Quizzing the New Testament : Galatians

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In his introduction, Paul records that he is writing "to the churches in Galatia" (Galatians 1 v. 2). Galatia was located in modern day Turkey, and its name has the same roots as Gaul, Galicia in Spain, and Donegal in Ireland. This is down to which "strange but true" explanation?

Answer: They were all settled by Celtic tribes.

Unlikely as it may seem, the area of Galatia was indeed settled by Celtic tribes and was a kingdom in its own right until annexed by the Romans in 25 BC. The Romans expanded its borders to form their province of Galatia and therein lies controversy for biblical scholars.

When Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia, was he writing to churches that he had previously visited, such as Antioch, Lystra and Derbe, which were part of the Roman province but not traditional Celtic territory? Alternatively, he could have been writing to churches further north, that were Celtic, but which we have no record of him ever having visited. In chapter 3, he addresses his readers as "You foolish Galatians!". Proponents of the second theory hold that Paul must be referring to the Celtic area because he is using the proper tribal name whilst their opponents suggest that Paul is being ironic and likening the churches, in their error, to their "barbarian" neighbours. Make up your own mind!

Donegal means "fort of the Gauls".

2. As far as Paul was concerned, the Galatians had accepted the true gospel when he preached to them. They were now rejecting this gospel for a false one. How does he describe their situation?

Answer: They are becoming enslaved again.

"Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God - or rather are known by God - how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." (Galatians 4 v. 8-11)

The key question was whether Christians were still required to maintain Jewish practice, and the key issue within that was circumcision. The particular significance of circumcision lay in its supposed origins as a sign of the covenant that God had entered into with Abraham and his descendants in perpetuity:
"As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised" (Genesis 17 v. 9-10).

Paul's position was that Christians now lived under the direct control of God through the Holy Spirit. He, therefore, saw the Law as advisory rather than rigidly binding.

3. Paul's detractors were claiming that he was dispensing with Jewish practices, such as circumcision, that should be carried over into Christianity. Paul is at great pains to stress his Jewish background and meetings with the leaders of the "mother" church in Jerusalem. These leaders, he says, had endorsed his methods among the Gentiles, with which proviso?

Answer: That he should remember the poor

According to Paul, he was top of his class and extremely zealous in his study of Judaism. He was also a persecutor of Christians until his conversion. Immediately after this experience, he went to Arabia before returning to Damascus and, three years later, met with Peter and James, leaders of the Jerusalem church, for the first time. Fourteen years later, he returned to Jerusalem for more detailed talks with the church leaders.

He says that they gave him "the right hand of fellowship" and agreed their respective ministries: "They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" (Galatians 2 v. 9-10).

4. A key distinction in the letter is between those who live under the Jewish Law and those who live by the Holy Spirit. What does Paul say the Holy Spirit calls out within his readers?

Answer: Abba, Father

"Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." (Galatians 4 v. 6-7)

The word "Abba" is the one that a child would use of its father and is therefore a sign of intimacy. Paul contrasts this relationship with that of a slave and master. He says something similar when writing to the Christians in Rome:
"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8 v. 15-16).

5. "He ___________, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Paul believed that Gentile Christians did not need to obey the Jewish law and he argues this position with reference to Abraham, who was seen as the "father" of the Israelite people. What does Paul say Abraham did by which he was made right with God?

Answer: He believed God

"Consider Abraham: 'He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." (Galatians 3 v. 6-9)

The reference is to Genesis 15 v. 6. Abraham was circumcised (in chapter 17) but Paul's logic is that the sequence of events means that Abraham's being "credited with righteousness" was not dependent upon his circumcision.
Paul, again, advances exactly the same argument in Romans:
"If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness'" (Romans 4 v. 2-3).

6. Paul goes on to add that Abraham's story predicts the inclusion of the Gentiles among God's people. Which words does Paul quote by way of illustration?

Answer: All nations will be blessed through you.

"Consider Abraham: 'He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." (Galatians 3 v. 6-9)

Paul is quoting a saying that appears three times in Abraham's story. Firstly, God, in asking Abraham to leave his homeland, says:
"... all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12 v. 3).
Then, in the run-up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God states:
"Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (Genesis 18 v. 18).
Finally, God repeats the statement after Abraham's near sacrifice of his son:
"... through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22 v. 18).

7. "Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother." (Galatians 4 v. 25-26) In chapter 4, Paul differentiates between his way and that of his opponents, by contrasting the two children of Abraham. One was born free, to Abraham's wife, and one to a slave. Which Christian festival developed as a result of these verses?

Answer: Mothering Sunday

The festival of Mothering Sunday comes from England and developed in the late middle ages. These verses from Galatians formed part of the set readings for the fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetere Sunday). The initial tradition was that, on this day, worshippers would visit their "mother church", the local cathedral.

In Victorian times, with many children working in service, the practice developed that children would be given the day off in order to return to the church of their mother.

8. Paul writes that if the Galatians let themselves be circumcised, then they are obligated to do what?

Answer: Obey the whole law

"Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law." (Galatians 5 v. 2-3)

It would have been impossible for the Galatians to burn the gospels as we know them. These did not exist at that time, although there may have been some smaller collections of Jesus stories in circulation. There are very few clues in the letter to give it an absolute dating but many scholars argue for a date between 50 and 55 AD.

9. In chapter 5, Paul describes a list of qualities - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - that should develop in a Christian through living by the Holy Spirit. How does Paul describe them?

Answer: The fruit of the Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5 v. 22-23)

Paul's premise through the letter has been that the Law can only warn of sin and cannot release from sin. Therefore, he says, to follow the Law is to be enslaved by sinful desires and practices such as "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like" (Galatians 5 v. 19-21). He contrasts this with the controlling desires of those who live not by the Law but by the Holy Spirit.

10. Which well-known proverb originates in Paul's conclusion about the different consequences of following Law or Spirit?

Answer: As you sow, so shall you reap

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6 v. 7-8)

Although Paul is credited with creating this proverb, he is building upon many other biblical verses such as these from Hosea:
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception" (Hosea 10 v. 12-13).
Clearly, the image of sowing and reaping was a common one in an agriculturally based society and a fitting one upon which to conclude.

Source: Author glendathecat

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

This quiz is part of a series looking at the books of the New Testament. Does God require Christians to be circumcised? I surely hope not. But this was a sensitive issue for the Galatians and one that Paul addresses in his letter. Come and step inside.

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