One Gospel

Galatians 1:11-24

 

Paul is writing to the Galatians about his authority to preach the Gospel. One group of scholars believe Paul is responding to the criticism that he was not one of the twelve who knew the earthly Jesus, thus Paul writes that his revelation came through the resurrected Lord Jesus and not by any human. We do not have any source of any criticism specifically on his authority, but one can see how it is reasonable to believe Paul has to make it clear his authority came not from any man. However, some other scholars will argue that Paul is making it clear that he was not too connected with the Jerusalem church to these Galatians. See the Galatians were mostly pagan converts and thus were not interested in being required to participate in the Jewish laws, such as keeping kosher and being circumcised. There is certainly evidence that the Jerusalem church did originally require Jewish law and/or a two tier church (separate but equal, which doesn't work, which Paul would argue). Thus Paul makes it clear he did not even go to Jerusalem for three years and when he did he only met Peter, the leader, and James, Jesus' brother, the best two names to mention. A third group of scholars actually don't believe this was a response to a specific criticism; rather Paul was making a specific point to the Galatians. I believe he understood that there was both camps in Galatia and some even asked both questions, thus making this a great statement of authority, and especially for this specific church.

What is scary about this scripture is how it has been used by individuals to claim authority via a revelation of the Risen Lord Jesus. This scripture alone may even support that idea, however, this is specific letter and thus important to look at all of Paul's letters and the Gospels as well. For instance, Paul makes it clear that he is sharing the message he had received from others in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul also mentions the importance of the interdependency of the church whenever he wrote of the Body of Christ (the Church). Paul clearly states that one may speak in tongues but there needs also one with the gift of interpretation. Paul knows there is a history and also one Spirit we are all baptized into.

Thus it reminds me of the game "Telephone" (or "Gossip" as it was corrected from the choir) in which you get a circle of children and tell something to the first child and then they pass it on to the next and so forth until it comes all the way back to the first. Often what is repeated is nothing like what was originally stated. The way we evangelize we may depend only on our own experience or only on what the church tells us (our revelation of the Christ or our Tradition). If we truly want to be effective of this game "telephone" with telling the Gospel, evangelizing, we must check with where the message is coming in our tradition AND check with our own revelation of the Risen Christ, to assure we pass on the One Gospel. It may not always sound exactly the same, however, this will assure the One Gospel of Jesus the Christ.