ASSIGNMENT
ON
PAULINE HERMENEUTICS
ON THE STORY OF ABRAHAM IN GALATIAN
Submitted by: Joseph Lalrinawma
Submitted to: Rev James Chuaukailiana
Introduction:
Paul, whose earlier name was Saul, was a
persecutor of Christians who was among the tribe of Benjamin and a zealous
member of Pharisee Party. He also have a Roman citizenship and was born in
Tarsus. As Tarsus was a city which is known as a hub for learning,
scholars assumed that Paul became acquainted with various Greek philosophies
and religious cults during his youth from there itself[1].
Even though he was known as persecutor of Christians his life was totally
changed when he encountered with Jesus (Acts 9:3ff). This incidence overturned
the life of Paul and claimed himself to be an apostle.
The geographical district of Galatia lay in
the northern part of the Roman province of Galatia. It is believed that Paul
founded the Church in this Northern District at the second Missionary Journey
which implies that the epistle was written on his third missionary Journey.
This dating is derived from the North Galatian Theory. But the South Galatian
Theory state that the epistle was written after the Council of Jerusalem as
mentioned in Acts 16:6. [2]
Background of Churches of Galatians:
Raymond E. Brown states that Paul
had proclaimed the Gospel to the Gentiles who had constituted the churches of
Galatia before AD 55 where he gained fame and was even treated as ‘an angel of
God’. He also performed some miracles during his stay and after his stay some
Christians of Jewish origin had come, probably from Jerusalem and preached the
gospel which differs from what he told to the Galatians. According to the
latter preachers faith in Christ indeed has a role, but justification was not
complete without observance of the work of the law which preserved Judaism with
all its ethical guidance. Their main emphasis was an insistence on circumcision
and observing the calendrical feasts (4:10). Jews are descendants of Abraham through Sarah and observed the
covenant of circumcision and the law given to Moses. Meanwhile Gentiles are the
descendants of Abraham through Hagar
who did not keep the Law of Moses. Brown also remarked that Paul had not
preached to the gentiles or Galatians the guidance of the law and did not tell
them Abraham’s covenant that depends on circumcision.[3]
Who is Abraham?
Abraham is the descendant of
Shemand son of Terah, husband of Sarah and a father of Isaac, ancestor of the
Hebrew nation and, through Ishmael, of other Semites.[4] Abraham’s
first name was Abram which combines the noun ab (father) and the verb rwm
(to be high, exalted)[5]
but it was changed by God when He made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis
17:5 during which he was 99 years old. His origin was traced back to the city
of Ur from which he migrated to Haran and set en route to Canaan. Yahweh made a
covenant with Abraham by promising him the assurance of future nationhood and
was instructed to be blessings with a statement, “… in you all the families on
the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3 NRSV). It was with Abraham that God made
his first covenant of circumcision which demanded the foreskin of all male to
be circumcised (Gen 17: 10ff).
Abraham in Paul’s epistle to Galatians:
It is obvious from the letter
itself that Gentile Christians were part of the community at Galatia and some
preachers came to them who contradicted Paul’s Gospel and confused them. These
preachers persuaded Gentile converts to obey stipulation of Mosaic Law
especially circumcision. This stirs the anger of Paul and he even called the
Galatians as ‘foolish’ who are being ‘bewitched’ into obeying the requirements
of the Law.[6]
We came across Abraham in Galatian chapter 3
& 4 in which Paul describes about law. Paul preached Christ’s crucifixion
so moving as even to placard him before the Galatians like Moses with the
bronze Serpent. Paul stressed and laid emphasis on faith with a belief that
deeds of the law can never be on the same level as the spirit. Paul alludes
scornfully to the Preachers who demanded circumcision which is done to the
flesh, not spirit. Paul advocates that the people of faith are the real
children of Abraham who was upright in the sight of God not by deeds but by
faith.[7]
Paul states, “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness’ ” (Gal 3:6 NRSV) which is the main interpretation of Abraham by
Paul. He stressed more on faith than deeds which the preachers against him had
stressed and emphasised a lots to the Galatians and had confused them.
The question raised by Pauls was ‘Well then, does God supply you with the
Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by
your believing what you heard?” (Gal 3:5 NRSV) This is put by the King James Version as, “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,
and worketh miracles among you doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?” The same is put by English
Standard Version as, “I ask you
again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because
you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you
heard about Christ”. So from these three versions of Bible it is obvious
that Paul paid more importance to the faith rather than the Law. Paul attempted
to make his audiences aware of the contrast between faith and works of the law
so that they may realised the error that they had made. Paul answered the
question with a saying, “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to
him as righteousness’ ” (Gal 3:6 NRSV). Abraham became the believer of God and
this was regarded as his righteousness which Paul believed is parallel to the
receipt of the Spirit by the Galatians.[8]
To discuss the contrast between faith
and works Paul used Abraham in a new way which differs from the traditional
views which knitted Abraham’s faith and work together. For instance, he got
separated from his family, followed Mosaic laws, etc. Paul, on the contrary,
states that the children of Abraham are those who have faith in God, not those
who follow the law. He further argues that obedience to the Law does not bring
righteousness. The era of faith has now arrived through Christ’s becoming a
curse and providing redemption from the curse of the Law. In Galatians 3:14 he
also stated that Christ became a curse and provided redemption from the curse
of the Law in order that Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles. The blessings are by faith in Christ. Before, the promise to
Abraham referred to the land and descendants but now to the Spirit which is a
foretaste of the inheritance of the world to come. This denotes that if the
Gentiles in Galatia have Spirit, which is the blessing promised to Abraham in
Christ, they have the sign that they are members of the descendants of Abraham.
[9]
The next argument made by Paul is
in regards to the chronology. If the opponents state that Abraham had followed
the Mosaic Law, they must remember that the Law was given much later than
Abraham’s covenant with God. If they continue to use this argument he will have
to say forcefully that Mosaic Law was given centuries after Abraham’s covenant
with God. This implies that Mosaic Law could not govern Abraham by any means
and there was no possibility for Abraham to follow those laws.
Another argument of Paul was that
the Law was given to Moses using a mediator, angel, who delivers the Law to
Moses. But the covenant made by God with Abraham has no mediator which suggests
that the law was inferior to the covenant. This is because the Law was given by
the angel to Moses under the approval of God but the covenant was made directly
by Yahweh without any mediator coming in between. The reign of the Law was
divinely ordained to prepare for the reign of Christian Freedom. But as soon as
Christ came into the world, the reign of Law ceased and Christ had terminated
the Laws. Freedom from such Law or discipline came by Christ with righteousness
through faith.[10]
In chapter 4:1-11, Paul also
describe that to become an heir to the promises made to Abraham, performance of
‘the deeds of law” is not required,
but rather faith, which makes one his offspring in the real sense.[11]
Christ was born in the fullness of time under the Law so that he will liberate
his believers from the Law itself. So he has liberated everyone from the Law
and why should one wants to be under the same Law again? This question raised
by Paul had an angry tone of Paul embedded within it. He had preached the
Gospels to the Gentiles and they believed in his words and followed Christ. But
very soon when they encountered other preachers who preached not as he did they
tend to follow them and obeyed their words by trying to follow the Mosaic Law.
Paul’s point here is that after knowing all about their redemption why does
they have the desire to follow the traditional belies?
Conclusion:
Paul employed the Old Testament
Character in the person of Abraham in his epistle to the Galatians with a
specific aim to clarify the liberation of all human kinds through Christ. The
main message behind this is that faith matters the most and the Law are
terminated by Christ due to which they are no longer a burden which are to be
followed strictly. This is also Paul’s response to the preachers who had
preached in contradiction to what he had taught the Galatians. They made an
attempt to make the Gentile Christians in Galatia to follow the traditional
Mosaic Law and want them to have circumcision practiced as a must for all
believers. But Paul was very much against these Judaizers and put his best to
save the Galatians from these false teachings. He was also quite furious to the
Gentiles as they are easily led away by the new teachings.
Above all we may say that this
epistle is to save the church that he had planted from falling away due to
false teachings. He want to assure all the Galatians that it is faith that
saved them and it is by faith that they had gained their salvation and by no
other means. Without faith there can be no salvation for anyone and the Law
could not save them. At the meantime, he also brings out the notion that the
interpretations made by the other preachers in regards to Abraham and the
Mosaic Law was false and their teachings were not right. Abraham was considered
righteous not because of his action but rather because of the faith he has upon
God. It was due to his faith that he follows all what God had commanded him to
the extent of sacrificing his only son Isaac. It was not the act that pleases
God but rather the faith which Abraham had.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, T. Desmond and David W. Baker, Dictionary
of the Old Testament Pentateuch. Secunderabad: OM Authentic Books, 2007
Brown, Raymond E., An
Introduction to the New Testament. Bangalore: Doubleday, 2016
Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer and Roland E.
Murphy, ed., The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2011
Guthrie, Donald , New
Testament Introduction. Hyderabad: Authentic Books, 2014
Hawthorne, Gerald F., Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid,
ed., Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. USA:
InterVarsity Press, 1993
Marshall, LH, et al., ed., New
Bible Dictionary. Hyderabad: Authentic Books, 2015
[1] LH Marshall, et al., ed., “Paul”,
New Bible Dictionary (Hyderabad:
Authentic Books, 2015), 880.
[2] Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (Hyderabad:
Authentic Books, 2014), 465.
[3] Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (Bangalore:
Doubleday, 2016), 468-470.
[5] T. Desmond Alexander and
David W. Baker, “Abraham”, Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch
(Secunderabad: OM Authentic Books, 2007), 8.
[6] Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph
P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, ed., “Abraham”, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (USA: InterVarsity Press, 1993),
2.
[7] Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A.
Fitzmyer and Roland E. Murphy, ed., The
New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Bangalore: Theological Publications in
India, 2011), 785-786.
[8]
Gerald F. Hawthorne,
Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, ed., “Abraham”, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters…, 2
[9]
Gerald F. Hawthorne,
Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, ed., “Abraham”, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters…, 3
[10]
Raymond E. Brown,
Joseph A. Fitzmyer and Roland E. Murphy, ed., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary…, 787.
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