In the ancient world, writing and sending of a letter was an expensive and arduous task. There was no stationery store. There was no UPS, Fedex, or Canada Post. There was no guarantee that the people who received a letter would be able to understand it, as only twenty precent of the ancient world was literate. All this required the use of scribes, readers, and couriers. This is all to say: letter writing in the ancient world was not a frivolous lighthearted activity. Letters were sent with a reason and purpose. What is the purpose of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians? He is writing to a church that is deeply fractured, divided, and experiencing conflict. Some Christians in the Galatian churches were so concerned about these tensions that they sent a messenger to the Apostle Paul and he has responded with this letter we call Galatians. The Apostle Paul names that the divisions at work in Galatia are bigger than table practices, the works of the law, and circumcision— they are “not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel.” Why did the Apostle Paul write Galatians? Ultimately…. to announce that the Gospel breaks apart our divisions, broken tables, judgementalism, and religious systems.
In the ancient world, writing and sending of a letter was an expensive and arduous task. There was no stationery store. There was no UPS, Fedex, or Canada Post. There was no guarantee that the people who received a letter would be able to understand it, as only twenty precent of the ancient world was literate. All this required the use of scribes, readers, and couriers. This is all to say: letter writing in the ancient world was not a frivolous lighthearted activity. Letters were sent with a reason and purpose. What is the purpose of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians? He is writing to a church that is deeply fractured, divided, and experiencing conflict. Some Christians in the Galatian churches were so concerned about these tensions that they sent a messenger to the Apostle Paul and he has responded with this letter we call Galatians. The Apostle Paul names that the divisions at work in Galatia are bigger than table practices, the works of the law, and circumcision— they are “not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel.” Why did the Apostle Paul write Galatians? Ultimately…. to announce that the Gospel breaks apart our divisions, broken tables, judgementalism, and religious systems.