Violence in the Letter to the Galatians?

Abstract

The issue of violence hardly ever receives attention when New Testament scholars investigate Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Issues that are normally considered include the law, soteriology, pneu-matology, ethics and the rhetoric of the letter. In the few cases in which violence in Galatians is considered, it usually forms part of a broader investigation of violence in the Pauline literature or in the New Testament as a whole. According to Gager and Gibson, Paul was fundamentally a violent person in his deeds, language and ideology. They offer three arguments to support this: firstly, the fact that Paul had persecuted followers of Jesus before calling; secondly, the fact that Paul is the only person know who devoted himself to the persecution of Jesus' followers-a fact that he himself viewed as extraordinary and, thirdly, the occurrence of violent language and theology in Paul's letters. Keywords:Gager; Galatians; Gibson; New Testament; Pauline