Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
All Commentaries on Galatians 1:1 Go To Galatians 1
John of Damascus
AD 749
Those from among the Jews who had believed, being on the one hand possessed by the prejudice to Judaism and on the other hand, drunk with vainglory, wishing also to ascribe to themselves the authority of teachers, came to the nation of the Galatians and taught the necessity of being circumcised, of keeping Sabbaths and new moons and of being intolerant of Paul who abolishes these. They argued that those around Peter and James and John, who are the first of the Apostles, do not prohibit these things. Indeed Paul appeared yesterday and today, whereas those around Peter were first. He is the disciple of the Apostles, whereas they are disciples of Christ. He is alone, whereas they are many and pillars of the Church. Seeing, then, in front of him an entire nation and a fire to have been lit, starting from the Church of the Galatians, he writes this Letter to everybody offering a word of apology and right at the start he takes up what they were saying undermining his reputation — namely, that the others were disciples of Christ whereas he became the disciple of the Apostles.
