Corpus-Paul

["Mitternacht Dieter" <dieter.mitternacht AT teol.lu.se>]

Hi Richard.

 

Thanks for your response. I wil leave it to others to respond to your thesis as to who delivered the letter, and limit myself to the heading we started out with: "Paul's information about Galatia".

 

Richard writes:
>>Placing Galatians during Paul's first visit to Macedonia or Achaia is a little problematic because it is hard to imagine a Galatian messenger >>making the long journey to the Aegean from Galatia, and it is doubtful that they would know Paul's whereabouts.

Dieter responds:

Agreed. But the problem you are posing is based on the assumption that the churches look for Paul. Vice versa is easier to imagine (which is what I was "guessing").

 

Richard:

..... I suppose, that there was communication between Paul and Galatia concerning the collection, but nowhere in the letter does Paul encourage his readers to give and nor does he thank them for their gift.

 

Dieter:

In terms of explicit ref's I agree. But in terms of implicit hints, there have been several suggestions made, I named a couple. 6:1-10 may contain another hint. Acc to my suggestion Paul's attempt to collect in Galatia via a messanger was not successful. this does not automatically mean that the Galatian did not care for the needy in Jerusalem. It may only mean that they chose a different channel. 6:6 may be a very personal complaint. As a general remark on implicit hints and mirror reading I would like to add that it should not be difficult for you to appreciate, since your own idea about who delivered the letter is based on such procedures.

 

Richard:

It is hard to imagine this sort of confusion arising at a time after Paul had stated his position clearly in Jerusalem (Gal 2:1-10 and Acts 15) and had gained a reputation for opposing circumcision (Acts 21:21).

 

Dieter:

I think we need to be careful with reputations based on Acts. Acc to Gal 5.11 there was a reputation lingering that suggests that it was not clear where Paul stood on the issue of circumcision *in principle!*.

 

Richard:

.... If the influencers/infiltrators are to be equated with those 'from James' and/or with the men from Judea (Acts 15:1) then they visited Antioch after visiting Galatia and Paul would have heard their report...  In any event, they were probably Judeans or had some connection with the apostles so it is likely that they would have returned to Jerusalem .... When Paul went to Jerusalem he would have heard that report from the apostles if not directly from the influencers....

 

Dieter:

You include a number of suggestions which I would not call  "were probably..." I do not envision anti-pauline troops on Paul's heels, sent out from Jerusalem, infiltrating his work and causing disturbance everywhere. If that was the case, Paul would have directed his critique more openly, I think. He does not hesitate to name Barnabas and Peter in Antioch, so why the silence concerning the situation in Galatia?

 

It seems plausible to me that the crisis in Galatia arose from socio-religious intra- and inter-group problems IN Galatia, and that support from Jerusalem was sought not because there was a conscious effort to oppose Paul, but maybe simply because (as you said yourself) Paul was harder to get in touch with than the Jerusalem apostles.

 

I believe 1) that Paul's reaction in Gal constitutes a surprise for the recipients and 2) that Paul expected them to be surprised. Thus for instance the ironic and hyperbolic rebukes in 3.1-5. 

Take care,

Dieter

 

 

 

 

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Dieter's earlier respons:
As far as I am aware there is no way of knowing whether Paul got a verbal or a letter report from Galatia. According to 1 Cor 16:1 Paul was expecting a contribution from Galatia to his collection for Jerusalem. In Gal 2:10 the collection is hinted at. One guess is that Paul received the news from an envoy he had sent for the contribution. Another guess, based on 4.15-17, is that the envoy may not have received what he came for.

Continuing the guessing.... We can suspect that the visit of the envoy was rather brief, which would tie in with the idea that the information Paul got was not very detailed but rather general. This latter suggestion is based on the noteable lack in the letter of detail and precision when Paul addresses the problem he is reacting to. The lack of detail seems significant since Paul recounts quite a few details and also specific names in other matters, such as the Jerusalem meetings, the Antioch situation, his visit to Galatia and references to his own person.

Whether or not - and if yes how - the Jerusalem apostles were involved in the situation is a matter of debate, where I would suggest Yes, but not as initiators or collaborators of the initiators of the problem. Rather, it seems plausible to me (as Mark Nanos has suggested) that the problem was home made. I believe though that the Galatians may have sought advise from Jerusalem (especially Peter) on how to deal with the problem. The latter inference I base on the way I perceive the rhetorical function of the narratives in ch's 1-2.

Dieter