This commentary on Paul's highly autobiographical letter to the Galations traces the history of the book's reception through the ages.
- Explores the influence and history of this important New Testament book
- Demonstrates the crucial role that Galatians has played in the development of very diverse forms of Christian spirituality
- Considers the influence of Galatians on a wide range of theological figures, including Chrysostom, Augustine, and Luther
- Examines the ways in which Galatians has influenced images of Paul, suggesting that it is the indeterminacy and complexity of his text that cause it to be interpreted in such widely differing ways
- Focuses on verses, themes or arguments that have been the subject of particularly influential readings
- Published in the innovative and stimulating Wiley-Blackwell Bible Commentaries reception history series, which focuses on the broad spectrum of interpretations rather than the traditional verse by verse analysis typically found in commentaries.
Paul's letter to the Galatians is one of the most creative and subversive of the New Testament writings, drawing its energy from the fierce controversy which, to his great distress, was disturbing the congregation recently founded by Paul. One of the major sources of inspiration for the Reformation, it was also one of the writings most frequently turned to by the Fathers, as the Church sought to establish itself as the Church of the Empire.
This commentary looks at some of the major commentators on the letter - Chrysostom, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Perkins, Lightfoot - and at the very different worlds which sprang from their readings.
The volume opens with an extended essay, setting the commentators in their historical setting and showing the close dialogue which exists among them. It then looks more closely at how they interrogate Paul's text and at the way the text shapes their understanding of their worlds.
