Tiie Epistle to the Galatians was prol)al}ly written very soon after Paul's second visit to them. Its ab- ruptness and severitj', and the sadness of its tone, are caused liy their sudden perversion from the doctrine which tli3 apostle had taught them, and which at first they had received so willingly. It is no fanc}^ if we see in this fickleness a specimen of that " iinpetuous, mobile, impressible spirit" which Thierry marks as characteristic of the Gaulish race (^Tlist. des Gaidois, Introd. iv, v). From Josephus (.1 nt. xvi, 6, 2) we know that many Jews were settled in Galatia, but Gal. iv, 8 would lead us to suppose tliat Paul's converts were mostly Gentiles. The view advocated by Buttger {Sckauplafz der Wirksamlait des Apnstels Paulus, p. 28-30, and the third of his Beitrarj?, p. 1-5) is that the Galatia of the Epistle is entirely limited to the district between Derbe and Colossaj, i. e. the extreme soutliern frontier of the Roman province. On this view the visit alluded to by the apostle took place on his first mis- sionary circuit, and the drrOivnu of Gal. iv, 13 is identi- fied with the ert'ects of the stoning at Lj'Stra (Acts xiv, 19). Geographically this is not impossible, though it seems unlikely that regions called Pisidia and Lycaonia in one place should be called Galatia in another. Bott- gcr's geogniphy, however, is connected with a theory concerning the date of the Epistle (see Riickert, in his Miir/iz./'ir Expffese, i, 98 sq.), and for the determination of this lioint we must refer to the article on the Gala- tians, The Epistle to the. (See Schmidt, De Galn- i!^ [Ilfeld. 174S, 178-1] ; IMynster, Kleine theol. Schrifl. p. 60 scj. ; Cellarii Notit. ii, 173 sq. ; Forbiger, Alte Gcofj. ii,3(il S(i. ; Ilofmann, De Gal'itia Anliqwi [Lips. 1726] ; AVerns<lorf, De repuhl.G(datnr. [Norimb. 1713] ; Ham- ilton, Asia Minor, i, 379). — Smith, s. v. ; Kitto, s. v.
Gp.la'tian (ra\uTr\<f), the patrial designation (1 Mace, viii, 2; 2 Mace, viii, 20; Gal. iii, 1) oif an inhab- itant of Galatia (q. v.).
GALATIANS, Epistle to the, the fourth in or-
der of the Pauline epistles of the N. T., entitled sim- pi}', according to the best MSS. (see Tischendorf, A"". T. ad loc), TTjodf raXdraq. (See the Ilercersburcj Review, Jan. 1861.)
I. Anthurskip. — With regard to the genuineness and authenticity of this epistle, no writer of any credit or respectability has expressed any doubts. Its Pauline origin is attested not only by tlie superscription which it bears (i, 1), if this be genuine, but also by frequent allusions in the course of it to the great apostle of the Gentiles (comp. i. 13-23 ; ii, 1-14). It is corroborated also by the stylo, tone, and contents of the ei)istle, which are perfectly in keeping with those of the apos- tle's other writings. The testimony of the eaxXy Church on this subject is most decided and unanimous (see Lardner, WorTcs, vol. ii). Besides express refer- ences to the epistle (Irenajus, Ihvr. iii, 7, 2 ; v, 21, 1 ; Tertullian, De P/wscr. ch. 60, «i.), we have one or two direct citations found as earl}' as the time of the apos- tolic fathers (Polyc. ad Phil. ch. 3), and several appar- ent allusions (see Davidson, Introd. ii, 318 sq.). The attempt of Bruno Bauer {Kritik der Paidin. Brief e, Berlin, 1850) to demonstrate that this epistle is a com- pilation of later times, out of those to the Romans and to the Corinthians, has been treated by Meyer with a contempt and a severity (Vorrede, p. vii ; FAnleit. p. 8) which, it does not seem too mucli to say, are completely/ deserved.
II. Occasion, etc. — The parties to whom this charac- teristic letter wa« addressed are descrii)ed in the epis- tle itself as "the churches of Galatia" (i, 2; comp. iii, 1) in Asia Minor, otherwise called Gallograjcia (Stra- bo, xii, oG6)— a province that bore in its name its well- founded claim to a Gallic or Celtic origin (Pausanias, i, 4), and that now, after an establishment, first by predatory conquest, and subsequently by recognition but limitation at the hands of neighboring rulers (Strabo, I. c. ; Pausanias, iv, 5), could date an occu- pancy, though not an independence, extending to mora than three hundred years; the first subjection of Ga- latia to the Romans having taken place in B.C. 189 (Livy, xxxviii, 16 sq.), and its formal reduction (with territorial additions) to a regular Roman province in A.D. 26. See Gal.vtia. Into this district the Gospel was first introduced by Paul himself (Acts xvi, 6 ; Gal. i, 8 ; iv, 13, 19). Churches were then also probably formed, for on revisiting this district some time after his first visit it is mentioned that he " strengthened the disciples" (Acts xviii, 23). These churches seem to have been composed principally of converts directly from heathenism (ch. iv, 8), but partly, also, of Jewish converts, both pure Jews and proselytes. Unhappily, the latter, not thoroughl}' emancipated from earl}-- opinions and prepossessions, or probalJy influenced Ijy Judaizing teachers who had visited these churches, had been seized with a zealous desire to incorporate the rites and ceremonies of Judaism (especially cir- cumcision, ch. v, 2, 11, 12; vi, 12 sq.) with the spirit- ual truths and simple ordinances of Ciiristianity. (See Cruse, De statu Galatarum, etc., Hafn. 1722.) So ac- tive had this party I)een in disseminating their views on this head through the churches of Galatia, that the majority at least of the members had been seduced to adopt them (i, 6; iii, 1, etc.). To this result it is prob- able that the previous religious conceptions of the Ga- latians contributed ; for, accustomed to the worship of Cybele, which they had learned from their neighbors the Phrygians, and to theosophistic doctrines with which that worship was associated, they would be the more readily induced to believe that the fulness of Christianity could alone be developed through the sym- Ijolical adumljrations of an elaborate ceremonial (Noan- der, A postolisches Zeitalter, 2d edit. p. 400). It would seem that on his last visit to this region, Paul found the leaven of Judaism beginning to work in the church- es of Galatia, and that he then warned them against it in language of the most decided character (comp. i,