But whatever the weakness was, and however incurred, the fact remains that it afforded him an opportunity of preaching in a district where he had no intention of preaching: a district therefore, which lay on the road to some more attractive field of operation. Now, it will scarcely do to say that G. projier lay on the road to nowhere, for, as we have seen, St. Paul had a desire to enter Bithynia, and might, because debarred from Asia, have chosen to pass through the western edge of G. on his way to the more northern province. It seems, therefore, as easy to construe this expression in keeping with the N. Oalatian theory as with the S. Galatian.
We find from the Ep. itself that emissaries from Jems, hod appeared among the Gal. churches, and it has been argued that such persons would scarcely have penetrated so far into the interior of Asia Minor as the N. Gal. theory supposes. But this is both to misconceive the accessibility of the region and to underrate the eager propagandismof the Jew and the antipathy to St. Paul. It is more to the purpose to point to &ii and to find in it an allusion to the circumcision of Timothy, which was well known among the S. Gal. churches, and might naturally be used as a handle against St. Paul, and a ground of charging him with inconsistency.
• The Greek interpreters understood the ar6t*um of per- secution. Theodoret, e.g., says: xtciToi TokXiiv Itptpe* i»/ m
ffiuMTof otTif^iotv, etiXiXopctvoi tta.) tTTptiSkoC/Mvef m^i f^vpict bT«^()*< ilivd
GALATIAXS, EPISTLE TO THE
GALATIAJN'S, EPISTLE TO THE 95
The internal evidence which the Ep. bears, that it was ad- dressed to Celte, cannot be regarded as trustworthy Lightfoot and others have collected very interesting notices of the Celtic ciiaracter, their sensuousness and impulsiveness, and so forth, and have adduced from the Ep. illustrations of these qualities which are certainly striking. But although these might serve as corroljorative evidence to an otherwise strong argument, the insecurity of founding ujxjn them is at once apparent when it is considered how difficult it is to grasp national character, and when we reflect that the Celtic character produces t.vpes so diverse as the Irish, the Welsh, and the Highlanders ot Scotr land.
iii. Occasion of the Epi.';tle.— The Galatians had received St. Paul with extraordinary deiiion- Btrations of friendliness (4'^). They had felicitated themselves on their good fortune in having him for their guest, and they had received his gospel as a message from heaven, or as if Christ Jesus Himself had come among them (4"). Churches had been formed, and they 'ran bravely' (5'). That a second visit had been paid to these churches before this letter was written, is the natural infer- ence from some expressions which occur in it. The t4 Trpfrrepov of 4'^ might merely mean ' formerly,' and not detinitely ' on the former of two occa- sions ' ; neither is the expression of the 16th verse decisive (wo-re IxOpoi i/xwv 7^70^0 dXiySfi'Mv iifii"), for it is possible that in these words he might be merely alluding to the change of feeling to- wards him produced by the representations of his enemies, or anticipating the resentment this letter itself might occasion. But when he uses such expressions as those which occur in l" and 5^ and which point to emphatic warnings uttered when he was among them, it would appear that sucli warnings are incongruous with the cir- cumstances of his first visit, and must be referred to a second, when he perceived sj-mptoms of de- fection from the gospel he had proclaimed.
The symptoms he had observed rapidly de- ▼elojicd. They were movin" away from the free standing of faith to the bondage of the law ; they were bein<' circumcised, observing days and new moons and other seasons, and returning to the weak and beggarly elements from which ht. Paul believed they had escaped (l«49-i<i 53). In this retrograde movement St. Paul sees a renunciation of grace, a \'irtual renunciation of Christ (5^). He still tried to persuade himself that irreparable damage had not yet been done (5'") ; but assuredly the evil leaven was working among them, and ' a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ' (5').
This sad change had been wrought by the Judaizing party, and apjiarcntly in great part by one individual. This individual seems to have been a personage of some distinction. He exerted a fascinating power over the Galatians (3'), and apparently claimed to .speak with authority (1*). whether St. Paul actually knew him is doubtful (see 5' Sans iap J, and 5' and 3') : that he knew him by name may be taken for granted.
No special reason need be sought to account for the .ludaizing party having emissaries in G. The question of the relation of Gentile Christians to the Jewish law was sure, sooner or later, to emerge in every church in which there were any Jewish Christians. Must a Gentile enter Christianity through Judaism? and to what extent is the Mosaic law binding on Gentiles? — these questions mu3* be answered, and the battle between legalism and liberty fou<'bt tlirough to the end. Super- ficially, the Judaizers, who maintained that to become a Christian a man must also become a Jew, had a great deal to say for themselves. The law was a uivine institution. The promises had been given to Abraham and his seed. The Messiah was the Messiah of the Jews. Jesus Himself liad been circumcised, and had kept the whole law. The original aiiostles did tlie stvme. Was not this an obvious and infallible example ! Besides, if tlie