AD 51-52 – 1 Thessalonians

from The Final Decade Before The End by Ed. Stevens

They were not expecting to be left behind not even knowing it happened

35 of Paul’s amazement that the Galatians had “so soon abandoned” his gospel for the Judaizing gospel, I now prefer to date it even earlier before the Thessalonian correspondence in late 51. Not very much time had elapsed (a year or less) since Paul had been in Galatia on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6). That implies Paul was probably still in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea), before he went to Achaia (Athens and Corinth) where he wrote the two Thessalonian letters. He would not have had much time to write Galatians before reaching Philippi, where he and Silas stayed “for many days” (Acts 16:18). Word from Galatia could easily have caught up with Paul in Philippi, at which time he would have written the Galatians epistle, in which he firmly challenged the Galatians for letting themselves be deceived by the Judaizing gospel “so soon” after he had been there.

Frank Viola, in his very interesting historical reconstruction book, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, even pushes the date of writing for Galatians two years farther back than I do (i.e., to AD 49), before the second missionary journey, and even before the Jerusalem Council. This would indeed make it the very first epistle that Paul wrote, which would have been written from Antioch.

Ogden has suggested that Galatians was written later after Paul had visited Galatia on his third journey, and while he was at Ephesus (AD 55). Ephesus was a lot closer to the churches of Galatia than Philippi, Athens or Corinth, so it would have been easier for Paul to hear about the Galatian shakeup if he was in Ephesus. However, if he was so close to them, why didn’t he simply go over there and straighten things out in person, or send one of his traveling companions?

Another possibility is that while he was on his way back from his second journey in the Spring of 53, while his boat was anchored at Ephesus (AD 53, Acts 18:19), he might have heard about the Galatian problem while he was in Ephesus and wrote the letter to them before he continued on his journey by boat to Caesarea. But it appears to be a carefully crafted epistle written while he had plenty of time, rather than hastily written while he was waiting to board the boat to Palestine.

Paul usually wrote letters to churches that were separated from him by a considerable distance, and at a time when he was not able to go visit them. It would not have been difficult for Paul to have heard about the Galatian problem while he was at Philippi or Corinth on his second journey (AD 51-52) and write to them at that time. A controversy over circumcision at Galatia would have been much more likely in AD 51, than three years later after they had been firmly established by three visits of Paul. The fact that Paul marvels about their “so quick” disturbance (Gal 1:6) after he had been there, implies the earlier date (late 51).

Others have suggested that Paul might have written it soon after he reached Corinth (late 51 or very early 52) while on his second missionary journey. We know that he delivered the decrees from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) to the Galatians on his second journey, and in the Epistle to the Galatians he marvels that they were so quickly shaken in their faith by the Judaizers. This implies that it was written soon after Paul had been there, either while he was still in Philippi, or very soon after he reached Corinth in late 51 or very early 52. Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, two Winters and the year between (late 51 to early 53).

If it was written on the second journey while Paul was at Philippi, it would make Galatians the first epistle of Paul to have been written, with the two Thessalonian epistles coming soon afterwards. That is where I tend to place it, at Philippi in late AD 51.