We do not  know very much about the people whom St. Paul is addressing in his Epistle to the Galatians. It is probable that they lived in the northern part of Asia Minor and that they were mainly a group of converts from paganism. It also seems most likely that Paul wrote this letter in 56 or 57 shortly before his letter to the Romans, which developed in depth the basic theology he presents here.

The tone of the letter is summed up in the second last verse: “From now on, let no one give me trouble….”  Yes, there was trouble in the Galatian Church. Paul meant to settle it once and for all.

He begins his letter without his customary polite introduction and exchange of good wishes. In Chapter 1, Verse 6 Paul immediately states his purpose in writing: “I am astonished at the promptness with which you have turned away from the one who called you and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News.

Paul, himself, was the “one who called you .” The trouble was caused by Jewish Christians who had visited the Galatians and had cast doubt on authority as an apostle. They said that Paul was only a disciple of the disciples of Christ, who had never seen Christ. They accused him of deliberately distorting doctrine and preaching freedom from the Jewish Law, especially the law of circumcision, in order to gain popularity with the Galatians and to win converts more easily. The Galatians began to turn away from Paul and to accept this new doctrine.

St. Paul writes to refute “the trouble makers among you.” It is a violent letter, in which he speaks from the heart, even going so far as to question their sanity. “Are you people in Galatia mad?” (3:1)

The Epistle to the Galatians is composed of three main sections:

   Defence of Paul’s authority (Chapters 1-2).

   Defence of Paul’s doctrine (Chapter3 3-4).

   Exhortation and words of warning (Chapters 5-6).

It is probable that St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians was not written explicitly or exclusively for the Church at Ephesus. It seems very likely that it was a circular letter meant for all the Churches. A copyist would insert the particular name of the Church to which the copy was being sent, for example: “to the saints  (who are at Ephesus)  who are faithful to Jesus Christ.“ This type of letter is still in use today. Ask any householder.

This letter and the one to Philemon were written while Paul was under arrest in Rome in the years 61 to 63 A.D.

What prompted its writing was disturbing news brought to Paul by his delegate Epaphras. (What doctrinal treasures would never have been written if the early Church did not have serious troubles!) The trouble that spurred Paul to write was caused by speculation about the celestial or cosmic powers, thought to be responsible for the regular movement of the cosmos. Such speculation threatened the supremacy of Christ.

St. Paul accepts these powers and associates them with the angels of Jewish tradition. His main concern is to show that Christ the Lord has established a new order of things and now governs the cosmos. As a result, the Church as the Body of Christ embraces the whole of the new universe.

In this letter we find that beautiful expression of the totality of Christ`s love expressed in the cosmic terms used by the Stoic philosophers. In a positive move, Paul overcomes the philosophy that threatened the Good News. This passage seems to sum up Paul`s argumentation that Christ is the Lord of the whole universe:

  “Out of his infinite glory, may he give you power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and the, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of Christ“(3:16-19).