Bronwen Joy Scott-Branagan

St. Paul's Letter to the Celts Bronwen Joy Scott-Branagan

Galatia had been home for some Celtic tribes for around two hundred years. Before that, these barbarian tribes had wandered Europe raiding towns and aggravating both Greeks and Romans. To deal with the problem, the Romans assigned them an area to settle and named it Galatia. However, they did not integrate, but clung tenaciously to their religion, culture and language. Although Paul was a Jew, God called him to serve among non-Jews. He joined a small group of Christians led by Barnabas and they set out on journey to spread the Good News. Early on, they visited western Galatia but Paul became ill so the stayed longer than intended, allowing the group time to understand these Celts really well. Now Paul is angry. He loves these Galatians, his first converts after he himself became a Christian, but they were so fickle. After they left, some other Jewish preachers visited with a different message and now these new Christians are all at sixes and sevens, not knowing what to believe. In this book, Dr. Scott-Branagan looks at a letter Paul wrote to them, its message to the Galatians, its continuing relevance for Celts and, indeed, for all who read it today.