North/South Galatia

[Robert's s/n]

I'm not asking for an argued solution but an overview of this issue. What is the North/South Galatia problem?

[Ananel]

I'm not asking for an argued solution but an overview of this issue. What is the North/South Galatia problem?As I am unaware of the nature of your problem, I can't be of much help, now can I? Could you be more specific?

[Robert's s/n]

As I am unaware of the nature of your problem, I can't be of much help, now can I? Could you be more specific?

Why should I care whether Paul's epistle to the Galatians was directed to the churches of South or North Galatia?

[Ananel]

Why should I care whether Paul's epistle to the Galatians was directed to the churches of South or North Galatia?I could maybe see some contextual points, provided there were significant differences in the attitudes and populations of North and South Galatia, but I am not aware of any such differences.

In short, it's interesting from an academic historian's perspective, but no more.

[xkim]

Well, basically, it's uncertainty over what the term "Galatians" is referring to. "North" says ethnic Galatians from the ancient kingdom, while "South" says those who live in the political province of Galatia in the Roman empire. Two different places and peoples. It's kind of like the term "Indian"; do you mean Native Americans, or people living in the country of India? Now, that's sort of an oversimplification, and you can get the details from any decent Bible dictionary or commentary.
As for significance, this issue does matter, and is more than just an intellectual curiosity. First, it's important for constructing new testament history. An important exercise in that task is pegging material in Paul's letters to the narrative account in Acts, in order to get a fuller picture of Paul's life (and critical scholars to further attack the Bible's historical reliability). How you decide this issue changes that picture a bit. Second, it's important for our understanding of Galatians. It's just good habit to always ask the standard investigative questions before starting out on a book (who wrote it, when was it written, to whom was it written, etc.). It's especially important for reading Paul's letters, which were almost always written to address a specific situation. Galatians is no exception, and when Paul rebukes the Galatians in 1:6ff and 3:1ff, he doesn't really provide background, and you sort of have to fill in the details. Knowing some things about the people he's talking to would certainly help out in that.

[Jaltus]

The best summary of the issue is probably found in the NIGTC volume by FF Bruce.