difficult to account for. On the North Galatian hypothesis, although the Galatian churches were the scene of a violent conflict between Paul and the Judaising Christians, and the recipients of one of Paul’s most important letters, and are therefore entitled to an important place in the history of the apostolic churches, —no mention of their origin or founda- tion occurs in the Book of Acts, while the founding of the churches of Pisidia and Lycaonia, which are nowhere named by Paul, is expressly narrated. On the other hypothesis, we have in Acts xili., xiv., a detailed account of the foundation of the Galatian churches.
From the notices in the Acts and in the Epistle, it appears that Paul’s preaching in Galatia met with a favorable recep- tion. See Acts xiii. 42, 48, 49; xiv. 1; Gal. iv. 18. We do not know how long it was before the churches were invaded by Jewish emissaries, nor whence these came. They probably came from the Judaistic circles of the mother- church at Jerusalem, although it is held by some that they belonged to the Jewish Christian constituency of the churches in Galatia. They declared that Paul was not an apostle, but at most only a disciple of the apostles. He had had no personal knowledge of Christ: the contents of his gospel were derived from men, and therefore he was entitled to no authority. All questions should be referred to the mother-church in Jerusalem, especially to the great apostles of the circumcision, the pillars of the church, James, Peter, and John. Moreover, Paul’s teaching that righteousness was based only upon faith in Christ and not upon circum- cision and legal observance, contradicted the historical reve- lation of God, since God promised salvation to Abraham and to his seed on the ground of circumcision; and, in order to carry the promise into effect, made the covenant of the law forever with the people of Israel, who were to receive the divine blessing on condition of observing the divine com- mands. His teaching, moreover, encouraged moral license, and therefore contravened all moral principle (v. 18). They further accused him of being a man-pleaser, seeking a fol- lowing and adapting his preaching to the tastes of his hear-