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

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

Concerning his activities as a persecutor of Christian Jews, Lightfoot (81) wants Paul to say "I told you when I was with you." But Paul says no such thing. Burton (44), implicitly acknowledging Paul's desire for sovereignty over his pre-literary situation, speculates that Paul had already told the Galatians "the .story of his pre-Christian life," including an admission of his role as a persecutor. Dunn (55) theorizes that Paul may have told his converts of his former life. Or, possibly, that Paul's adversaries ("incoming missionaries," according to Dunn) might have "informed" Paul's converts of his "previous way of life" and then tried to use this information "as a weapon against Paul." Dunn does not ask how the impact of this information in Galatia might have been used as a weapon against Paul in the pre-literary situation, nor does he consider Paul's motives in mounting his defense, were he responding to the denunciations of his own victims. Martyn (1997a: 153) states that Paul's adversaries in Galatia "may have made remarks to the Galatians about Paul's pre-Christian activity, accentuating perhaps his persecution of the church." Betz speaks (67, n. 103) of "rumors" circulating about Paul. However, like Dunn and other commentators, Betz and Martyn simply leave the matter there, without further inquiry into the fate of Paul's victims or whether Paul had to answer their accusations within the churches he had established.

Bornkamm (14-15), interestingly, thinks that Paul discussed his past violence "with no bad conscience whatsoever" and "not as a past wrong, whose memory still torments him." But Bornkamm remains incurious about the silence and the fate of the victims of this "orthodox Jew." Like other investigators, Bornkamm takes up Paul's propositions as a subject of theological and exegetical inquiry without considering the apparent absence of a "bad conscience" as central to Paul's polemical strategy in dealing with the denunciations of his victims.

The Answer of the Persecutor: Vilify the Victim

In his introductory dictation (Gal 1:4) Paul declares that the Messiah Jesus "gave himself for our sins, so that we might be freed from this present evil age." Paul excludes from these solicitous considerations only those who were causing him so much difficulty in Galatia. He speaks of them as rank strangers and, indeed, probably did not know their names. Consigned to anonymity, they are simply dismissed as:

Gal 1:7: "those who are terrifying you"
Gal 1:9: "some one"
Gal 5: 7: "whoever"
Gal 5: 10: "whoever he is"
Gal 6:12: "those who compel you"
Gal 6:13: "they"

No "Different Gospel"--but a Personal Attack

Paul acknowledges that his antagonists in Galatia did not propose a `different gospel' (Gal 1:6). Rather he is confronted (Gal 1:7) with a highly personal criticism of himself. In Galatia, Paul's former victims would have avoided all contact with him but come forward after he left the area. Their motivation would have been to discredit him by denouncing him to his new recruits. They are likely to have denounced Paul the Persecutor as one and the same Paul who had recently arrived to organize assemblies of believers among the Celtic population of the region.