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  • From: "Elli Elliott" <ellielliott AT email.msn.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: North/South Galatian Theory
  • Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 16:15:35 -0700


Let me just weigh in on this even though I don't have time at the moment to
go over the discussion in detail. I need to clarify the argument that I do
NOT make and go back to lurking if I'm going to be ready to participate at
the SBL.

My theory does not rely on North or South Galatia as the location of the
audience, nor does it offer any tight evidence for the northern hypothesis.
The cult of the Mountain Mothers pervaded central Anatolia, both North and
South.

I don't think there is anything decisive in the letter to offer a
determination. My own research started from the premise that we should at
least bother to look at central Anatolia generally to understand the context
before launching into issues for which evidence is insufficient. That is
what I see as the great irony of the "North-South" debate. Theories are
proposed and arguments are made and then interpreters proceed to interpret
as if neither "Galatia" were in view.

When the sites where there is time-relevant evidence of devotion to the
Mother of the Gods are laid on a map in conjunction with all of the
locations mentioned in Acts associated with Paul's activity including
"Galatia" both ethnically and provincially defined, the correspondence is
striking. There are mountains identified as local Mountain Mothers
throughout the area, including the Meter Zizimmene at Zizima near Iconium.

btw I would not subscribe to reliance on evidence from Acts to determine the
location of Galatia, nor would I assume that there were "three missionary
journeys" so neatly conceived, but the sites metnioned indicate places Paul
probably visited at some point.

Elli Elliott (elli AT ria.net)
Pastor, Zion United Church of Christ, Sterling, Colorado
PhD, New Testament & Early Christianity, Loyola University Chicago
----- Original Message -----
From: "Loren Rosson" <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 8:18 AM
Subject: [corpus-paul] Re: North/South Galatian Theory


>
> Mark Nanos wrote:
>
> > >I do not see anything in the letter of Galatians
> > that offers
> > >definitive case for just where in Galatia the
> > addressees were...
>
> Nothing definite, to be sure, but I see fairly clear
> allusions to the northern region. As Edgar noted, "O
> foolish Galatians" (3:1) evokes the tribal region. And
> I'm persuaded by Elli Elliot's suggestion that in
> 3:1-5, 5:10-12 Paul rhetorically associates
> circumcision with the northern pagan practice of
> self-castration (see her Sept 12 and 18 posts). But
> the pagan practices referred to in 4:8-10 could
> admittedly refer to either region.
>
> Mark continued:
>
> > I also do not see
> > that it matters for the interpretation of
> > Galatians...
>
> Edgar Krentz affirmed:
>
> > I agree with Mark on this. It does not affect how
> > one interprets the
> > text.
>
> You lost me, guys. Obviously "it matters" and "affects
> our interpretation of the text". If, for instance, the
> South Galatian theory is correct, then, for instance,
> Elli Elliot's "interpretation" of Galatians doesn't
> hold much water.
>
> Edgar noted:
>
> > One can still see the Temple to
> > Rome and Augustus in Ankara (Ancyra), with the great
> > "autobiographical" Res Gestae of Augustus inscribed
> > on it in both Latin and Greek. It dates to a period
> > earlier than Paul's activity in
> > Galatia.
>
> Yes, and Pessinus was an important center for the
> imperial cult as well. There is enough epigraphic
> evidence for sacrifices, banquets, and gladitorial
> combats orchestrated there by the priests of Augustus.
>
> [Mark]
>
> > >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)...
>
> If we give the allusions in 3:1-5, 5:10-12 (and
> 4:12-20, on which see below) their due, we would
> naturally conclude that Paul founded churches in the
> northern region. With regards to Paul's
> "eye-infirmity", I assume that 4:15 -- "I know you
> Galatians would have torn out your eyes and given them
> to me, if possible" -- refers to the "weakness of
> flesh/body" in 4:13. You're evidently skeptical of
> this, Mark. I'm reticent about going into the details
> of what I'm doing with this event (typical novelist!),
> but our interactions demand engagement, and so, for
> now, let me answer in brief:
>
> Gal. 4:12-20 gives the definite impression that Paul
> had dropped on the Galatians unexpectedly, and that he
> had not intended originally to include them in his
> missionary scope. This pretty much rules out the
> southern region from the start, doesn't it? The
> southern "Galatian" areas along the Cilician road seem
> to have been precisely targetted on the first mission.
> 4:12-20 conveys the sense that Paul was driven to take
> refuge "far off the beaten path" -- off the Cilician
> road, into the northern tribal region. I imagine
> (please note the word "imagine") that Paul was fleeing
> lethal enemies who had seriously harmed him (the eyes)
> and were still hot on his trail. Thus the need for
> leaving the main road and venturing up north.
>
> In other words, I do not assume that the eye-illness
> had anything to do with being "blinded" by any
> revelations (like those reported in Gal. 1/Acts 9, II
> Cor. 12, etc.).
>
> On the other hand, I may be leaping a few fences here,
> because the phrase in Gal. 4:13 smacks more of
> "illness" than "injury".
>
> I'm glad to hear confirmation from you, Mark, that
> Jewish communities are widely attested in the far
> north and in obscure places. That would, indeed, be
> something necessary in order to make sense of the
> letter -- and for your own proposed context of
> "proselyte influencers".
>
> Loren Rosson III,
> Nashua NH
> rossoiii AT yahoo.com
>
>
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