The Beginning of the Epistle (Galatians 1:6–10)

After the greeting, in beginning the Epistle itself, Holy Paul indicates: aa) what compels him to write the Epistle; and he establishes: bb) the subject which he will prove in it. What drives him to write is a change in the Galatians’ thinking about the manner of salvation that had been taught to them by the Apostle himself (Gal. 1:6–7). And the subject of the Epistle will be the immutability of the Gospel he proclaimed to them. Desiring to bring them back to their former faith, he undertakes to prove to them that the teaching he gave them cannot be changed by anyone. Whoever attempts this will fall under a terrible anathema, whoever he may be, from earth or from heaven (Gal. 1:8–10).

aa) What compels the Apostle to write the Epistle (Gal. 1:6–7)

Gal. 1:6. I marvel that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.

“I marvel”—I am amazed, I cannot understand, this unexpectedness astounds me—your change and falling away from the faith. For we are accustomed to marvel at what happens contrary to expectation and what we cannot suddenly understand how it came to be. It could not be expected precisely because they had received the faith with such fervor, and precisely because they had already experienced its saving fruits. Holy Chrysostom writes: “When he says: ‘I marvel’, he not only reproves them for the fact that they, after such great and abundant gifts, after such a magnitude of forgiveness of sins and such a great lovingkindness of God toward them, voluntarily surrendered themselves under the yoke of slavery. But he also shows what opinion he holds of them—a high and distinguished one. For if he considered them weak and easily deceived, he would not marvel at what happened. But since, he says, you were among those who truly believed and labored much, for this reason do I marvel. This was sufficient for their turning around and restoration to their former state; and he expressed his hope for this even in the middle of the Epistle, saying: ‘Did you suffer so much in vain, if indeed it was in vain?’ (Gal. 3:4)” Ambrosiaster: “He marvels that from the freedom they had obtained they threw themselves into slavery. It is rare that anyone passes from what brings joy to what causes sorrow. The Apostle marvels at them, that being in a state of contentment and security, they themselves delivered themselves to anxious and futile work. It is as if a foolish sailor, being in a safe harbor, in a storm set forth into the open sea, into obvious dangers.” Thus Holy Paul directly addresses the Galatians with a word of reproach, whereas in his other Epistles he first praises those to whom he writes for receiving the faith and making progress in it, although even they were sometimes at fault in other ways. For what place is there for praise when they are falling away from the faith? Other churches, though they appeared imperfect, nonetheless firmly held the faith; but these, having changed their faith, destroyed in themselves all goodness. Although there was something good in them, it lost its value, because it no longer proceeded from faith. The Apostle does not accord them praise. Perhaps also because, upon receiving this unpleasant news, he took up the pen and hastened to lead them out of deception: there was no time to observe customary formalities; he hurried to the matter at hand. His attention was entirely occupied with their change. His discourse is directly about it. You have changed, he says, in what cannot be changed. And then he proves this.

“So quickly”. So soon—either after your conversion, for that too did not occur long ago, perhaps only three or four years before; or after the second time Saint Paul stayed with them, from which perhaps not even a year had passed. He is, as it were, saying to them: Was I not long ago with you and did I not see that you were on the good path—“you were running well” (Gal. 5:7). How then so quickly have the steps of your feet been disturbed? Or,—count “quickly” from the appearance of the false teachers among them. As if to say: no sooner did the false teachers appear among you than you already flowed after them. In Saint Chrysostom the first thought shows through, but the second is more evident. “The Apostle,” he says, “lays two charges against them: falling away, and such swift falling away. Of course, they would be worthy of blame even if they fell away after a long time; but here we are speaking of deception and deceit. If one who does not fall away suddenly, but after a long time, is worthy of blame, then one who falls at the first attack of enemies, and from arrows still being shot from afar, displays an example of extreme weakness. This is what the Apostle reproaches in the Galatians, as if saying: What is the meaning of this—that those deceiving you have no need even of time, but a single first approach is enough for them to overthrow and capture all of you?” Likewise, Holy John of Damascus: “that amazes me,” says the Apostle, “that you who were so instructed in the mystery of faith, that you could even be teachers for others, so easily believe false teachers.” Blessed Jerome sets forth both ideas: “Paul marvels, first, that they fell away from Gospel freedom into slavery to the works of the Law; second, that they fell away so quickly. For it is not the same sin to fall away from someone slowly and quickly. So regarding martyrs, it is not the same offense whether one, without any resistance and without torture, at once consents to renunciation, and whether one is compelled by unbearable torment to renounce what he believed. The Gospel preaching was still new to them; little time had passed since Paul brought the Galatians from idolatry to Christ. He marvels, therefore, how they so quickly turned away from Him, in whose name they had recently begun to be called Christians.”

“Are falling away”. You are leaning toward false teaching, wavering in your faithfulness to the Gospel. They were preparing to pass under the yoke of the Law, but have not yet done so; the matter is in process, but not yet accomplished. This is what drives him to hasten to them with a word of understanding. For it is always the case that it is easier to restrain one who is falling away from the faith or falling into sin than to return one who has fallen away and to raise up one who has fallen. Holy Chrysostom writes: “He did not say: ‘You have fallen away,’ but: ‘you are falling away,’ that is, I do not yet believe and do not think that this deception will achieve complete success. By this again he shows hope of converting them; and he expressed this hope even more clearly later, saying: ‘I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will think nothing otherwise’ (Gal. 5:10)”.

“From Him who called you”. Who is He who called? The most immediate person that comes to mind is the Apostle Paul. He called them to the faith through his preaching, just as the Thessalonians were called (2 Thess. 2:14); he planted faith in them, as in the Corinthians (see: 1 Cor. 3:6). He, like all the Apostles, was the immediate instrument of calling the nations to the grace of Christ; for it was said to them: “Go and teach all nations” (see Mt. 28:19). It would not be inappropriate to understand it this way here as well; for the Apostle’s first task will be to prove to them that they should not fall away from the faith precisely because they were converted and instructed by him; for his teaching is not from men, but from above. The following words point more directly to this understanding: “by the grace of Christ”. And everywhere Holy Paul says that by the grace of Christ he is what he is—an Apostle, sent by the Lord Himself into the nations to proclaim His glorious name. But since it is unusual for Holy Paul and the other Apostles, when explaining the calling to faith, to dwell on themselves as the instruments of calling, and they always raise their thoughts to Him who, acting through them, was establishing the Kingdom of Christ on earth—it is better here too to understand the same One who is at work. Who is He? Some say Jesus Christ. The Greek text does allow such a translation of this place: you are turning away from Christ, who called you by grace (His own). Blessed Jerome finds this possible. “One can also,” he says, “marvel that so quickly you are falling away from Jesus Christ, who called you into grace, and as He speaks of Himself in the Gospel: ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Mk. 2:17),” thereby suggesting, of course, that in every way He came in order to call. But it is unusual to speak thus, neither for the Apostle Paul nor for the other Apostles. All of them attribute the calling to God the Father, raising all things to the one source of all good. Anyone can verify this for himself by reviewing the passages of Scripture in which calling is spoken of (such as: 1 Pet. 1:15; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Pet. 5:10, 2 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 8:30; Rom. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:9; 1 Cor. 7:15, 1 Cor. 7:17; 1 Thess. 2:12; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:9). And the Apostle’s purpose in the Epistle required that the calling of the Galatians, in the manner in which it was accomplished through him, be attributed to God the Father. They feared offending God the Father if they abandoned the Law; the Apostle here gives them to understand that they will not offend God by failing to submit to the Law, but by turning away from the Gospel. Thus Holy Chrysostom: “Since they, in keeping the Law, thought to please the Father, just as the Jews did in persecuting Christ, he first shows that by so doing they offend not only Christ, but the Father as well. For in doing this, he says, you are falling away not only from Christ, but from the Father. For just as the Old Covenant is not from the Father alone, but from the Son, so also grace is a gift not of the Son alone, but of the Father, and all things are common to Them: ‘All things that the Father has are Mine’ (Jn. 16:15)”.

“By the grace of Christ”; but in Russian it is translated: “into the grace of Christ”. The Greek text permits both translations. Having examined the cited passages, one surely already sees that the calling is set forth in such bright representations: we are called by God the Father “to salvation” (2 Thess. 2:13), “into the fellowship of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:9), “into peace” (1 Cor. 7:15; see: Col. 3:15), “into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9), into His “kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12), “into His eternal glory” (1 Pet. 5:10). All these expressions are equivalent to the expression: into the grace of Christ—and broadly define what the grace of Christ is. But there are other expressions as well that are equivalent to the expression: “by the grace of Christ”. Thus Holy Paul himself confesses that he was called “by the grace of God” (Gal. 1:15), and of all he says that God called them “with a holy calling according to His own purpose and grace, granted us in Christ Jesus before eternal times” (2 Tim. 1:9). From this we can conclude that although we must distinguish how to say it best in each place—whether by grace or into grace—in substance the one and the other are inseparable. For without the grace of Christ there would be no calling at all; and when calling has begun, where else can it lead but into the grace of Christ.

“If we fix our attention on the expression in which God the Father appears as calling us by the grace of Christ, the thought is thus: through the fall we angered God and were deprived of His favor; the Lord Jesus Christ by His death reconciled us to God and restored to us His favor; and this is the grace of Christ—not inadequate, on account of which all other mercies from God flowed out to us, of which the first is calling. Thus Holy Chrysostom: ‘Calling is the work of the Father, but the cause of calling is the Son. He reconciled us and gave the gift of grace; for we did not receive salvation from righteous deeds.’ Holy Chrysostom also expresses the idea that Holy Paul said: ‘by the grace of Christ’ in relation to God the Father, because all things are common between Father and Son. ‘Or rather,’ he says (that is, the Apostle said: ‘by the grace of Christ’—because), what belongs to the Son belongs also to the Father; and what belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. For He says: ‘Mine are Your, and Your are Mine’ (Jn. 17:10).‘Ecumenius, upon these words, ascends from the co-action of Father and Son to the co-action of all the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, saying:’The Son grants forgiveness (of sins and reconciliation) through His blood; the Father calls; the Holy Spirit works. This is the common blessing toward us of the Holy and Blessed Trinity”.

If we fix our attention on the expression: into the grace of Christ, then by grace we understand the entire economy of our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord, that is: the incarnation of the Only-Begotten Son of God, His teaching, miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, and sitting at the right hand of the Father, the sending of the Most Holy Spirit, the revelation of saving truths through the Apostles, the establishment of holy mysteries that impart grace, and of all the institutions in the Church, by means of which those who come with faith to the Lord and become sons of the Church are given justification, regeneration, sanctification, adoption as sons, and the pledge of inheritance of the eternal and unspeakable blessings in heaven. All of this in its totality is the grace of Christ, into which the Galatians were called by God the Father and into which we ourselves are called by being born of Christian parents—which is a great, in no way deserved blessing from our loving and merciful God and Father. The essence of the calling into this grace can be expressed thus: we are called that, being justified for repentance through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and receiving through the holy mysteries the grace of the Holy Spirit, we should live henceforward, with the help of this grace, in holiness and without blemish, in hope of the inheritance of Christ’s glorious Kingdom. Behold the unsearchable riches of Christians with which we have been enriched through the poverty of Christ (2 Cor. 8:9)! “You are called,” says Theophylact, “that you might be justified in Christ.” From this it is evident that he understood the calling “into the grace of Christ” at this place. In this he agrees with Ecumenius, who paraphrases this place thus: “God the Father called you into the grace of His Son”.

Holy Chrysostom along with Theodoret direct attention upon these words to why Holy Paul said that the Galatians are falling away not from a teaching, but from Him who called them. This is not without purpose, but so as to have a stronger effect on the apostates. “He did not say,” writes Holy Chrysostom, “you are turning away from the Gospel, but: from Him who called you—that is, from God. By this he expressed what was stronger for them and more likely to terrify them. If someone were to act in this way toward his own friends, then one who abandoned his former beneficent friends would certainly be worthy of condemnation. Consider then, how much punishment is deserved by one who abandoned God, who called him?”

“To a different gospel”. Holy Paul preached one true teaching about salvation, and when the false teachers came, they began to propose a different teaching, at variance with his. As his true teaching was a Gospel, a good news of salvation; so their false teaching he also called a Gospel, only a different one, without regard to either those who received this false teaching or to those who proposed it. But we can also understand that the Apostle had in mind the idea that the Galatians accepted it as the true Gospel or that the false teachers claimed that they were preaching the true Gospel, perhaps deliberately not mentioning that they were going against the Apostle Paul or disagreed with his teaching, at least at the beginning of their preaching. Thus Holy Chrysostom: “Those who wished to deceive and lead the Galatians astray did not do so all at once, but, gradually changing the substance of the truths preached to them, they did not change their names. In this way the devil ordinarily deceives and leads astray—spreading his nets imperceptibly for those he is catching! For if they had immediately begun to say: renounce Christ, they would have been guarded against as deceivers and corruptors. But now, leaving them in the faith and giving their false teaching the name of Gospel, they worked more boldly at undermining the edifice, covering the teaching they preached with names, like a curtain, after the fashion of those who undermine walls. Accordingly, since they called their false teaching a Gospel, or good news, the Apostle most opportunely steps in and for the very name itself, when he says: to a different gospel, which is not really another gospel”.

Gal. 1:7. Which is not really another, except that some are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

“Which is not really another”—or thus: you are turning to a different gospel, but it is not another gospel, it is not a teaching that is worthy to be called a gospel or Gospel. Thus Blessed Jerome: “you are turning to a different gospel, which is not a gospel.” The false teachers, though they call it thus, and though you have accepted it as such, in substance it is not so. Or thus: you are turning to a different gospel, but there is not another gospel, there is not another teaching that could be called good news. The Gospel is one—that which I preached to you. Thus Theophylact: “there is no other Gospel except what you received. The Gospel containing Orthodoxy is one, that very one which I preached to you.” Holy John of Damascus also points out the basis for this: “as Holy Peter says: There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” Blessed Theodoret adds: “Abandoning this Gospel, you will find no other, because the Master does not preach one thing through us and another through the other Apostles, but all of us who love the truth preach one and the same thing. And those who think otherwise offer you nothing divine, but undertake to distort what is divine”.

Both these interpretations, however, are in substance one and the same: you are turning to a different gospel, which is not another gospel, because there is no other gospel. There is only one. Holy Chrysostom had need to clarify the difficulty: But how do we have four Gospels? But he does not state this directly; rather, he enters into a dispute with the Marcionites, who accepted only one Gospel from Luke, and that not in its entirety, and says: “As the sick suffer harm even from wholesome food, so the Marcionites here also suffered harm. For they, using these words, say: See, Paul himself said there is no other Gospel. Though they are absurd, it is necessary to refute their falsehood. What then shall we say? Even if very many wrote Gospels, but if they wrote the same thing, then many would be nothing more than one Gospel, and the multitude of writers in no way would prevent it from being one. On the contrary, though one alone wrote, but wrote something contrary, then what he wrote would no longer be one. Whether a Gospel is one or not, this is known not by the number of writers, but by the identity or difference of what is written. From this it is evident that the four Gospels also are one Gospel. For when all four say the same thing, there is not one and another or something different, because different ones are speaking, but one in the agreement and unity of what they wrote. And Paul here speaks not of the number of preachers, but of disagreement and contradiction in what is preached”.

“Some are troubling you and so forth. Following the flow of speech, one would expect an answer to the following question: if the teaching of these newly arrived teachers is not a Gospel, if there is no other Gospel at all, what then is their teaching? The Apostle Paul answers: it is nothing other than a troubling of minds, a confusion of understanding and a distortion of the Gospel. But in the manner of expressing this idea, instead of presenting the phenomenon and its action, he presents the agents; just as the Savior Himself, in explaining the parable of the sown word, said: These are the ones sown instead of the seed being sown or the Gospel preached (Mk. 4:15–20). Paul did so because he wished more quickly to cast a shadow on these new teachers by calling them troublers of minds and perverters of truth.”

“Troubling”, ταράσσοντες—a word used to express both disturbance in a people on account of some event, and inner perturbation from intrusive thoughts and the stirring up of the passions. Although the Apostle does not mention disturbance among the believers and disturbances between them, there surely was such. Not all agreed at once, of course. Holy Paul perhaps did not pay particular attention to this because the disturbance was insignificant, or rather, because he was exclusively concerned with their inner disturbance, the perturbation of their faith and inner peace, from which all external disorder arises. By presenting this inner disturbance to view, he thereby gives the Galatians an indication of how they themselves can understand the evil of the new teaching they have accepted. Having mentioned the disturbance from false teaching, he brings back to their memory the blissful state in which they had been when they accepted the true Gospel (see Gal. 4:15). Compare, as it were he is saying to them, that joy with this disturbance, and you yourselves will understand where truth is and where falsehood. By the same word Holy Paul also explains how those teachers succeeded in turning them from the path. They gave them who-knows-what to hear, confused their understanding, aroused their fears—and they began to see one thing instead of another. The eye of the mind was darkened and began to see truth where there was nothing but falsehood and deception.

The holy interpreters particularly direct their attention to this inner state in regard to this word. Thus Theophylact: “those wishing to distort the Gospel of Christ darken the eyes of your soul and make it so that you see one thing instead of another.” “For,” says Holy Chrysostom, “as an eye disturbed by something sees one thing instead of another, so too a mind disturbed by the influx of perverse thoughts undergoes the same affliction. And those suffering from madness present one thing instead of another; but that illness (false teaching) is more dangerous than this one, inasmuch as it harms the person not in the perception of sensible objects, but of spiritual ones, and produces a distortion not in the pupil of the eye, but in the eyes of the mind”.

“Want to distort the gospel of Christ”. The troubling of minds was in the hands of the false teachers a means; their goal is the distortion of the Gospel of Christ. And they have produced and continue to produce disturbance only among the Galatians so far—but their goal is everywhere to distort the true Gospel. This is their main intention, and this impels them to undertake such journeys and sow their distorted teaching everywhere. By this word they are presented as malicious destroyers of the most essential good on earth—salvation in the Lord. It is an intention that cannot be fulfilled; but from this their guilt does not become any less heavy. Blessed Augustine says that these false teachers wish to distort the Gospel of Christ, but it remains unchanged and firm. Let the Galatians agree to change the spiritual (service) to the carnal, but through this they have only distorted the Gospel in their own understanding, while it itself is incapable of distortion.

In what this distortion of the Gospel consisted, Blessed Jerome expresses in a general proposition, as Augustine also does in the thoughts cited above: “Whoever interprets the Gospel in a different meaning and spirit than as delivered by the Apostles troubles the believers and distorts the Gospel of Christ, pushing back what should be forward, and putting forward what should remain back. Whoever agrees to the interpretations of the Judaizers pushes back what by its significance should be forward.” Holy Chrysostom expresses this distortion more precisely: “Even if they added only one or two commandments, say about circumcision and the observance of days; but since even what is small, admitted contrary to the law, ruins all, therefore he said: distort the gospel. In royal coins, if someone spoils the seal of a coin, he makes the whole coin worthless: similarly, whoever distorts even the smallest dogma of the true faith subjects all of it to the same corruption, gradually passing from the first damage to another, worse one”.

We do not consider it superfluous to set forth also a lesson of Holy Chrysostom, which he offers on account of this distortion of the Gospel. It will find application also in us. “As long as,” he says, “you are sound of mind and the eyes of your mind seek only what is right and not perverted, inventing what does not exist, you will not recognize or accept another Gospel. But listen to what Paul says—that even those distort the Gospel who introduce into it something, though unimportant, but contrary to the Gospel. Did you not hear what happened in the Old Testament? Someone gathering sticks on the Sabbath and thus transgressing one commandment, and moreover not a great one, underwent the most severe punishment (Num. 15:32–36). Uzzah wished to support the threatened, as he thought, falling ark of the Covenant, and right then he died for wishing to offer help to Him who has no need of his help (2 Sam. 6:6–7). So if the violation of the Sabbath and touching the falling ark so angered God that those who dared to do either one received no mercy whatsoever, then how will he who distorts the terrible and unspeakable dogmas of the faith justify himself and what mercy will he receive? There is no mercy for him, none whatsoever! This itself is the cause of all evils—that we do not concern ourselves with small transgressions; on account of this we have fallen into grave sins, because small ones remain without proper correction. What happens with bodies—that is, when those afflicted in body leave bodily wounds uncared for—produces fevers, decay, and the very death of the body; the same must be said of souls: those who neglect small transgressions fall into greater ones. One transgresses against fasting, and some say nothing is wrong with this. Another is firm in Orthodox faith, but, pretending to yield to circumstances, sometimes speaks freely and boldly about the faith, yet even this, some say, is not too important a matter. Another, being angered by something, threatens to depart from the true faith; and this too, it is said, does not deserve punishment, for he sinned in anger and vehemence. Every day one can encounter still other countless such sins that violently force their way into the Church. On account of this we have become worthy of ridicule, mercilessly splitting the Church into countless parts. If all who ever attempted to depart from the divine laws and to make even the smallest change in them had been restrained from the very beginning with a prohibition, then the present corruption would not have appeared and such a storm would not have encompassed the Church. Some of us maintain even many pagan customs, such as divination, casting lots, augury, observation of days and superstitious notations at birth and all manner of impiety recorded in writing, which, to the greater evil, they place on the heads of newborn children, teaching them from the first days of life to disdain the labors of acquiring virtue and subjecting them to the false power of fate. But if circumcision does not profit Christ (Gal. 5:2), how can faith in any way serve for salvation to those who introduce such impiety? Circumcision was established by God, but since, being observed at the wrong time, it harmed the Gospel, Paul did everything to bring it to an end. But if Paul was so concerned with ending Jewish customs only because their time for observing them had passed, how will we not be concerned with destroying pagan customs? And what justification will we have? This is why all is now in confusion and mixture with us, and those being taught, filled with many and proud thoughts, have perverted the order, and the higher have become lower. Now if anyone gives them even a light rebuke, they spit upon and despise such leaders. And this is because we taught them poorly in childhood”.

bb) The subject which the Apostle will prove in the Epistle (Gal. 1:8–10)

Gal. 1:8–9. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any gospel other than what we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel other than what you received, let him be accursed.

In these verses Holy Paul expresses the main subject of the Epistle—the immutability of the Gospel in the meaning and spirit in which he transmitted it to the Galatians. Although in the first part he proves his Apostolic dignity—that he was taught the Gospel by the Lord Himself and received authority to preach it to the Gentiles—yet the goal of even this is obviously so that he might impress upon them that since the Gospel teaching he preaches is from the Lord, it is divine, and therefore it cannot be changed according to human calculations. When God speaks, a rational creature must listen reverently and receive obediently. One’s own thoughts and calculations should be directed only toward understanding more fully and deeply what is commanded.

The Apostle’s position is thus: no one and nothing can change what has been delivered in the Gospel. Whoever attempts to do so, whether from earth or from heaven, is accursed. This is similar to what is said in the Apocalypse: if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues… And if anyone takes away… God will take away his share from the book of life (see Rev. 22:18–19).

That no one can change the Gospel, Holy Paul expresses in the words: if we, or an angel from heaven. The Apostle takes the very highest persons—Apostles and Angels: for on earth in the matter of faith there is no one higher than the Apostles, and heaven is filled with Angels. But if even they, attempting to change the Gospel, cannot escape the punishment of heaven, who can do this with impunity?

By “we” is most immediately understood the Apostle Paul himself with his companions; but judging by the force of the discourse, one can suppose that Holy Paul embraced by this word both himself and all the Apostles. Thus Holy Chrysostom: “By pronouncing a curse on the preachers and Angels, he thereby embraced every dignity; and by pronouncing it also on himself, he thereby indicated every kinship and companionship. Do not tell me, he says, that such Apostles and your friends teach this; I would not spare even myself if I did not preach what is right. But he says this not for condemning other Apostles, as though they were corrupting the preaching of the Gospel; no! For he says: whether then it was I or they, so we preach (1 Cor. 15:11); but by this he wished only to show that the dignity of persons is not taken into account when truth is at stake”.

The words “other than what we preached” mean to the Apostle not only what is contrary, but what is at variance, inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel, generally not what has been delivered by him on behalf of God. “He did not say: if anyone preaches what is contrary or entirely perverts; but, if anyone preaches even something unimportant at variance with what we preached, or changes even the slightest thing in the preaching, let him be accursed,” (Holy Chrysostom).

In what sense does Holy Paul speak thus about the Apostles and Angels? He speaks hypothetically. We believe that the Apostles by the grace of the Holy Spirit were guarded from deviation from the truth, and that the Angels are so confirmed in truth and goodness that for them falsehood and sin have become a moral impossibility. Not by their nature are they recognized as such, but by the grace of God. Only God by nature is unchangeable; but this quality is communicated also to those who enter more deeply into communion with Him. The Apostle’s thought is that even if the impossible were possible, the Gospel must and will always remain unchanged. Blessed Theodoret says regarding the Angels: “He mentioned the Angels, not at all presuming that any of the holy Angels would begin to teach what is contrary to the divine preaching (for he knew this was impossible), but rejecting by this all human innovation”.

Blessed Jerome prefers the same thought, but offers another as well. “It can,” he says, “be accepted that this was spoken hypothetically (some read: hyperbolically), not because the Apostles and Angels could preach otherwise than as once delivered; but if it were even possible for the Apostles and Angels to change, still from what once was accepted, one should not depart. The Apostle himself elsewhere presents the immovability of his faith most forcefully, saying: I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor authorities, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38–39). And again: I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience assures me by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 9:1). These are not the words of a man who could ever depart from faith and love in Christ. Those who do not wish to accept that this was spoken hypothetically, but think it was said literally—that is, that both the Apostles and Angels can change for the worse—counter this with what Paul himself recognized, that he could fall if he became negligent, saying: I buffet my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:27); and that Angels are changeable, since some of them did not keep their own principality (Jude 1:6). Only God by nature is unchangeable, as it is written: You are the same (Ps. 101:28), and as He Himself says: I am the Lord your God, and I do not change (Mal. 3:6)”.

Holy Paul was not content to pronounce this terrible determination once, but repeats it again, saying: as we have said before, so now I say again. The importance of the subject and a desire to impress this fundamental principle of faith more deeply upon the hearts of the Galatians demanded this. For on it faith and the Church stand. “So that you not think,” writes Holy Chrysostom, “that his previous words were spoken in anger, or exaggerated, or somehow inadvertently came out; he repeats the same thing again. One who is roused to anger speaks something and soon disavows it; but one who says the same thing a second time shows thereby that he thought it through and, having first deliberated in his mind, then pronounced what he said.” Blessed Augustine adds: “this repetition powerfully arouses a salutary desire to hold firm the faith, which is commanded with such insistence”.

It is not important to determine precisely what Saint Paul meant by the word “foretold”—whether the preceding verse or similar words he spoke when present with the Galatians. Saint Chrysostom, it appears, understood the preceding verse; blessed Augustine and Jerome understand both. The latter view is considerably weakened by the fact that in that case Saint Paul would have expressed himself something like in his Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Do you not remember that while I was still with you I told you these things?” (2 Thess. 2:5).

The other differences in expressions make no change in the force of the Apostle’s pronouncement. There, in verse 8, it says: “we, or an angel from heaven”—but here: “if anyone”. Speaking generally (blessed Jerome), the Apostle wishes to say: whoever corrupts the truth, the judgment upon him is the same. There: “preaches”—Ευαγγελιζηται—would preach, but here: Ευαγγελιζεται—preaches. By this is indicated the continuing effort of false teachers to lead astray. There: “than what we have preached”—but here: “than what you have received”. This is one and the same; for from the Apostle they received nothing other than what he proclaimed to them. Yet there is also a rebuke here. You received it; but now what? And not merely a rebuke, but also an indication of the path to return to truth. One who hears the gospel may or may not be persuaded, may accept it or not accept it. But whoever accepts it accepts it, of course, because he is persuaded of its truth. The Apostle hints: you received my gospel with mind and heart and were at peace in it; recover these convictions, and you yourselves will find within yourselves the strength to withstand those corrupting the truth. Or thus: be yourselves inspired to drive them away, to cast them out from your community. By the words “we have preached” and “you have received” is embraced everything—both doctrines and rules of life and the whole order of the Christian Church. The Apostle’s judgment falls upon the corruptors of the teaching, not only the written, but especially what was transmitted orally.

With anathema the Apostle strikes down those who lead astray; but it is evident that those led astray also, as soon as they do not submit to exhortation and do not come to their senses, are subject to the same anathema; for by clinging to false teaching, they become one with the false teachers. The anathematization pronounced by the Apostle: “let him be anathema”—served and serves as a rule and guide for the Church—how to deal with those who preach otherwise, or rather, with those who speak falsely, and with those who willingly follow them. The meaning of anathema is that the one subjected to it is cast out of the Church and, becoming outside of it, not only loses its grace but is subjected to all the gracelessness that exists outside of it. He is God’s rejected one, wrathful to Him. This is enough to inspire fear of anathema and at the same time cause everyone to fear most earnestly lest they be subjected to it. Scholars especially should bear this fear above all others, for in delving into the realm of knowledge they often forget that they have a duty before God and the Lord Jesus Christ not to proclaim anything beyond what was proclaimed by the Apostles, and that they should rather suspect the truth of their own conclusions than attempt to establish anything that sounds like a proclamation beyond the Apostolic gospel, heavenly and divine. The Apostle merely laid the foundation of anathematization. Subsequently the Church has already marked all views worthy of this punishment. At the present time there is no need to wait for a special act of the Church to strike false speakers with this judgment. They themselves put their head under this sword as soon as they invent opinions contrary to truth and stubbornly insist upon them.

Gal. 1:10. Now am I trying to persuade men or God? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

By these words Saint Paul denies in himself human-pleasing tendency, in order to turn aside the thought of his inconsistency. For they were saying that he adapts himself to people and in one instance speaks and acts one way, and in another way differently—that he changes in his convictions. From this it followed that although the Gospel is unchanging, yet the Apostle’s own convictions are changeable. To this Saint Paul answers with these words in their connection with the preceding. One can be changeable out of human-pleasing, in order to gain something from people for himself, but one who pronounces such a terrible judgment upon himself, as upon others—him one cannot suspect of human-pleasing, and consequently not of inconsistency from it. He is as if saying after such pronouncements determining anathema upon one who changes the Gospel or anything in the Gospel: judge yourselves, am I able to myself be changeable for the sake of pleasing men? Do I adapt myself to men, do I try to please men in my preaching? If this were in me, if I had a human-pleasing disposition, I would not have become a servant of Christ. So cease believing the slanders that I teach one way now, another way tomorrow. The Gospel in me is as unchanging as it is unchanging in itself.—He expressed the same also in his Epistle to the Thessalonians, saying: “For we were approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4). I am the same in thoughts and feelings before God as I am in words and deeds before men. As I received the Gospel from God, so I pass it on. God sees that this is so. “Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God” (2 Cor. 5:11).

Such is the thought of this text; but determining the meaning of some of its expressions presents difficulties, especially the opening words: “Am I now trying to persuade men or God?” The difficulty arises from the fact that it is not clear what meaning to give to the word “persuade”. In Greek it stands: πειθω—which means: to convince, by means of persuasion to draw to one’s side; to more successfully draw to one’s side people use cunning speech and various evasions, from this: to seduce; whoever wishes to convince another sets forth his own arguments and refutes the other—disputes, quarrels, defends himself, and refutes the other, as happens in defensive speeches; whoever stands firm on his own and convinces everyone gains general approval and goodwill. Which of these meanings should be taken? Following Saint Chrysostom, take whichever one you wish, only direct everything to showing that the sincerity of Saint Paul’s preaching is evident—that he preaches as before God. Saint Chrysostom indeed takes all the meanings and from all draws out this single one. He takes this word in the sense: seduce, deceive—and says: “if the Apostle could deceive you by his words, but he could not deceive God, who knows secret thoughts and to whom to always please is his only wish. Do you see the Apostolic spirit and the height of the Gospel?”—He takes this word also in the sense: defend oneself—and says: “a teacher is forced to defend himself before his students; and although he bears this affront patiently, at the same time he is troubled, yet not from pride, God forbid, but at the thoughtlessness of those being deceived and their distrust of their own teacher. And therefore, saying this, he is as if saying: my quarrel is not with you, not men will judge me; my quarrel is with God, and I do all things so that there, before His judgment, I might justify myself. We have not yet come to such misfortune that, in preparing to answer before the Master of all in our preaching, we should corrupt doctrines. So, for my defense and at the same time for their refutation, I spoke the words cited above. For those being taught should not judge their teachers, but believe and obey them. But when already the order has been perverted by you and you have seated yourselves in the place of judges, know, he says, that I care very little for my justification before you; but since we do all things for God, before Him we shall justify ourselves in the proclaimed doctrines. He said the same thing when he wrote to the Corinthians: ‘For me it is a very small thing to be judged by you or by a human court’ (1 Cor. 4:3).”—He takes this word also in the sense “to gain the goodwill and favor” and says: “whoever wishes to gain the goodwill of men uses many tricks and cunning, employs deception and falsehood to bend and draw listeners to himself; on the contrary, whoever wishes to gain the favor of God and tries to please Him alone, he needs only a sound and purified mind; for God cannot be deceived.” Thus Saint Chrysostom does not restrict himself to the meaning of the word, but directs everything to clarifying that the Apostle sincerely proclaimed the single Gospel truth, having God as witness to his conscience. Ecumenius and Theophylact follow Chrysostom. The latter writes: “Since they were slandering him, saying that he preaches one thing to some, another thing to others, changing his words and teaching according to men, he speaks here against this: Do I adapt myself to men and try to please them or do I pursue God? If I wanted to please men, I would certainly do as you say.”