Thesis advisor: Pheme Perkins / Thesis advisor: Matthew Monnig / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This dissertation uses Paul's letter to the Galatian Christians as a guide for gospel-centered preaching. The dissertation argues that evangelical Christianity suffers from a lack of gospel rich preaching, assesses that Galatians can be understood as a sermon, and then analyzes each passage in light of the gospel. In Galatians 1-4 Paul alternates between proclaiming and defending the gospel; in chapters 5-6 Paul applies the gospel. The final conclusion is that pastors who wish to be gospel-centered in their preaching do well to look to Galatians and ask three summary questions of any passage from which they will preach: 1) How does this Scripture proclaim the gospel? 2) How does this passage defend the gospel? 3) How does this text apply the gospel? The gospel-centered preaching paradigm is a tool to help contemporary expositors follow Paul's model and become gospel-centered in their preaching. The goal of these sermons is to help unbelievers receive the gospel and to continually become more like Jesus as they walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

ABSTRACT ADOPTION AND THE FORMATION OF ESCHATOLOGICAL IDENTITY: AN EXEGETICAL STUDY OF HUIOTHESIA Christopher Frederick Wehrle, PhD The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Chair: Dr. Mark A. Seifrid Paul used divine adoption (υἱοθεσία) as a religious metaphor in a rich and diverse way. The variety of approaches to this theme in scholarship attests to this depth and richness. This study argues that the most important purpose of υἱοθεσία within the Pauline correspondence was to help create, define, and ground the identity of believers in Jesus Christ in the early church, especially in the face of difficult and disconcerting questions regarding the role of ethnicity within the eschatological people of God. To this end, this study combines the modern tool of Social Identity Theory with detailed exegesis of key texts in Galatians in order to demonstrate that υἱοθεσία is an eschatological event which creates a new identity for believers in Jesus Christ and functions as a resolution to difficult questions regarding ethnicity and membership in the people of God. Chapter 1 provides a summary and critique of the most important recent studies of υἱοθεσία, followed by a brief outline of the contours of Social Identity Theory. Chapter 2 gives an introduction to the historical and theological background to Paul's letter to the Galatians. This includes an exegetical overview of Galatians 2:15-21, along with an introductory summary of how Social Identity Theory relates to Paul's rhetorical strategy in the epistle. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 supply detailed exegesis of key passages within Galatians, with specific reference to how they contribute to the theme of adoption within the epistle, and noting how Paul follows patterns recognizable to the categories of modern sociology. Chapter 6 addresses the four other occurrences of υἱοθεσία within the Pauline corpus (Rom 8:15, 23; 9:4; Eph 1:5). It offers a brief analysis of the background and purpose of these epistles, and supply an introductory foray into the adoption pericopae. Finally, it will give a synopsis of primary conclusions from each of the texts, and attempt a synthesis of these results.

This study looks at how to interpret Paul's letter to the Galatians in the contemporary South African church. It aims to provide a Bible study method for doing this which accounts both for the context in which interpretation takes place and for the requirements of exegesis. To this end, use is made of a combination of contextual Bible study methods and a recent multidimensional exegetical model, all of which are currently employed in South Africa. Initially, the study surveys a range of recent critical approaches to the Pauline epistles, particularly as these are employed by South African scholars working on Galatians. The fact that different exegetical approaches focus on different dimensions of the text, reveals the usefulness of a multidimensional exegetical model. The multidimensional exegetical model of Rousseau, which functions within a communication paradigm, is then introduced as an exegetical guide. To meet the second requirement of this study, the question of contextual exegesis is examined. Particular use is made of the hermeneutical approach of liberation theology, with its three mediations of social analysis, theological reflection and practical implementation. The central part of this study explores the implications of contextual interpretation and multidimensional exegesis of Galatians. The pre-canonical, canonical and contemporary contexts which affect the understanding of Galatians are discussed, and the multidimensional exegetical model is used to introduce the Galatian letter as a whole. The last part deals with the practical questions of group Bible study. The exegetical and hermeneutical theory developed earlier is simplified to provide a contextual Bible study method and this method is applied to three pericopes from Galatians. The task of bridging the gap between the university and the church is not an easy one, nor one which is solved by a single Bible study method. The exegetical and hermeneutical questions raised here point to the need for ongoing interaction between South African community of biblical scholars and those involved in the everyday life of the South African church

This dissertation argues that persecution in Galatians manifests the cosmic conflict between God and the present evil age. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of persecution in Galatians and the history of research. Chapter 2 demonstrates that Paul uses the theme of cosmic conflict to place the crisis in Galatia within a broader context of a conflict between God who has inaugurated the new creation within the present time and this present evil age. Chapters 3–4 examine Paul’s theological context. Chapter 3 investigates a theme of cosmic conflict in Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. Chapter 4 examines the theme in other early Jewish texts (Daniel; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; Jubilees; 1 Maccabees; 2 Maccabees; 4 Maccabees; 1QS; CD; 1QM). This survey reveals that Paul’s iteration of the theme possesses continuity and discontinuity with other authors. Chapter 5 offers a historical reconstruction of the instances of persecution mentioned in Galatians. Four instances of persecution in Galatians are examined: (1) Paul the Persecutor (1:13, 23). (2) Paul the Persecuted (3:1; 4:13, 19; 5:11; 6:17) (3) The Opponents as Potential Targets (6:12) (4) The Persecution of the Galatians (3:4; 4:17–18, 29). Paul uses the theme of persecution to reshape the perception of the Galatian believers and to reveal the danger of the false gospel preached by his opponents. Chapter 6 identifies persecution as a specific manifestation of the cosmic conflict between God and this present evil age. Galatians 4:29 directly connects the phenomenon of persecution with the broader cosmic conflict. Paul does so by identifying typology in Genesis 21:9. In light of this understanding of Paul’s use of Genesis, other significant passages on persecution in Galatians are reexamined to see how they fit within a cosmic conflict reading: 1:13, 23; 3:4; 5:11; 6:12, 17. In conclusion, chapter 7 offers three possible results of Paul’s understanding of persecution as cosmic conflict. It then examines the significance of the thesis for global Christianity today.

Chapter 1 introduces the problem in terms of multifarious views regarding the phrase ὁ νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ in Galatians 6:2. I place my work within broader scholarship’s trajectory by explaining my thesis–that the νόμος in the phrase refers to “principle,” unwritten law, rather than written law such as the Mosaic law and another law–briefly addressing my intended method. Chapter 2 briefly investigates the usages of νόμος from 7th century BC and AD 2nd century and paves the way for its various possible meanings. With the certainty that the meaning of a word is revealed in the context in which it is found, I argue that νόμος in the phrase in 6:2 refers to “principle,” unwritten law in the situational context of Galatians. I also reveal that the verb ἀναπληρόω, which takes the phrase as a direct object, means conforming to a certain standard. Chapter 3 focuses on the new era referred to in the phrase in 6:2. In order to highlight how the new era is depicted in Galatians, I explore the ὑπὸ phrases to signify the old era. Along with the coming of Christ in history, I give much attention to the fact that two epochal events, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, brought about the end of the old era and the beginning of the new era. Chapter 4 centers on Paul’s exhortation to conform to the principle of the new era in 6:2 within the broader context of Galatians. Specifically, after investigating Paul’s eschatology in Galatians, I reveal that Paul emphasizes the aspects of the “already” and of the overlapping ages rather than the “not yet” to awaken the identity of the Galatians who are the people of the new era. Chapter 5 summarizes and synthesizes the material, showing that in 6:2 Paul’s appeal to bear one another’s burdens refers to the believers’ conformity to the principle of the new era inaugurated by the crucified and risen Christ in the overlapping ages.

The story of Sarah and Hagar has been treated as one of the foundational stories for the nation of Israel. Yet, Paul, in one deft allegory, will attempt to overturn centuries of theological and historical interpretation. Against other interpretations, I argue that Paul’s untraditional uniting of Hagar, Sinai, and the present Jerusalem together was accomplished through the interpretive key provided in 4:23: the one who comes from a slave has been born because of the flesh, and the one who comes from a free woman has been born through the promise. Paul no longer reads the story of Sarah and Hagar through a lens of separation based on physical realities, but rather through the lens of promise and flesh, as helpfully stated in 4:23. Ishmael was not “cast out” because of his sinfulness or supposed ethnic deficiencies, but rather because he was born “κατὰ σάρκα” and not “δι᾽ ἐπαγγελίας.” These comparative realities are not introduced here in the allegory for the first time; rather, Paul has been building these comparisons as his primary argument since the foundational 2:15-21. This dissertation, therefore, not only interprets the allegory in consideration of the lens of 4:23, but seeks to set the argument within both the thematic and schematic content of Galatians. While the first chapter summarizes and categorizes the typical interpretations of the difficult Galatians 4:21-5:1, the second chapter seeks to critique these approaches to the allegory. The value of applying Paul’s interpretive lens (Gal 4:23) to the allegory is argued for in the third chapter. By using the hermeneutical lens of 4:23, many of the allegory’s difficulties are eased, and the meaning and import of the allegory is clarified. The fourth chapter seeks to set the allegory within the epistle, both thematically and schematically, centering the main propositio around Paul’s remarks to Peter in Galatians 2:15-21. Finally, the last chapter looks at some limited applications of the thesis to OT hermeneutics, specifically in literal and allegorical readings of the Sarah/Hagar incident.

When Paul writes ‘we too were enslaved under the elements of the world', he means that the elements that compose the cosmos also compose and compromise the flesh and enslave human persons through their bodies (Gal 4.3). This thesis demonstrates that early Jews used the phrase στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου to refer to the material elements – earth, water, air, and fire – and not to elemental spirits or elementary principles. Greek medical tradition understood the material elements to mediate the stimuli (παθήματα) and desires of the body which enslave the soul, and it prescribed a variety of regimens (including νόμος) as παιδαγωγοί to guide a person to wholeness. In his philosophy according to the cosmic elements, Philo promotes the law of Moses – including circumcision and the calendar – as the effective way to be ‘redeemed from slavery' to the flesh, to attain righteousness, and to live in harmony with the cosmos. Paul's epistle to the Galatians opposes this sort of ‘redemptive nomism'. Paul accepts that weak στοιχεῖα compose the weak σάρξ and that they mediate sinful stimuli and desires that lead to the actions of the flesh. However, he denies that the law can make people alive or righteous. Instead, Paul prescribes crucifixion with Christ and new life with the Spirit as the final cure for sin's infection of the flesh made of weak στοιχεῖα. Through faith, Christ will be formed in believers as the Spirit guides them away from the desires of the flesh and produces his fruit in their lives.

This thesis contends that the theme of persecution plays a vital role in the argument of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Particularly, this thesis argues that suffering for the cross is seen as a mark of identity and a sign of destiny for those who follow the crucified Messiah. In regard to identity, suffering is shown to be a badge that demarcates Paul's Gentile audience as children of Abraham and children of God (i.e. the “Israel of God”) in conformity with genuine Christian identity, represented chiefly by Paul himself through solidarity with the cross. In regard to destiny, those who are marked out by suffering for the cross will receive the future inheritance, as promised to Abraham, and be vindicated at the eschatological judgment. The relationship of suffering for the cross to Christian identity and destiny is shown to parallel other such markers like possession of the Spirit and justification by faith. This thesis proposes further that Paul derives his understanding regarding the importance of suffering from his wider reading of Isaiah, particularly chapters 49–54, which Paul believes prefigures the death of the Messiah, his own Gentile mission and the opposition to it, as well as the status of his Gentile converts as servants of the Messiah. The influence of Isaiah is demonstrated especially in Paul's paradigmatic self-presentation in the autobiographical section of the letter (Gal. 1–2), the subsequent summons to imitation (4.12–20), and the famous allegory where Paul explicitly cites Isa. 54.1. In this thesis it is demonstrated that all of these themes and emphases in Galatians related to persecution and suffering are utilized for the particular crisis in Galatia regarding the promotion of circumcision, which this thesis suggests is promoted aggressively. It is proposed, therefore, that Paul has utilized the theme of persecution with its Messianic and Isaianic influences to engage the way that receiving circumcision provides a means of avoiding and alleviating social tension and pressure. To that end suffering for the cross is upheld by Paul as a mark of identity and a sign of destiny to highlight the fact that receiving circumcision will lead to apostasy since Paul understands it to be a rejection of the Messiah and his cross.

Text in German / Diese Studie untersucht den so genannten “antiochenischen Zwischenfall” (Gal 2:11-14) im Blick auf die Geschichte des Urchristentums und das Verhältnis zwischen Paulus und Petrus. Eingeleitet von einem Forschungsüberblick, konzentriert sich die Studie auf die exegetische Untersuchung von Gal 2:11-14 mit dem Ziel, den Konflikt zwischen Paulus und Petrus in seiner Ursache, seinem konkreten Verlauf und den daraus resultierenden Konsequenzen für die Entwicklung des Frühchristentums neu zu bewerten. Neben dem Kontext und der rhetorischen Funktion von Gal 2:11-14, findet dabei der Vergleich zwischen der paulinischen Schilderung und Bewertung des antiochenischen Zwischenfalls und der Darstellung der Entwicklung des Urchristentums der Apostelgeschichte besondere Beachtung. Dadurch soll die auf F. C. Baur zurückgehende und bis in die Gegenwart einflussreiche Rekonstruktion des Urchristentums als zweigeteilte und theologisch gegensätzliche Bewegung kritisch hinterfragt und Alternativen aufgezeigt werden. / This thesis examines the so called “Antiochene Incident” (Gal 2:11-14) as it relates to the proclamation of Christ in early Christianity and the relationship between Paul and Peter. After a broad survey of research, the thesis focuses on the exegetical study of Galatians 2:11-14 with the goal of analyzing the encounter between Paul and Peter in its cause, its detailed course and the resulting consequences for the development of early Christianity. In addition to the context and the rhetorical function of Gal 2:11-14, we compare Paul's description and assessment of the Antioch incident and the portrayal of the history of early Christianity in the book of Acts. In doing so, we critically question the reconstruction of early Christianity by F. C. Baur as a divided theological movement which has influenced theology to this day and offer alternatives to that view. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)