Paul and the victims of his persecution: the opponents in Galatia

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2002 by Richard B. Cook

The victims probably told the Galatians that Paul's abuse was directed against believers who proclaimed Messiah Jesus not only to Jews but also to Gentiles. "Might Paul turn on you one day, you who are not `circumcised'? Might he even attack us again if given the chance?" Paul's rebuttal (v 12) is to assert that the victims point to their own past physical suffering to impress ("a good showing in the flesh") and to inspire fear ("persecuted for the cross of the Messiah"). Paul further contends (v 13) that the victims are hypocrites, who claim the status of an elite, "those who receive circumcision," yet do not themselves "keep the law." The victims now appear from nowhere to demean the Celtic believers ("boast in your flesh"). Having once suffered for their participation in Messianic assemblies that welcomed ritually impure Gentiles, the victims, asserts Paul, want nothing more than to humiliate the Celts, who are not Jews like themselves. Paul's arguments are directed at undermining the credibility of the victims by accusing them of elitism and cowardice.

"They compel you...." Paul is using the identical verb that he used to describe Peter's actions in Antioch when Peter withdrew from the table of those believers who were not circumcised ("you compel Gentiles to adopt Judaism"--Gal 2:14). Of course, Peter was not in a position to compel any particular conduct; he could only withdraw if he did-not approve, which is what he did. Paul employs the same word in his triumphant announcement (Gal 2:3) of Titus' entrance into the assembly in Jerusalem without being "compelled" to submit to circumcision.

Paul emphasizes the Jewish initiatory rite of circumcision in order to try one more time to win back his estranged recruits, who have been influenced against him. But by asserting their intent to "compel" the Galatians to become circumcised, Paul is distorting the motives of his victims. More than likely, they have not tried to compel circumcision of these Gentiles, most of whom, but not all (Gal 5:2), would have been offended if not disgusted at this humiliating and painful procedure.

Paul's accusers probably went no further than to point out that Paul, a Jew himself, no longer was Torah observant, and that this failing, combined with his earlier persecution of the very group he now purported to lead, casts doubt upon his reliability as a guide in religious matters. Responding to this personal attack, Paul's comments are a sarcastic rebuttal of the denunciations of his victims.

Paul's arguments, here, as elsewhere in Galatians, fit the range of stratagems employed by the Persecutor to deflect the credible accusations of the Victim. These stratagems have been well described by Herman (8) as follows:

   In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does
   everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the
   perpetrator's first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator
   attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely,
   he tries to make sure that no one listens. To this end he marshals an
   impressive array of arguments, from the most blatant denial to the most
   sophisticated and elegant rationalization. After every atrocity one can
   expect to hear the same predictable apologies: it never happened; the
   victim lies; the victim exaggerates; the victim brought it upon herself;
   and in any case, it is time to forget the past and move on.