Then and Now
According to Paul’s summary, the gospel is about Jesus’ self-gift, which plucks us from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). What is that evil age?
Paul’s use of “then/now” shows in the chapter shows what it means for him. The Galatians have heard about his zeal for the ancestral traditions of Judaism, his manner of life “then” (1:13). At that time, zeal took the form of persecution of the church.
Paul returns to his life “then” at the end of the chapter, with a neatly arranged sentence: “only they were hearing that the one who persecuted you then now announces the faith which then he was destroying” (v. 23).
For Paul at least, the present evil age involved zeal for the fathers’ traditions, persecution of the church, advancing beyond those of his generation. Deliverance was deliverance from Judaism, which, Paul later goes on to tell us, was a system subjected to the elementary principles of the world.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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