ABSTRACT
Some modern secular readers would perhaps detect in the first dozen verses of Galatians a note of fanatical intolerance of opposed convictions, even the seeds of a fascism, evident in the enthusiastic intra-Christian inquisitions that periodically mark Christian history until relatively recent times. They might sense the same totalitarian impulse in the Jewish confession of faith and be tempted therefore to dismiss it, unfairly, as merely the permanently belligerent pose of some jealous tribal deity. Islam's very credo begins with an imperial style assault on all other gods. In Galatians, Paul is motivated by three themes that define juridical monotheism. The trio is embryonically present in the masterful opening: the sole true source of final authority for any revelation, whether oral and experiential or as solidified in scripture; the sufficiency of divine grace; and finally, God's promise of delivering human beings from the power of sin. The gospel's origin and authority lie in God's will.
