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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanos AT gvi.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: North/South Galatian Theory
  • Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 18:25:51 -0600


Loren Rossen brought up the issue of North and South Galatian theories in his recent post replying to Titus and 2 Cor. 11.22. Loren says:

I'd like to
open the doors to debate about "North" vs. "South"
Galatian theories. I follow the former, but I also
believe that Paul's letter predates his 2nd missionary
journey. Almost invariably, those who equate Gal.
2:1-10 with Acts 11:27-30 (as I do) follow the South
Galatian theory. But I've worked out the itinerary and
time frames, and it's both possible and plausible that
Paul visited the northern region during the first
missionary journey. In my novel I'm developing a
rather complex chain of events which leads Paul to
take refuge far north, about midway between Pessinus
and Ancyra. It involves his "eye injury" (Gal.
4:13-15), and serious conflict is involved. We know
Luke either toned down conflict or screened it out
altogether, and I imagine a conflict so serious as to
warrant complete censorship. (Thus no report of travel
to the northern region in Acts 13-14). I'm wondering
if there are other North-Galatian theorists who
believe that the letter predates the 2nd missionary
journey?

First of all, your chronology and various comments warrant more consideration. But just a quick note on this matter of the so-called North or South location of the Galatian addressees.

I do not see anything in the letter of Galatians that offers definitive case for just where in Galatia the addressees were, or whether the region or Roman province is indicated. I also do not see that it matters for the interpretation of Galatians, at least, short of certainty. There are some interesting arguments (some not so interesting), and Scott's recent contribution in Paul and the Nations offers a new way to assess this in terms of geopolitical orientation for Paul as a Judean. But it does seem to me to be conclusive.

Most rely upon the material from Acts. And if you are doing a chronology you would have to deal with these issues. I look forward to what you might offer to resolve this conundrum, but I see little in Galatians to help you do so.

One thing that does seem to me to be necessary from the text of Galatians is the presence of Jewish communal life within the constraints of a larger pagan context, and likely one in which issues of Roman imperial cult surface. These arise from the implied context of the addressees concerns, that is, from Paul's rhetorical approach to the addressees in this letter, so that these concerns are presumably salient for them (intra-Jewish communal and inter-Jewish/pagan communal constraints on their identity while remaining pagans on the prevailing terms of those who do not share their evaluation of the meaning of the death of a Judean martyr of the Roman regime for themselves).

Some have argued that the addressees are Celts in the Northern plains, and that there are no Jewish communities in their area (cf. Jewett; Martyn). It is not clear that the addressees are Celts, though they may be. It seems more likely that their identity concerns are of a Greek/Roman character, but that could apply to Celts of this period anyway, since the Romans ruled this region. Moreover, it is not clear that even in the North that there were no Jewish communities; Jewish people and communities are attested far north of Galatia for this period, and in far more obscure places overall. However, their presence in some numbers in the province of Galatia (so-called South) is at this time well attested, and thus fits the rhetorical situation of the letter well.

What makes the northern theory (more) attractive for you? How do Paul's eyes come to play in locating him there? Moreover, how do Paul's eyes play a role at all? I have read a theory that Paul was on his way to the north (to S. Paulus' lands) and stopped at a healing spa for his eyes. However, even if this is so (and again, I do not see it from Galatians, where the "weakness of flesh/body" is not defined as an eye problem) these kinds of natural springs are found throughout Anatolia, including south, east, and west from Psidian Antioch. So what leads you to suggest a northern (or north-central) location? And what is gained by this for your chronology, or construction of Paul, or his addressees?

Regards,
Mark Nanos





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