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  • From: Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Corpus-Paul] Questions on Galatians
  • Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 12:24:44 -0700 (PDT)

Billy wrote:

>Loren has brought up a good point regarding the
>position that holds that circumcision was only
>meant for 'god-fearers' and the like. That is
>true when one WANTED TO ACCEPT THE YOKE OF JUDAISM
>according to some of the
>Jewish leadership, but not all Loren. But, your
>point is well taken even
>though we know that it was debated.

Billy,

Thanks for the lengthy reply. To springboard on your
comments about "getting in" and "staying in" -- though
I really don't like Sanders' terms here, since
misleading notions can be read into them -- I would
say that the private Jerusalem meeting (Gal 2:1-10),
the Antioch incident (2:11-14), and the Galatian
crisis (Gal 3:1-5, 5:2-3, 6:12-15) were all about the
former: proselyte conversion, or "getting in". Here
the question was, "On what basis could the Gentile
people could be considered equal with the Jewish
people in the messianic (Christian) community?" The
later Jerusalem conference (if it happened)(Acts 15),
on the other hand, addressed issues about "staying
in", the question now being, "How were Gentiles
expected to conduct themselves within the messianic
community?". Naturally, the focus here would have been
on issues of diet, sex -- the same kind of sensitive
issues having to do with past requirements for
God-fearers and Resident Aliens. Rom 14:1-15:6 targets
these kind of issues, explaining how Gentiles should
conduct themselves vis-à-vis the people of Israel.

Jerry Sumney has suggested that Gal 5:2-3 indicates
the Galatian influencers did not teach that
circumcision led to the whole Torah. I've a hard time
buying this, since the influencers are not the
addressees. It is the addressees who needed reminding
that circumcision (proselyte conversion) led to the
whole law -- as I think those Galatian teachers knew,
and taught, too well.

Loren Rosson III
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com


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