I thought I'd share my notes from Galatians ch. 1 with you. First off, I'm not a Bible scholar, by any stretch. If I happen to hit something right, I want to be clear that it is not from myself. Hey, I just decided to show up to this meeting. If I'm wrong, it's because I'm half-dead tired, since it's 2 am and I started this at midnight. If I'm right, it's surely a miracle.
Okay, so mini background: I'm doing Kay Arthur's "How to Study Your Bible," Regi-fashion. I paraphrased the chapter, then went through my paraphrase, and did all kinds of funky highlighting and note taking. I even drew a little map. It's so rough, I could probably scrape down lumber with it.
Right now, I'm not going to get too detailed, but to discuss my thoughts on a couple of sections. Verse 12 talks about the revelation of the gospel to Paul. Then, in verse 16, he talks about his reaction to his conversion experience. Here are my notes:
First off, "revelation" is an interesting word, and from the Greek word for it, we get "Apocalyps." It can mean "laying bear," "instruction," or "manifestation." The way Paul describes it, it's not something that was cultivated by years of studying or by years of imagining and building a construct. It was built outside of him and "downloaded" to him. It has an instantaneous quality, like something that was previously covered that has had its covering snatched away.
Expansion here: I use the word "downloaded" because that is how I think of it. When I download a program onto my computer, my computer (computer is to brain as download is to revelation, here) is not the source machine. There is another source. When I submit my request to download, the process begins. A complete package is transferred to my computer, almost instantaneously. The development already happened, and now it is just being made manifest to my computer. The installation is more time consuming, as is my learning to use the program, but the information is all already there. /end expansion
The next thought is that Paul spends a lot of time supporting the fact that he didn't spend much time with the apostles (15 days, he specifies). This was curious, but an inevitable defense for where his knowledge comes from. He sets down that the Gospel was by revelation and not from mankind. This is supernatural...and he insists that he is not lying. It seems "too good to be true." He relies on his detailed facts about his travels to be adequate "proof" that his conversion and message were not implanted by experience and suggestion. His past of persecuting Christians establishes that he was unwilling to listen until his conversion experience at Damascus.
I learned a Greek word: euangelion...eu-angelion. From this analysis, I get "eu-" which means "true," like "eubacteria" in biology, and "angelo" which is "messenger." Therefore, I conclude, rightly or wrongly, that Euangelion, from which we get "evangelism" is talking about teaching a "true message."
Regi dG
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