Galatian view — churches founded on Paul’s
rst missionary journey to such southern
cities as Lystra and Derbe. (See Further
Study for brief descriptions and defenses of
each of these views.)


MAP T

The position taken by this book is that the
“churches of Galatia” were located in the
southern cities evangelized by Paul on his
rst missionary journey. The following
suggestions for orientation are geared to this
position.


Study Map T, which shows the geography
of Galatians. Note again the locations of
these cities: Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and
Derbe. Try to x their locations in your
mind in order to help you visualize the
setting of the Bible text that you will be
surveying.
It is generally believed that most of the
Galatian
believers
were
of
Gentile
background. How is that supported by the

following verses in Galatians: 4:8; 5:2; 6:12?
What do the following verses tell you
about the Galatian churches and about
Paul’s relationship to them: 1:6-7; 1:8-11;
3:1-5; 4:12-15; 4:19-20; 5:7-9?
C. DATE AND PLACE WRITTEN
The date of Galatians depends on which
view of its recipients — North Galatian or


South Galatian — is correct. In accord with
the latter view, Paul wrote Galatians after
his rst missionary journey (Acts 13-14) and
before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). If
the Jerusalem Council had already
convened, Paul would no doubt have
referred to its decisions in his letter, since
both the Council and the letter addressed
the same problem. The Jerusalem Council
was held in A.D. 49, so A.D. 48 may be
assigned to the epistle. The epistle of James
(A.D. 45) was probably the only other New
Testament book predating Galatians.
Paul may have written the letter at
Antioch of Syria, Jerusalem, or between the
two cities.
D. SETTING
The

rst opposition that the Gentile