St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 2

Moving through the letter to the Galatians has continued to be fruitful for me, and it helps to paint the picture of the Church in apostolic times. 

Dissent in the Catholic Church today is disheartening to me, and it's frustrating as well.  Growing up, I remember there being a big push to go back to the early days of the Church, since they had it figured out more than we did.  If we could just be like the early Christians, everything would be fine!  Well... reading Galatians, they had just as many problems as we do.  Different problems, but the apostolic Church wasn't necessarily the idyllic communion that some have made it out to be.  I don't think we appreciate just how difficult the issue of "judaizing" was back then. 

Jewish converts to Christianity left behind not just a faith or philosophy.  They left behind (or were supposed to) an entire way of life.  Let's not forget that following the Mosaic Law entailed observing feasts, dietary regulations, and ritual purity washings.  Those affected the daily lives of Jews.  Is it any wonder that many of the adult Jewish converts had trouble leaving behind tenets they practiced their entire life?  They couldn't even enter the house of a Gentile--as illustrated in the story of the centurion's servant in Matthew 8:5-13.  The centurion's response to Jesus was made out of respect for Our Lord and with knowledge that Jesus would become ritually impure if He entered the centurion's house.  I think.  I can't seem to find a citation for that but will update (and correct, if necessary) this post if I do find one. 

St. Paul starts ch. 3 with a bang, calling out the "foolish Galatians" (3:1).  He continues to address the attestations of the Judaizers, countering their arguments with his rabbinic training.  Paul doesn't let up from 3:1 to 4:7--and then shifts tone starting in 4:8.  The frustration exhausts him; I hear him pleading, in a weary voice, "how can you turn back again to the weak and beggardly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?  ...I am afraid I have labored over you in vain" (4:9, 11).

Out of that whole section (3:1-4:7), I really needed the help of the commentaries.  Again, I'm using the Navarre Bible, the Ignatius Study Bible, and William Barclay's commentaries--Barclay being the only non-Catholic of the group.  I hit a snag especially with 3:22: "But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."  The gist of it was that all people, whether Jew or Gentile, were prisoners of sin; whatever the power of the Law, it could not justify man.  And, that was a big setup to the saving work of Jesus, who ultimately redeemed all from sin.

Besides the commentaries, looking at different translations helped.  I predominantly read the RSV-CE; I dislike the NAB as being too fluffy on one of my favorite verses.  Here is how Gal 3:22 appeared in other translations:

New American Bible: "In fact, however, Scripture has locked all things in under the constraint of sin"

Douay-Rheims and King James Bible: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin"

Knox (English Catholic Msgr. who translated the Bible himself) (!!!): "But in fact Scripture represents us as all under the bondage of sin"

Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible: "Scripture makes no exceptions when it says sin is master everywhere"

New Revised Standard Version: "but Scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin"

For those of us that don't speak Greek, having a lot of interpretations helps fill in the message that Paul tried to get across. 

More to come!

St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 1

I've begun reading St. Paul's letter to the Galatians over the past week or so.  I first read it through, and I'm now consulting some trusted commentaries.  I'm thankful for the commentaries, as I found the epistle to be complex.  I had to laugh, this epistle kind of fits in one of the more surprising lines in the Bible: "So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking from hthis as he does in all his letters.  There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction."  (2 Peter 3:15-16).  Ha!  I'm in good company if I find some of Paul's writings hard to understand.  May God keep me from the ignorant/unstable lot...

It's interesting to me that such an intense issue of the Judaizers is now a distant memory.  I'd think most western Catholics would need the help of a commentary to further understand the 1st century Jewish world.  Besides that, I think it's a great commentary on the truth of the Christian faith.  That which is the truth has a remarkable endurance; heresies and false teaching, perhaps taking from the truth but not being of  the truth, don't have deep enough roots to endure through the ages.  The Navarre Bible commentary cited St. Jerome on this:

"These people wanted to change the Gospel, to twist it; bout that is something they cannot succeed in doing, for this Gospel is suck that it cannot be true if it is tampered with."  (Pg. 171)

St. Paul's talk of the works of the law impacted me, first for the vehemence behind it.  His words are strong and pointed.  And it occurred to me: that tone is coming from a former Pharisee.  The Mosaic Law was his life!  He studied it, loved it, devoted himself to its practices, and celebrated its feasts.  He was present at the stoning of Stephen.   If we ever doubt God's ability to turn the hearts of man, look no further than Paul.

The reason for St. Paul's passion on this issue was the logical conclusion of the Judaizers' teaching.  The false teaching being that Gentiles entering the Church had to become Jews first before getting baptized as Christians.     If that were true, then justification (=getting right with God) depended on how well Christians kept the Mosaic Law.  And how is that any different than before Jesus came?  Why did Jesus bother with His Passion if it didn't change anything?

Things did change--drastically.  In St. John's vision of Revelation, Jesus tells him, "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev 21:5)  That was the second thing that impacted me about St. Paul's treatment of the works of the Law.  The sacraments are the fulfillment of the old practices!  God's chosen people is not limited to a ethic group; membership is offered to every nation and every people.  Grace was given before, but God now recklessly pours out His grace on humanity.

Those are a few points from Ch. 1-2 that struck me.  It's somewhat comforting to look at the internal conflict within the Church today, and to see the very same thing in the Bible.  Jesus transformed the Church, but human nature is still human nature.