith entails. Paul and his letter to the Galatians are products of a first century CE context. The problem when faced with Galatians, particularly Gal 3:1–14, is that research on rhetoric abounds, but the curse language, which is an embedded in Paul's context is often dismissed or ignored. My focus here is to trace Paul's meaning, specifically focusing on curse language in the argument of Gal 3 in order to show that Paul is embedded in a apotropaic imaginary as befits his socio-cultural setting and Greco-Roman discursive reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galatians regularly predominates in contemporary discussions of Paul's "apocalyptic" theology. In this essay, two forms of apocalyptic interpretation of Galatians are presented – a "perfected" and a "non-perfected" apocalyptic interpretation in relation to two key test cases: Gal 4,4–5 and 6,16. That discussion then requires a survey of Paul's discourse of divine faithfulness in other undisputed Pauline texts. In the process, an important but neglected theological axis within Galatians is enhanced, enabling a balanced articulation of the relationship between the novelty of God's 'apocalyptic invasion' in Christ and God's longstanding faithfulness even prior to the sending of the Son. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates, primarily through a reading of key moments in Paul's pastoral intervention in the life of his congregations in Galatia, three theses. First, Paul believes that our living justly before God—our embodying righteousness and holiness ever more fully in our dispositions and practices in the hope that we will indeed stand blameless before God—is God's good purpose for us in Christ, who freed us from the penalty of sin, through the Spirit, who frees us from the power of sin. Second, Paul believes the Holy Spirit to play a significant role in God's drama of setting things right with us, in us, and among us. Indeed, the Spirit merits equal billing with the Son in this drama, rather than being relegated to a merely supporting role. Third, Paul believes that experiencing the Holy Spirit's work of what Protestant theologians typically call "sanctification"—this deliverance not only from sin's penalty but also from sin's power—is integral to experiencing the full salvation that is God's purpose for us in Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harmful legacy of Paul's image of σάρξ ("flesh") demands a rethinking of the term's meaning in the allegory of Hagar in Gal 4:21-5:1. Σάρξ has been viewed as a spiritualized metaphor for sin, a connection that has perpetuated a racist sanction of slavery and a gendered, sexualized condemnation of materiality. In dialogue with Hortense Spillers's paradigm-shifting notion of the flesh, I explore the powerful and painful images in this passage with attention to their embodied, social, and structural elements. In Spillers's formulation, the flesh is a locus of the structural dispossession, dehumanization, and ungendering of African and African American people under the logics of American slavery, whereas the body is a locus of white people's violent advantage. I propose that in Galatians Paul's σάρξ indicates vulnerability and wounding, in contrast to the security indicated by the image of the πνεῦμα ("spirit"). Galatians associates Hagar and Ishmael with the σάρξ, not to distance this enslaved family from the divine but rather to call attention to the social disenfranchisement of both mother and son. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Letter to the Galatians is a polemical correspondence about the course of gospel mission that is at stake in the view of the apostle Paul. When Paul represents his own contacts with the Jerusalem church, he defends "our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus" (Gal 2:4). In his aim to focus on the unity of all in Christ, Paul even goes at lengths to state that there is no difference between slave and free (Gal 3:28), while polemically associating both a former state of unbelievers (Gal 4:8) and the emphasis by missionary opponents on circumcision and the covenant of the law (Gal 4:12–31) with bondage and slavery. Yet, what did freedom (ἐλευθερία, Gal 2:4) and its opposite, slavery (δουλεία, Gal 4:24, 5:1), exactly mean in the ancient world in which Paul and his readers lived and communicated? Jews, Greeks, and Romans did not necessarily mean the same by these terms, nor did freedom necessarily mean exactly the same as modern conceptions of the term. This paper aims to contextualize Paul's imagery with a view to biblical traditions, early Jewish notions of freedom, and Graeco-Roman registers of discourse, taking into account historical, literary, linguistic, and rhetorical-critical contexts of interpretation and revisiting the language of freedom and slavery with a view to insights from linguistic anthropology. The paper then revisits the Pauline position of "freedom in Christ" in relation to previous hypotheses of Paul's gospel mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Testament teaching on imitatio Christi has often been exegeted in ways that sound like a programme of violence to the self, particularly when focused on Christ's crucifixion or kenosis. This essay explores the concept of 'violence to the self' and problematizes the role that pain plays in its definition. As an example of contemporary interpretation of 'violence to the self', I take the case of the 'false self' as defined by Winnicott (1960). Some psychiatrists observe a link between false self-behavior and religious commitment. This essay considers how Paul's letters could encourage this kind of 'violence to the self'. Often Paul's vocabulary and concepts are similar to those in the psychoanalytic discussion. I argue that a fundamental difference, which prevents Paul from developing or suffering from a 'false self', lies in his sense of vocation. In a close study of 1 Cor 9-11, the essay argues that Paul's 'I' is constituted both by the task laid upon him, and his awareness of his response to that task, through which his relationship to the Corinthians is also constructed. A coda takes a similar approach to Gal 2:19-20, which has been prominent in recent discussion of Pauline theology, anthropology, and exegesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard translation appears to disambiguate the text of Gal 1:13–16 in a way that stresses or even interprets Paul's words to mean that he had left Judaism when he wrote Galatians. Arguably, the text might not indicate that Paul had left behind his Jewish identity, but that he had grown in his understanding of it. Thus, while standard translations are faithful to a traditional understanding of Paul and his "conversion" from Judaism to Christianity, a less explicit translation might be also true to the source text. This observation may be important beyond this specific passage: It might also raise fundamental questions about possible concepts of "faithful renderings" within Bible translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the two phrases "the fullness of the time" and "the present evil age," found in Galatians, against the backdrop of Jewish apocalyptic chronologies of divine action and in relation to Paul's argument about the interpolation of the law in the letter. Whereas interpretation and theological reflection tend to generalize the intervention of God as the ideal pivot of salvation history, I argue that in Paul's mind the timing of the sending out of the Son is bound up with realistic perceptions of the condition of Israel and hopes for a transformed future. To the extent that the coming of "the fullness of the time" determined the end of the guardianship of the law, the moment is conceived not as a second exodus but as the final resolution of a tension that was inherent in the arrangement from the start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meaning of the phrase τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου in Gal 4,3 has been debated for nearly two millenia. A new understanding of Paul's utilization of the term τοῦ κόσμου is considered in this essay. In addition to ὁ κόσμος meaning "the world" in Gal 4,3, an argument can be made that ὁ κόσμος is a reference to the "adornment" of the penis (i. e., the foreskin). The lexicographical evidence supports this reading. In other words, the reference to κόσμος in Gal 4,3 is an additional critique of the Galatians' decision to circumcise the male members of their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vocation to freedom is the central theme of the pericope Gal 5,1-6. At a time of spiritual conflict in the Galatian community, Paul addresses his Letter to Christians who risk losing their freedom by adhering to a gospel other than that of Christ, which he announced to them. Losing freedom means returning to a life of slavery, and throwing away the salvation that Christ won for us, after all "it is for freedom that Christ set us free" (Gal 5,1). Faced with two ways that are antagonistic - justification by the works of the Law and justification by faith in Jesus Christ - the Galatians are called to live the freedom of the children of God. Through an exegetical study, based on the Method of Semitic Rhetoric Analysis, this article builds a journey of understanding the call to freedom made by Paul to the Galatians, and which continues to be of great value for the Christian experience today. At a time when it is not always clear what the Spirit inspires us, and that freedom itself is not yet a consolidated spiritual experience, or even desired, Paulo conveys with unique clarity the importance of promoting it, and defending it from all the ways that can corrupt it. Jesus is our judge and Savior, and only in Him is obedience to God possible for human beings. Faith working through love fulfills the whole law (Gal 5,14). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hypothesis is proposed regarding the conflict between Peter and Paul in Antioch referred to in Galatians 2,1114. It is placed after the assembly in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15,1-29). There is no mention of it in Acts, but a sign of what happened can be seen in the separation between Paul and Barnabas (cf Acts 15,36-40), who is linked to Peter and the Church of Jerusalem. The conflict starts from the decisions taken in Jerusalem, which do not conform to Paul's thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul’s freedom in Galatians is the initiation of redemption acted by God’s grace through his only Son, Jesus Christ, to set human beings free. Christian freedom is said to be the process of being freed from slavery to freedom; however, this article is giving a different insight into freedom in Galatians, that is, the progress of Christian freedom is not from slavery to freedom, but slavery to slavery. The main point is whom one belongs to: either sin and flesh, or Jesus Christ. Therefore, a full understanding of the meaning of freedom in Galatians has to take the imagery of slavery and adoption into consideration in order to be fully comprehensive. Contribution: This article deals with basic Christian attitudes towards faith, especially regarding the identity of being a Christian and how to live out the characteristics of a Christian life by recognising the true freedom in Christ.

Does Paul of Tarsus have a Mariology? Patristic exegetes and the liturgical tradition have latched onto his one obvious implication of Mary's place in the Christian mystery, that is, 'born from a woman' in Galatians. While this essay explores the case against a Mariological reading of Gal 4:4, it ultimately shows through plausible philological evidence that Paul intentionally refers to none other than Mary in 4:4. Sonship and motherhood are also taken up and further developed in his famous allegory equating the 'two women' of the Abrahamic narrative to 'two covenants.' But how many women are there in Galatians 4? The only ones named are Hagar and 'the Jerusalem above,' while Sarah and Mary fade unmentioned into the silence of Pauline mystery. This essay unveils some further potential Mariological connections to be found in these women, focusing especially on the development of 'law,' 'slave,' 'woman,' 'son,' 'promise,' and 'heir.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the Epistle to the Galatians with regard to textual elements that can be related to language or political performances in the imperium Romanum. To this end, political interpretations in research are first presented and critically discussed: the alleged persecution in Gal 6.12; gods, elements and the calendar in Gal 4.8–10; and the νόμος as Roman law. In a second step, political models of language and thought from the Roman imperial period in the Epistle to the Galatians are considered: the 'present evil age' in Gal 1.4; the idea of a new world-view through the concepts of the 'Gospel' and the 'Son of God'; the cross of Christ as a break from the world; the turn of the ages in Gal 4.1–7; the new community according to Gal 3.28. A conclusion summarises the resulting new world-view and its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ongoing discussions of Gal 3.10–14, interpreters have underappreciated the connection between Paul's argument in 3.10 and his use of Ps 143.2 in 2.16. This article argues that Paul bases his denial of justification by works in 2.16 on the confession of humanity's universal sinfulness in Ps 143.2. Given the rhetorical function of 2.15–21 as well as the close verbal and logical ties between 2.16 and 3.10, it contends the same thought underlies Paul's charge in 3.10 that those of works are under a curse. On this basis, the article assesses various interpretations of Gal 3.10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a reassessment of the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul by focusing on genre, intertextuality, and structure as well as recurrent motifs. It argues that the Apocalypse situates the mission of Paul negatively in relation to a prison-like cosmos and positively in relation to the twelve apostles and that its form and objectives are best compatible with a fourth-century date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues for a renewal of the discipline of New Testament studies through a focus on the question of truth. To make the argument, the article first engages a recent essay that is highly critical of mainstream NT scholarship and subsequently works with the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, Stanley Cavell, Cora Diamond and Hans-Georg Gadamer to pursue the interpreter's implications in the NT's assertions of truth. The article also briefly exegetes five passages from the NT to illustrate the way the NT makes claims that require judgements about truth. Along the way, the article also engages contemporary NT scholars who argue vociferously against 'theological' readings of the NT and others who argue for their inherent necessity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fruit of the Spirit is the most important part in the life of a believer. Through the Fruit of the Spirit the believer can show his true self. But the understanding of the Fruit of the Spirit is still not widely known by many Believers. Therefore through this article believers can have an understanding of what the fruit of the Spirit is and its meaning in its relation to daily life.

Die Frage nach der Identifizierung der Gegner im Galaterbrief spielt in der neutestamentlichen Forschung eine wesentliche Rolle, zumal sowohl die Einschätzung der groben Stoßrichtung als auch diejenige der konkreten Argumentationsführung dieses paulinischen Schreibens von der Beantwortung der Gegnerfrage nicht unwesentlich beeinflusst werden. Trotz aller Schwierigkeiten, die mit dieser Frage verbunden sind, kann eine Mehrheitsmeinung dahingehend konstatiert werden, dass es sich um jüdische oder judenchristliche Missionare handelt, welche die heidnischen Galater zu einer Orientierung am jüdischen Gesetz und zur Übernahme von Tora-Vorschriften bewegen wollten. Der vorliegende Beitrag plädiert auf der Basis textkritischer Beobachtungen gegen diese vorherrschende Meinung und schlägt eine Identifizierung der Gegner als „judaisierende Heidenchristen" vor. Diese Zuschreibung führt zu einer Neubewertung der Argumentationsführung des Galaterbriefs, denn vor dem Hintergrund einer solchen Gegneridentifikation legt sich die Annahme nahe, dass sich Paulus mit einer fehlerhaften Perspektive von Heidenchristen auf das Judentum sowie mit einem damit grundsätzlich zusammenhängenden Kategorienfehler im Blick auf die soteriologische Funktion der Tora auseinanderzusetzen hatte. Der Beitrag verdeutlicht zudem, dass zur Abfassungszeit des Galaterbriefs offenbar noch eine klare Differenzierung zwischen Christen mit jüdischer Identität und solchen mit einem paganen Hintergrund auszumachen ist, eine Differenzierung, die jedoch im Zuge der neutestamentlichen Textüberlieferung mehr und mehr verwischt wurde. The question of the identification of Paul's opponents in Galatians plays an important role in New Testament research, especially since both the assessment of the general message and the concrete argumentation of this Pauline letter are significantly shaped by the answer to the question of the opponents. In spite of all the difficulties connected with this question, the majority view is that the opponents in Galatia are Jewish or Jewish-Christian missionaries who wanted to persuade the Gentile Galatians to orient themselves towards Jewish law and to adopt Torah regulations. Based on text-critical observations, this article argues against this prevailing opinion and proposes an identification of the opponents as "Judaising Gentile Christians". This attribution leads to a re-evaluation of the argumentation of Galatians because, against the background of such an identification of the opponents, there are good reasons to think that Paul had to deal with an erroneous perspective of Gentile Christians on Judaism as well as a related misunderstanding about the soteriological function of the Torah. The article also suggests that at the time of writing, a clear differentiation between Christians with a Jewish identity and those with a pagan background can still be discerned, a differentiation that became more and more blurred in the course of the New Testament textual tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Cografya Fakültesi Dergisi DTCF Dergisi is the property of Ankara Universitesi Dil ve Tarih-Cografya Fakultesi (DTCF Dergisi) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)