Galatia

Galatia is a province of Asia Minor that surfaces in the New Testament as a region of multiple churches, an apostolic collection-precedent, and an addressee of Petrine correspondence. Three letters anchor its mention: Paul's opening to the Galatians, his collection instruction in 1 Corinthians, and Peter's diaspora salutation.

The Churches of Galatia

Galatia is treated as the home of a plurality of congregations rather than a single church. Paul opens his letter to them by addressing not one assembly but a network: "Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead), and all the brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia" (Gal 1:1-2). The plural form — "the churches of Galatia" — is the recurring designation the region carries.

A Precedent for the Saints-Collection

When Paul turns to the Corinthians on the relief-fund for Jerusalem, Galatia is named as the region already placed under his standing order. He writes, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so you⁺ also do" (1 Cor 16:1). The province functions there as a precedent: the same instruction given to Galatia is now extended to Corinth, so the Galatian churches are exhibited as having prior apostolic instructions on the saints-collection that Corinth is to replicate.

A Province of the Dispersion

Peter's first letter places Galatia in a five-province addressee-catalogue running across northern and western Asia Minor. He writes to "the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1 Pet 1:1). Galatia stands in second position in that list, and its resident elect — the dispersion-sojourners — receive Peter's apostolic address alongside the four neighboring provinces.