Galatians: A Friends Illuminated Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is about freedom: freedom from the law, freedom from outward religious forms, freedom for the Spirit’s leading. For George Fox, this was the charter of Quaker experience. The famous declaration attributed to Fox — “Christ has come to teach his people himself” — is a paraphrase of Galatians 4:9: having come to know God, why turn back to weak and beggarly elements? Friends read Galatians as Paul’s authorization for their rejection of the sacraments, ordained ministry, and the entire apparatus of organized religion that they believed stood between the believer and direct encounter with Christ.

The commentary explores Galatians in depth: the autobiographical opening in which Paul defends his gospel’s independence from human authorization, the theological center of chapters 3–4 in which he argues for justification by faith and the full inclusion of Gentiles without circumcision, and the ethical culmination of chapters 5–6 in which he describes life in the Spirit and the fruit it produces. The Quaker testimonies — simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality — can all be traced to the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22–23. The free Group Study Guide connects this biblical text to contemporary Quaker practice.