Meals, missionaries, and the ‘Israel of God’: fresh light on the crisis in Galatia

Posted on November 23, 2025 
Filed under Resources, Theology

From Dr. Lionel Windsor:

“Galatians is a letter with sharp edges. It addresses fundamental doctrinal issues. Yet behind Paul’s forceful rhetoric lies a very human, very concrete social situation. It’s a situation that sheds light on the theological debates about justification, circumcision, and Paul’s relationship to the law. My academic study, published as Chapter 16 in the book Paul in His Jewish and Graeco-Roman Context, offers a fresh account of this concrete situation.

I argue that the crisis in Galatia needs to be understood in light of early Christian missionary practices, hospitality, and the dynamics of table fellowship.

This new angle helps illuminate a passage at the end of the letter that has long been contested: Paul’s blessing of ‘as many as will conform to this rule … and mercy also upon the Israel of God’ (Gal. 6:16). …”

– If you are preaching through Galatians, or simply want to understand the Galatians better, do check out this latest post at Forget the Channel.