Though Paul's letters to the Galatians and to the Romans date from different periods in his career, they may be considered together, since they both deal with the basic subject of the relation between Judaism and Christianity. The earlier of the two letters appears to have been written about 53 a. d., while Romans was evidently not composed until the year 57. Galatians may almost be likened to the first rough draft of a letter, while Romans is clearly the result of much careful study and reflection. The former letter introduces us to Paul's doctrine of justification by faith, while the latter explains more fully the apostle's thought with regard to it.
Shortly after Paul passed through Galatia on his way to Europe, in the pursuance of his second missionary journey, his Jewish opponents took advantage of his absence to undermine his work among the Galatians, casting doubts upon the validity of his apostleship, and demanding the strictest observance of Jewish rites. On returning to Antioch, in Syria, the apostle learned of this sedition, and in the course of the letter which he wrote to deal with the situation, he asked, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you . . .?" (Gal. 3:1.) In the opening chapters he stresses the genuineness of his apostleship, and then proceeds to explain that men are justified, or obtain righteousness, not through the external observances stressed by the Judaic party, but by faith in Christ Jesus. He observes that, at best, "the law" was only a "schoolmaster," from whose rule Christians are freed when they have reached the maturity of faith (cf. Gal. 3:24-27). Could they not see that his Jewish opponents were seeking to keep them in bondage to legalism? As Christians, he reminded them that they had a right to liberty; while the true fulfillment of the law could be found in joyous acceptance of the gospel (cf. Gal. 5:13-14). This appeal had its desired effect, for when the apostle next visited Galatia his teaching appears to have been readily accepted.
Some four years later, probably during a visit to Corinth, Paul wrote the longest and most carefully worked out of his letters, the epistle to the Romans. He had not yet visited Rome, but there was already a considerable Christian community there, while many Jews were also resident in the city. In addition to questioning as to the connection between Judaism and Christianity, there had arisen not a little discussion as to the relative importance of Jewish and Gentile Christians.
