Reading and Study Guide –
Galatians
1. As you are reading try to
imagine who the persons are who Paul claims are "confusing you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ (1:7)." What is this group teaching the Galatians and what are
the Galatians doing in response? Almost any interpreter can agree that Paul’s
opponents are urging the Galatians to be circumcised, but there is a lot of disagreement
about the opponents’ exact identity. Which of the three views on the
handout seems
most plausible to you? Why?
3. How does the narrative
section (narratio) of 1:11 - 2:14 contribute to Paul’s overall argument?
4. What are Paul’s key
arguments against his opponents? Make a list and include verse references.
5. What arguments does Paul offer to explain how the Gentiles can be saved without circumcision and keeping of the whole law? Cite specific passages.
6. What passages from the Old Testament/Jewish Bible does Paul refer to in Galatians 3 and 4? Note: the annotations in the New Oxford Annotated Bible give you the relevant passages in the OT).
7. How should Paul’s
allegory of Hagar and Sarah in 4:21 - 5:1 be interpreted? Who are Hagar
and Sarah in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible? ( Note Paul reverses the
traditional association of Hagar and Ishmael with the Gentiles and Sarah ( ancestral
mother of the Jewish people) and Isaac with Israel.
8. Why and how does Paul treat
the Spirit and freedom differently in Galatians and I Corinthians? Cite specific passages.