That the epistle to the Galatians is of great importance there can be no doubt, because

it deals with the fundamentals of the Christian faith, as does also the epistle to the

Romans, and in some senses it is the counterpart of this epistle. Before we can consider

its contents we must understand what is meant by Galatia for this will decide to whom the

epistle is addressed and its date. We have to distinguish between the kingdom of Galatia

which was situated north east of Asia Minor and the Roman province of Galatia, which,

in addition to the kingdom went southwards to include Lycaonia, Isauria, Phrygia, and a

portion in which area lay Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

The kingdom consisted of a broad strip of land over 200 miles in length, the chief

cities of which were Tavium, Ancyra and Pessinus. To which of these portions of Asia

Minor was the epistle to the Galatians sent? Some scholars champion the northern

district and others the southern. If the northern theory is right, Paul founded the churches

there on his second missionary journey; but if the southern theory is right, it was when

he was on his first missionary journey that the churches were founded in the south east.

The northern theory is championed by Bishop Lightfoot and others, whereas the

southern is held by Professor W. M. Ramsay and a number of expositors. The ancestors

of the northern kingdom were chiefly Gauls who poured into Asia Minor in the third

century B.100: and while the majority of believers in the churches situated there were

Gallic Celts, there were certainly Jews as well, for the Galatian epistle assumes an

acquaintance with the O.T. which converted Gentiles could not be expected to have,

except under Jewish instruction.

The northern Galatian theory was held until the nineteenth century, but since then

Bible scholars, the chief of whom was Sir William Ramsay, have adopted the southern

theory and others give the epistle an earlier date. If the second visit of Paul is the one

mentioned in Acts 16: 6, the epistle must have been written after the council of

Jerusalem in Acts 15:  On the other hand if the second visit is identified with that

mentioned in Acts 14: 21, when Paul and Barnabas revisited the southern Galatian

churches on their return journey to Antioch, the date may be before the council and

consequently about 49A.D. This would mean that Galatians is Paul's first epistle and not

I Thessalonians which is usually held to be his first writing.

There is no mention of the Jerusalem Council's decisions in the Galatian epistle and

this is extraordinary if this letter was written after Acts 15:, for it would have but

stressed Paul's arguments concerning the law of Moses and greatly assisted his dealings

with the Galatian apostasy.