Galatians and Korean Immigrants
Sejong Chun1
LIFE CONTEXT
I. Generational Conflict in Korean immigrant Churches and Homes
1. Role of the Korean Ethnic Church for Korean Immigrants in America
Since the first Korean immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1903 to work on the pineapple and
sugar plantations, the Korean ethnic church historically functioned as the most significant social
organization for Koreans in America. According to studies, almost 70 percent of Korean
immigrants in America are affiliated with Korean ethnic churches and about 85 percent of them
attend church regularly.2 This percentage of Korean immigrants’ affiliation with the church is
amazing, especially when compared to the fact that only a quarter of the population in Korea is
Christian.
What would be the reason for Korean immigrants’ deep connectedness to their ethnic
churches? It is believed that Korean immigrants’ active participation in the ethnic church is
closely related to its multi functions in the immigrant society. The Korean ethnic church not only
functions as a religious center but also as a social community for Korean immigrants. For Korean
immigrants the Korean ethnic church is a “small Korea” in America. Because Korean immigrants
can meet other Koreans who are experiencing a similar adaptive process in a foreign land and can
share their problems with other Koreans at their ethnic churches.3 Many new Korean immigrants
1
Sejong Chun was born and grew up in Korea (South) and is now a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University.
Kwang Chung Kim and Shin Kim, “The Ethnic Roles of Korean Immigrant Churches in the United States,” in
Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a Different Shore (eds. H. Kwon, K. Kim,
and R. S. Warner; University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001), 71-73.
3
The most common experience among Korean immigrants is “downward mobility.” “Downward mobility” is a
socio-economic experience of “being marginalized” or “being excluded” in a new country. Many Korean immigrants
2
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come to the church in order to get information such as legal status, business opportunity, and
educational system from other Koreans for their adjustment in a new country.
According to Ilpyong Kim, Korean immigrants who came to America in the 1970s and
1980s -the peak periods of Korean immigration- had an expectation that their economic situation
would be significantly better than that of their reference group in Korea.4 Koreans, however,
achieved enormous economic growth during these years and the friends and relatives of
immigrants in Korea displayed much more affluent lifestyles than the immigrants in America.
With their expectation about the life in America unfulfilled, Korean immigrants faced existential
questions concerning their struggling life in a new land. This realization created strong self-doubt
among the immigrants and led them to search for the meaning of their lives through religious
interpretation. Therefore, the social and religious needs of Korean immigrants lead them to be
affiliated with their ethnic churches.
2. Problem of Korean Ethnic Churches
One of the most significant pastoral problems Korean ethnic churches face is a “silent
exodus” of American-born second generations5 from the church. According to Karen Chai, who
investigated second-generation Korean Americans and their participation in Korean ethnic
churches, 90-95 percent of post-college Korean Americans (mostly American-born second
had college degrees and white collar occupations and they belonged to the urban middle class, when they lived in
Korea. Nonetheless, their professional knowledge and educational experience could not be successfully transferred to
the United States labor market. As a result of this failure, on coming to the United States, they were “down-graded”
in socio-economic perspective, obtaining low-income jobs or working in small shops as self-employed shopkeepers
for 10 to, even 16 hours a day. The main reason for Korean immigrants’ “downward mobility” is a language barrier:
their lack of fluency in English.
4
Ilpyong J. Kim, “A century of Korean Immigration to the United States: 1903-2003,” in Korean-Americans: Past,
Present, and Future (ed. I. J. Kim; Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International Corp., 2004), 13-19.
5
“First-generation Korean Americans” are those who were born and grew up in Korea and came to American
usually after their high school or college graduation. On the other hand, “Second-generation Korean Americans”
usually mean people who were born and raised in America by Korean parents.
2
generations) no longer attend their ethnic churches where most of church members are firstgeneration Koreans.6 Korean pastors believe that the problem is related to the generational
conflict between the first and second generations and resulted from what we call “a lack of
ideological vision” for unity on the both parts of generations. It is necessary to analyze the
generational conflict in order to find a possible solution for the problem.
3. Reasons for Generational Conflict among Korean Immigrants
As other parents do, Korean immigrant parents put emphases on their good relationship
with their children. Furthermore, they see a good education for their children as one of the main
reasons for their immigration and harsh struggle in the foreign country.7 For them, the conflict
with their own children is the most painful problem they experience. Nevertheless, the
relationship between Korean immigrants and their American-born children becomes increasingly
precarious. The disappointed Korean immigrants are eager to find the reason for the generational
conflict with their children.
First, the generational disharmony comes from the use of two languages, which raises
miscommunication and misunderstanding among different generations. First-generation Korean
Americans use Korean as their primary language, but second generation Korean Americans use
English. When second generation Koreans are preschoolers and kindergarteners, they can
understand and speak Korean fluently. As growing up, they begin to choose English as their
primary language and to forget Korean terms and expressions. It is a common scene that Korean
Karen J. Chai, “Beyond ‘Strictness’ to Distinctiveness: Generational Transition in Korean Protestant Churches,” in
Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a Different Shore (eds. H. Kwon, K. Kim,
and R. S. Warner; University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001), 157-58.
7
Pyong Gap Min, Caught in the Middle: Korean Merchants in America’s Multiethnic Cities (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1996), 3.
6
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parents speak in Korean and their teenage children respond in English. This language barrier
often creates misunderstandings between the two generations, which makes them tired of talking
to each other. This lack of communication distances Korean immigrant parents from their
children and vice versa. Use of two languages also pushes Korean immigrants and their children
to have separate worship services with the same church where each group uses their primary
language.
Second, generational discord originates from different cultural backgrounds that form
each group’s distinctive value system. First-generation Korean immigrants lived in so-called a
“mono-racial” and “mono-cultural” society, Korea. They are also under the deep influence of the
Confucian tradition that emphasizes a strict social order in communities, a hierarchy in
interpersonal relationships, and “outward show” mentality.8 Second-generation Korean
Americans influenced by western ideals of democracy and equality cannot fully understand their
parents’ views on hierarchy and authority. Korean immigrant parents who regard a good
education as a significant cultural value are willing to sacrifice their time and money for
children’s education. As a result, they emphasize their children’s academic performance and
social achievement often in an authoritarian manner. “This kind of intergenerational atmosphere
goes against their children’s desire for autonomy and independence.”9 As a result, when the
children get older, they often attempt to avoid their parents’ advice and sometimes rebel against
them.
“Outward show” mentality is an attitude of focusing on someone’s outward appearances such as cloth, car, social
position, or family background and so on.
9
Kwang Chung Kim, R. Stephen Warner, and Ho-Youn Kim, “Korean American Religion in International
Perspective,” in Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a Different Shore (eds. H.
Kwon, K. Kim, and R. S. Warner; University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001),
14.
8
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Third, generational conflict is deeply related to different senses of identity of first- and
second-generation Korean Americans. Immigrant parents usually identify themselves as Koreans
who are living in America. They hope that their children could be “Koreans,” even though they
were born in America and raised in American environments. As a result, they often push their
children to learn the Korean culture and keep their Korean language ability. However, Their
American-born children who identify themselves as “Americans” often keep a distance from their
parents and Korean culture and act as they are accustomed to: American style.
II. Root Problems
The root problem of the “silent exodus” from the Korean ethnic church can be “a lack of
ideological vision” for harmonious unity in Christ. This root problem is closely related to each
group’s own root problem: a lack of true sense of identity for second-generations and a bondage
under the old ideology for first-generations. The analysis of this problem from the perspective of
Paul’s letter to the Galatians can provide an insight for each group’s root problem.
1. Peter’s Lack of True Sense of Identity and Second-Generation Korean Americans
Peter’s hypocritical behavior in Galatians 2:11-14 is related to his lack of true sense of
identity. Before some people from Jerusalem arrive, Peter was eating with the Gentiles. However,
when they come, he withdraws and keeps a distance from the Gentile Christians because he fears
their criticism for his table fellowship with the uncircumcised. Paul rebukes Peter that if he does
not observe Jewish dietary restrictions, Peter should not compel the Gentiles to follow Jewish law.
It seems that Peter’s hypocritical behavior originates from a lack of true sense of identity. This
lack of true sense is expressed by his “in-between” attitude; he is neither a sincere Jew who keeps
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Jewish practice faithfully nor a trustworthy Christian leader who can have table fellowship with
the Gentile believers as brothers and sisters in Christ.
It seems that Peter’s lack of a true sense of identity is a result of his lack of the ideological
vision for a new world that Paul calls “new creation” (6:15). Paul believes that Jesus’ cross event
has inaugurated an eschatological new world. Thus, from Paul’s perspective, we can say that
Peter not only experienced the death and resurrection of Christ but also became a new person
through the power of the Holy Spirit that is a new standard and guide in the “new creation.”
Despite his experience of the new realm, Peter still remains in the old realm: Jewish religious
boundary. Even though the text does not say that the Jewish Christians criticized Peter, he could
be attacked by them because of his fellowship with the Gentiles. His “in-between” behavior
causes him to face a conflict not only with Paul but also with the Jewish Christian delegates from
Jerusalem.
There are, on the other hand, some Christians who scarcely experience any identity
problem. A group of Galatian believers seem to follow the teaching of Paul’s opponents10 that
Gentile Christians should be circumcised in order to be “true heirs of Abraham.” It seems that
these Gentile Christians let themselves be circumcised and are obliged to obey the law (5:3). Paul
accuses those Galatians that they so quickly have deserted the one who called them in the grace
of Christ and turned to a different gospel (1:6). He insists that if some Gentile believers let
themselves be circumcised, “Christ will be of no benefit” to them (5:2). Furthermore, he agues
that if the Galatians could be justified by keeping the law, “Christ died for nothing” (2:21). In
terms of Paul’s perspective, although some Gentile believers who are following the teaching of
For scholars’ different opinions about Paul’s opponents, See Jerry L. Sumney, “Studying Paul’s Opponents:
Advances and Challeges,” in Paul and His Opponents (Ed. Stanley Porter; Leiden: Brill, 2005), 7-58.
10
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Paul’s opponents do not have any problem of lack of true identity, they only have a wrong
identity.
Peter’s situation of being “in-between” leads us to understand the root problem of secondgeneration Korean Americans: lack of true sense of identity. As mentioned earlier, secondgeneration Korean Americans identify themselves as Americans who have Korean parents. They
often hope to establish their own identity by distinguishing themselves from their Korean
parents.11 They try to keep distance from Korean identity “as an attempt to conform to the larger
society. They also attempt to prove that they are “real Americans,” by behaving “whiter than
white.”12 Those behaviors of second generations often become one of the reasons for
generational conflict. Even though they act like “real Americans,” the reality is that, as non-white,
they might never be fully accepted by the dominant group in American society.13 Their lack of
true sense of identity often becomes the reason for being censured by both Korean and American
society. In the Korean immigrant community, they are often reproached for not being Korean
enough; while in the American world, they are despised for not being American enough.14 The
root problem of second-generation Korean Americans is that they do not know who they really
are.
2. Bondage Under the Law and First-Generation Korean Americans
Chai, “Beyond ‘strictness,’” 166-68.
Soyoung Park, “The Intersection of Religion, Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in the Identity Formation of Korean
American Evangelical Woman,” in Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a
Different Shore (eds. H. Kwon, K. Kim, and R. S. Warner; University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State
University Press, 2001), 200.
13
Sang Hyun Lee, “Pilgrimage and Home in the Wilderness of Marginality: Symbols and Context in Asian
American Theology,” in Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a Different Shore
(eds. H. Kwon, K. Kim, and R. S. Warner; University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press,
2001), 55-57.
14
Ibid., 66.
11
12
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Paul’s confidence in the new world15 and his accusation against his opponents who
faithfully adhere to their old Jewish tradition can assist us to understand the root problem of first
generation Korean Americans: their adherence to their old world. First generations cling to their
previous custom often prevents them from being fully adjusted to a new world. Their narrow
fellowship with other Korean immigrants keeps them from having broad social interactions with
other people who have different ethnic backgrounds. This attitude often limits their capability in
making broader social network and having more business opportunity with other Americans and
immigrants, which not only keeps them from earning more income but also prohibit them from making
positive contributions to a broader society. As mentioned earlier, first generations’ stick to their old value
and custom can cause a generational conflict with their American-born children. The root problem of
first-generation Korean immigrants is the bondage under their previous habits and perspectives.
CONTEXTUAL INTERPRETATION
I. New Creation
The notion of “new creation” (kainh. kti,sij) in Galatians 6:15 not only contains
Paul’s key theological idea but also sums up his arguments of the letter. Paul affirms that the
cross of Christ brought an eschatological new realm, “new creation” in the middle of “this
present evil age” (1:4).16 With this assurance, at the conclusion of the epistle, Paul strongly
proclaims: “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but new creation” (6:15). How
can we understand Paul’s term “new creation”?
Paul’s promise/confidence in a “new creation” will be explored in a following section.
Patte explains, “The ‘present age’ is opposed to the ‘age to come’ in Jewish Apocalypticism as an age dominated
by the power of evil or, better, by evil powers which have cosmic dimensions. Only their defeat by divine
intervention will bring about the ‘age to come,’ which is perceived as the age of a new Jerusalem, a new world or a
“new creation.” Daniel Patte, Paul’s Faith and the Power of the Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983), 53.
15
16
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A. Different Approaches to New Creation
Scholars have different perspectives on the Pauline notion of a “new creation” and their
ways of interpretation have divided them.17 Among other possibilities, I want to emphasize here
two types of interpretations because they are particularly relevant for the above contextual issues.
Some commentators understand this phrase anthropologically, while others cosmologically.
Several scholars perceive “new creation” primarily from an anthropological point of view
focusing on the transformation of the individual believer. Moyer Hubbard argues, “The primary
support for an anthropological reading of kainh. kti,sij in Galatians 6.15 is its coherence
within the argument of Galatians itself.”18 Through his brief investigation of Galatians as a
whole, Hubbard reaches the conclusion: “Paul has in mind God’s new creative work within the
individual.”19 Hubbard’s emphasis on the believer’s conversion leads him to see “new creation”
as God’s work in an individual. In the same line of thought, Alan Cole insists that “new creation”
refers to “the regenerating work of God in the individual Christian rather than to the total cosmic
result.”20 Hans Dieter Betz, furthermore, argues that “new creation” not only “sums up Paul’s
soteriology” but also “interprets Paul’s anthropology.” He explains that “old creation” is simply
referring to simply “man” and “flesh.” He argues, “Through the Christ-event the Christian is
enabled to participate in the new human existence ‘in Christ’….God did not simply ‘recreate’
man, but he has sent his Son, Christ, into the old creation…, in the middle of which he
17
See Edward Adams, Constructing the World (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000), 226-228.
Moyer V. Hubbard, New Creation in Paul’s Letters and Thought (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2002), 225.
19
Ibid., 232.
20
R. Alan Cole, Galatians (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; Grand Rapid: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
1989), 235.
18
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accomplished salvation.”21 Those scholars believe that “new creation” indicates God’s creative
work happening in an individual believer, which is closely related to personal salvation.
Other scholars understand “new creation” primarily from a cosmological point of view.
Those scholars see the cosmic effect of Christ’s cross and argue that “new creation” is the radical
newness of the whole world. J Louis Martyn sees Paul’s use of “new creation” as emphasizing
the radical change between the old age and the new: “God had to invade enemy territory, sending
his Son and the Spirit of Son, and thereby confronting those powers in an apocalyptic war. The
result is that, far from repairing the old cosmos, God is in the process of replacing it.”22 Jefferey
Weima also articulates that “new creation” is not simply referring to an individual person’s
renewal but to “the presence of a radically new world.”23 In the similar line of thought, Charles
Cousar believes that “with the death and resurrection of Christ a whole new world has been
created, which exists simultaneously to and in contention with the passing world.”24 Those
scholars understand “new creation” in a broad sense of God’s replacement of the old age with the
new one.
It is clear that any interpretation needs to account for both the anthropological and the
cosmological aspect of “new creation”; otherwise it would not fully explain Paul’s text. Then, the
issue of interpretation of the phrase will be the primary emphasis between them: One aspect is
primary and the other secondary.
These different approaches to the “new creation” by diverse scholars should be respected.
The decision of what is the more preferable interpretation will be determined by the existing
evidence: What is the evidence that Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection has primarily a
21
22
23
24
Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), 319-20.
J. Louis Martyn, Galatians (AB 33A; New York : Doubleday, 1997), 565.
Jefferey A. D. Weima, “Gal. 6:11-18: A Hermeneutical Key to the Galatian Letter,” CTJ 28 (1993): 102.
Charles B. Cousar, Galatians (Interpretation; Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), 154-55.
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universal effect on the whole world? Or conversely: What is the evidence that Christ’s event has
primarily a personal effect within an individual believer? Beyond this, it is necessary to ponder
the difference between the two interpretations. This difference can be sketched in a preliminary
way. In the cosmological understanding of “new creation,” God’s establishment of a radical new
world is primary and the transformation of individuals is secondary. It is because God has
intervened and continues to intervene in a radical way to establish a radically new world so that
individuals can be transformed by entering this realm. In contrast, in the anthropological
interpretation, individual believers’ transformation by the power of Christ’s event, which is
intermediated by the Holy Spirit, comes first and the establishment of God’s new world comes
next, which is comprised of those transformed individuals. It will be useful for actual application
in the following section to say that cosmological interpretation will have an emphasis on the
entire community instead of individuals; anthropological approach will have a foremost focus on
individuals instead of community.
B. New Creation as a New World
Why does Paul say that “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything” in 6:15? Is
he implying that he does not care whether anyone is circumcised or not? How is this phrase
related to the crucifixion of the “cosmos” to Paul and his crucifixion to it in 6:14?
The term “cosmos” (ko,smoj) in 6:14 can be understood as the antithesis of “new
creation” in 6:15. Weima articulates the difference between these two worlds. According to him,
“cosmos” is indicating “a realm where boasting in the flesh” is important and “where the
distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision is of paramount importance.” He believes
“new creation” contrasts with that realm. It is the world where one boasts only of the cross of
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Jesus and “where persecution is not selfishly avoided but willingly accepted, and where
distinctions such as circumcision and uncircumcision cease to be important.”25 In the similar line
of thought, Martyn defines the meaning of “cosmos” by saying that “the world that is now passé
is not Judaism as such, but rather the world of all religious differentiation.”26 It seems reasonable
that “cosmos” should be understood as the old world where religious differentiation such as
circumcision or uncircumcision is important and where ethnic differences are significant.
“New creation,” on the contrary, is the world where religious and ethnic distinctions are
no longer valid. The Christ’s event has inaugurated this new world and in this world the believers
are living by the Spirit. The universal power of the Christ’s event enables those who are “in
Christ” through baptism to realize the overlap of two different ages: the old and new one.
Those findings lead us to conclude that “new creation” refers to the new world, which is
totally different from the old religious and ethnic realm. In this aspect “new creation” has a
cosmological sense. Nevertheless, this sense does not totally ignore its anthropological sense,
because the change from “cosmos” to “new creation” is deeply connected with believers’
experience of existential replacement.
Those who participate in the event of Christ can experience the change of the age, which
causes their own existential shift from the old age to the new. The new world, which is already
present in this world, can be realized through believers’ experience of an existential shift. “Paul
refers to the cosmic event experienced by every member of the Galatian churches.”27 This
experience leads them to realize that they are living both in the new world and at the same time in
25
26
27
Weima, “A Hermeneutical Key,” 101-102.
Martyn, Galatians, 565. Emphasis is original.
Ibid., 571.
12
the old world. In this manner, “new creation” could be understood cosmologically: God’s
establishment of new world comes first and the transformation of individual believers follows.
In conclusion, the Christ’s event has brought the new cosmic order that has changed the
realm of the existence of those who have participated in the cross and life of Christ. This new
world enables the participating believers to find their true identity in it. The Galatians’ identity
change has occurred through their new relationship with God in this new realm.
C. Application
This conclusion is helpful in understanding the situation of first- and second-generation
Korean Americans. Paul’s teaching of “new creation” encourages both Korean parents and their
children to realize that they are all in a certain “new world,” which is called “Korean-American
community” as a part of large society, America. From the cosmological perspective of “new
creation,” Paul invites all Korean Americans to find their new identity in this new community. To
have a new identity in the Korean-American community requires new attitude and standard of
life: respect each other by overcoming their linguistic and cultural differences, and love one
another by realizing their true relationships as parents and children.
II. True Identity of the Galatians through Being “In Christ”
One of the main issues of the Galatians is a conflict between Paul and his opponents,
other Christian missionaries who argue that the Gentile Christians should be circumcised. This
conflict originates from their different understandings of the Galatians’ identity. Paul’s opponents,
on the one hand, believe that the Gentile Christians are children of Abraham who sincerely
followed the law and that they should keep the law in order to be the real heirs of Abraham. Paul,
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on the other hand, argues that the Galatians are children of Abraham who was regarded as
“righteous” by faith and that those who have faith would be the true heir of Abraham. Then, how
can the Galatians gain their true identity as children of Abraham? How does Paul understand the
story of Abraham in Genesis? What kind of relationship is there between Abraham and the
Gentile Christians? What kind of impact does Paul’s conviction that the eschatological new realm,
“new creation,” have on Paul’s understanding of the Galatians’ identity.
A. Children of Abraham
Paul presents the true identity of the Galatians in 3:6-29: children of Abraham (3:7), sons
of God (3:26), Abraham’s seed (3:29), and heirs according to the promise (3:29). Paul starts his
Abraham argument with a quotation from Genesis 15:6: “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it
was reckoned to him as righteousness’” (3:6). This passage is important for Paul, because it
assists him to find a close relation between “believing” and “being righteous.” In 3:7, Paul
provides his own interpretation of what he has just quoted: as Abraham became righteous by
believing, those who have faith become his children. Martyn argues that “the Teachers have
already spoken of the children of Abraham, identifying them, in a reasonable way, as those who
follow Abraham in faithful observance of the Law, beginning with circumcision.”28 In order to
counter his opponents’ argument that they are the children of Abraham by observing the Law,
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 where he finds the term “believe” (pisteu,w), which may help him
realize the close relationship between the faith of Abraham and those of the Galatians. Richard
Hays correctly explains:
Genesis 15:6, of course, says nothing about Abraham’s children or how their identity
is to be determined….The inference lies readily at hand, therefore, that Paul is
28
Ibid., 256.
14
countering something the Missionaries have told the Galatians: that only those who
are circumcised can be Abraham’s true children…. Paul is saying, “No, it is not the
circumcised who are Abraham’s children; rather, those whose identity is derived
from faith, these are Abraham’s children.29
In the perspective of Hay’s plausible interpretation, Paul picks up the expression that his
opponents used in order to make their assertion reasonable for the Galatians. He adjusts that
phrase for his own purpose: the Galatians who have faith in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ
(2:16),30 are children of Abraham.
At this point, I believe that it is necessary to mention briefly about the debate on “faith
of/in Jesus Christ” between Hays and James D. G. Dunn,31 because this debate is closely related
to the understanding of the identity of the Galatians as Abraham’s children.
In summary of his earlier work, The faith of Jesus Christ, Hays argues that Christ’s death,
“in obedience to the will of God, is simultaneously a loving act of faithfulness (pi,stij) to
God and the decisive manifestation of God’s faithfulness to his covenant promise to Abraham.”32
He believes pi,stij Cristou/ as “the subjective genitive” and translates it: “faith of
Christ.” He argues this reading is more preferable than Dunn’s “the objective genitive”
understanding: “faith in Christ.” He defines the debate between “subjective genitive” and
“objective genitive” as “a distinction between the christological and anthropological
interpretations of pi,stij Cristou/” and argues, “The christological reading highlights the
29
Richard B. Hays, The Letter to the Galatians (NIB XI; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 255. Emphasis is
original.
30
Hays argues that the Greek phrase dia. pi,stewj VIhsou/ Cristou/ (2:16) must be translated into “the
faithfulness of Jesus Christ,” and that this faithfulness is embodied in his self-sacrificial death on the cross, Galatians,
187, 236-40.
31
See Richard B. Hays, “PISTIS and Pauline Christology: What Is at Stake?” in Pauline Theology, Vol. 4:
Looking Back, Pressing On (eds. E. E. Johnson and D. M. Hay; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997), 35-60; in the same
book, James D. G. Dunn, “Once More, PISTIS CRISTOU,” 61-81; also in the same book, Paul J. Achtemeier,
“Apropos the Faith of/in Christ: A Response to Hays and Dunn,” 82-92. Also See Richard B. Hays, The Faith of
Jesus Christ: An Investigation of the Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1-4:11 (SBLDS 56; Chico, California:
Scholars Press, 1983).
32
Hays, “PISTIS and Pauline Christology,” 37.
15
salvific efficacy of Jesus Christ’s faith(fullness) for God’s people; the anthropological reading
stresses the salvific efficacy of the human act of faith directed toward Christ.”33 He understands
that Christ, “the single sperma of Abraham”, is an exemplar of Christian’s faith: “Christian faith
is Christi-faith.” Those who are “in Christ” are children of Abraham. “Abraham is the Biblical
type to whom the promise was given, Christ the eschatological antitype thorough whom the
promise becomes effectual for those who are ‘children of promise’ (4:28), Abraham’s sons
(3:7).” In short, Hays thinks that God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled through the faithfulness
of Christ, a true seed of Abraham.
Dunn, on the other hand, argues “anthropological” interpretation of pi,stij
Cristou/: “faith in Christ.” He criticizes Hays that “on Hays’ thesis we have no clear reference
to ‘faith’ of believers….Hays leaves us with no noun counterpart, no noun to denote the
Galatians’ act of believing. Hays’s thesis vacuums up every relevant reference to ‘faith’ in order
to defend the subject genitive reading of 2:16, 20 and 3:22.”34 He argues: “The logic of Paul’s
argument is that Christians are Abraham’s children by a twofold action – by sharing in
Abraham’s faith (3:7), and by being ‘in Christ’ (3:28-29).”35 He insists that “Paul was in effect
attacking the traditional Jewish understanding of Abraham which saw him as the archetype of
faithfulness….Abraham’s pi,stij meant his faith, his naked trust in God’s promise…and
therefore not his ‘faithfulness.’”36 In short, Dunn argues that as Abraham had faith in God’s
faithfulness, Christians who share the faith of Abraham have faith in God’s faithfulness, not
Christ’s.
33
34
35
36
Ibid., 39-40. Emphasis is original.
James D. G. Dunn, “Once More, PISTIS CRISTOU,” 69.
Ibid., 71. Emphasis is original.
Ibid., 75. Emphasis is original.
16
Among these two very plausible interpretations, I will follow Hays’ argument, because
his “Christological” understanding is more helpful to me than Dunn’s “anthropological”
interpretation. In other words, Hays’ understanding assists me to have a strong connection
between my previous argument of cosmological interpretation of “new creation” focusing on
community instead of individuals and it allows me to apply biblical teachings effectively to the
current Korean immigrant church’s problem emphasizing communal approach to it. I will
develop following arguments from this perspective.
Paul articulates in 3:16 who is the recipient of God’s promise to Abraham. He insists that
only the seed of Abraham will inherit God’s blessing and this seed is Christ. In 3:16, Paul treats
the term “seed” (spe,rma) as singular. In the Abrahamic promise, this term “seed” is a “generic
singular that was always understood within Judaism to refer to the posterity of Abraham as an
entity, excluding only the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael…and those born of Esau.”37
Paul, however, intentionally uses “seed” in singular form in order to claim that Christ is the only
true heir of the inheritance given to Abraham. According to Martyn, Paul asserts that there are
only two persons given God’s covenantal promise: Abraham and his singular seed. The focus of
Paul is the identity of the seed to whom the covenantal promise was made. Paul argues that the
seed is not the ethnically distinct plural descendants but the singular person, Christ.38 Paul
believes that only Christ is the true heir of Abraham’s inheritance with God’s blessing, and those
whose identity derives from faith will share this inheritance by participating into the life of Christ
by baptism. Therefore, in 3:29 he uses “seed” as a collective noun that refers to Abraham’s
numerous descendants through Christ.
37
38
Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (WBC 41; Dallas: Word Books, 1990), 131.
Martyn, Galatians, 340.
17
The conclusion of Paul’s long discussion of Abraham in chapter three appears in 3:26-29.
In 3:26, Paul presents another identity of the Galatians: Children of God. Paul declares that
Gentile Christians are children of God through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus. Paul explains why
Gentile Christians are true children of God in 3:27-because they are baptized into Christ and are
clothed with Christ. By being in Christ through baptism, the Galatian Christians begin to realize
that their identity is being transformed from Gentiles to children of God; in other words, their
relationship with God is being changed. 3:27 is the only explicit reference to baptism in
Galatians.39 “Being baptized into Christ” and “putting on Christ” are Paul’s expressions
describing the mysterious union with Christ, which is depicted in 2:20. The image of baptism is
closely related to the identity transformation of the Galatians.40 The Galatians’ participation in
the death of Christ through baptism enables them to share Christ’s status as son of God and to be
called children of God. According to Paul, baptism changes the Galatians’ relationship not only
with God but also with Christ, for it brings them a new identity: children of God.
In 3:29, Paul declares a new identity for the Galatians as Abraham’s seed and heirs
according to the promise made to Abraham. Paul asserts one condition for being Abraham’s seed:
“If you belong to Christ” (3:29a). Paul argues that the only condition to be the heir of the promise
that contains God’s blessing is to be in Christ; in other words, “being baptized into Christ.”
Leander Keck explains baptism into Christ as “the ‘objective’ transference into a domain of
power. To be baptized into Christ is to be included in the domain of Christ, his field of force.”41
According to Martyn, the order of events is significant: “The crucial point is the order of
events. Members of the church are not related to Christ via Abraham; they are related to Abraham
39
40
41
Betz, Galatians, 183-87.
Hays, Galatians, 272.
Leander E. Keck, Paul and his letters (Proclamation Commentaries; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), 57-58.
18
via their incorporation into Christ.”42 Christians’ participation in the event of Christ will qualify
them to be the seed of Abraham. Gentile Galatians can be Abraham’s seed by being united with
Christ, who is the only seed of Abraham. The Galatians’ participation in Christ enables them to
become heirs of Abraham’s inheritance that contains God’s blessing. The Gentile Galatians have
become children of Abraham not by being incorporated into the Law-observant patriarch or into
the line of his plural descendants, according to Paul’s opponents, but by being incorporated into
Abraham’s singular seed, Christ.43
B. Children of the Free Woman
Paul presents another eschatological identity of the Galatians in 4:21-31: children of the
free woman. In 4:21, Paul begins with the law that the Galatians heard from the Teachers.44
Martyn understands that “the Teachers have been remarkably successful, changing even the
Galatians’ desires.”45 Paul wants to reinterpret the story of Abraham’s two sons, which the
Teachers already told to the Galatians.46 The Teachers persuaded the Galatians to receive
circumcision along with the gospel in order to be the true heirs of Abraham, like Isaac. Paul is
urging the Galatians to hear what the law really says (4:21) and offers his own interpretation of
the story of Abraham’s two sons in Gen 16-21, and the barren woman theme in Isaiah 54:1.
Paul’s interpretation of the Scriptures can be divided into two parts. The first part (4:2142
Martyn, Galatians, 377.
Ibid., 306.
44
I use “the Teachers” that comes from Martyn and “the Missionaries” from Hays in order to designate Paul’s
opponents in the Galatians.
45
Martyn, Galatians, 433.
46
It seems possible that when the Teachers were persuading the Galatians to receive circumcision in order to be real
heirs of Abraham, they talked about Abraham’s two sons, and that they used one slogan, “Jerusalem is our mother.” It
is also possible that the Teachers argued that they, not Paul, are the real heirs of Abraham, because they taught
circumcision. See Martyn, Galatians, 433; and Susan G. Eastman, “Metaphor and Mimesis : Proclamation,
Transformation, and the Staying Power of the Gospel in Galatians 4:12-5:1” (Ph. D. diss., Duke University, 2003),
161.
43
19
26) is his allegorical interpretation of the story of Hagar and Sarah, which reaches its conclusion
in 4:26. The second part (4:27-31) contains Paul’s quotation from Isa 54:1 and Paul’s application
of his interpretation for the Galatians with its climax in 4:31. In spite of dividing the whole
passage into two parts, 4:31 still functions as the final conclusion of the whole section.47
In 4:26, Paul declares that “the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” Paul
stresses “free”48 in contrast to “enslaved.”49 He also uses the plural form h`mw/n in order to
emphasize the oneness of the Galatians and Paul himself. Paul concludes that our mother is the
Jerusalem above, who is free. This first conclusion is closely related to the second one (4:31)
through his use of the same adjective evleu,qeroj and the plural form evsme.n. Paul
clearly pronounces the Galatians the children not of the slave but of the free woman. Martyn
explains this second conclusion by saying that “once more Paul speaks of the Galatians’ identity and of his as well - by referring to their mother.”50 The first and second conclusions have the
same argument: Who the Galatians are.
In the same line of thought, Paul demonstrates the Galatians’ identity in 4:28. Paul defines
the Galatians as “the children of the promise kata. VIsaa.k.” There is a similarity between
“God’s action in the birth of Isaac and God’s action in the birth of the Galatian congregations.”51
Paul understands that just as Isaac was born as the fulfillment of God’s promise, so the Galatians
are also children of God’s promise to Abraham. Paul understands that God’s promise to Abraham
is fulfilled through the Gentile Christians in the Galatian churches.
In the middle of Paul’s allegorical interpretation, there is Paul’s metaphorical language,
47
See Donald Guthrie, Galatians (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992), 127; G. Walter
Hansen, Galatians (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series; Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 1994), 151.
48
The adjective evleu,qeroj appears in 3:28; 4:22, 23, 26, 30, and 31.
49
The noun paidi,skh appears in 4:22, 23, 30, and 31.
50
Martyn, Galatians, 446.
51
Ibid., 444.
20
“the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (4:26), and his quotation from Isaiah 54:1.
As mentioned earlier, the phrase “the Jerusalem above is our mother” is Paul’s declaration of the
identity of the Galatians including himself. Then how is this declaration related to his quotation?
Why does Paul quote Isaiah 54:1 right after identity affirmation? How is the image of “Mother
Jerusalem” associated with the “barren woman” in Isaiah 54:1? To answer those questions, it is
necessary to investigate the relationship between the issue of “identity,” the image of “Mother
Jerusalem,” and the theme of the “barren woman.”52
1. The Image of “Mother Jerusalem” in Second and Third Isaiah
Paul seems to cite Isaiah 54:1 in 4:27 in order to explain who the Galatians’ mother is. It
seems quite possible that “the Jerusalem above” refers to Sarah, because Paul identifies the slave
girl, Hagar, with the present Jerusalem (4:25). Then what kind of relation is there between
“Jerusalem above” and Sarah in its original setting in Second Isaiah? The key term in Isaiah 54:1
is the “barren woman” (stei/ra).53 Even though Isaiah 54:1 does not refer to Sarah by name,
the barrenness of Sarah (Genesis 11:30) allows Isaiah to connect Sarah with this verse in which
the barren woman is the desolate Jerusalem.54 “The link between Sarah and the Jerusalem
tradition was already put forward in Isa 53:1-3.”55 In Isaiah 54:1 the barren woman represents
Jerusalem in its exilic desolation,56 which will become the mother of numerous children through
After exploring rich Jewish backgrounds of the phrase, “heavenly Jerusalem,” in Jewish writings, Longenecker
agues: “Here in his Hagar-Sarah allegory, therefore, Paul conflates two Jewish traditions: the first, that of Sarah, the
barren freeborn wife of Abraham, who was destined to be the mother of nations; the second, that of the holy city
Jerusalem, the eschatological Zion, who symbolically is the mother of God’s own.” Longenecker, Galatians, 214-15.
53
All Greek words of the Old Testament texts come from LXX.
54
“Barren woman” was used to refer to not only Sarah but also Rebecca (Gen 25:21) and Rachel (Gen 29:31). See
Katheryn P. Darr, Isaiah’s Vision & the Family (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 179.
55
Klaus Baltzer, Deutero-Isaiah A commentary on Isaiah 40-55 (ed. P. Machinist; trans. M. Kohl; Hermeneia;
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001), 434.
56
Baltzer argues that the single term “desolate” sums up the negative fate of land and woman and articulates the
52
21
the power of God. Hays points out that “it is Isaiah’s metaphorical linkage of Abraham and Sarah
with an eschatologically restored Jerusalem that warrants Paul’s use of Isa. 54:1.”57 In order to
find out the historical context of the relation between the barren woman and Jerusalem, and the
authors’ use of a feminine image of Jerusalem in Second and Third Isaiah, we need to refer to
Mary Callaway’s investigation on the theme, “barren one.”
Callaway argues that Second Isaiah fully develops the individual image of the barren
woman into the collective people.58 She believes that although the texts that contain the tradition
of the barren woman are few and short,59 this tradition “would provide one of the central motifs
by which Israel defined herself in the formative Second Temple period.”60 According to
Callaway, Isaiah reinterprets traditional material in order to use it in a new situation; especially
through “reinterpreting Sarah the mother of Isaac into Sarah the mother of Israel,” the prophet is
answering “a question of identity that had arisen in his community.”61 The image of Jerusalem in
Second Isaiah is a mother who gives birth to a new people.62 According to her, the function of
the mother image of Jerusalem in Third Isaiah is similar to that of Second: “The mother Zion of
Third Isaiah is a religious idea which functions to give a common identity to the exiles.”63
In the perspective of Callaway’s very plausible interpretation, it is possible to conclude
that Second and Third Isaiah use the mother image of Jerusalem for the new identity of the
people of Israel who have become desolate through the exile. This conclusion is helpful for
understanding Paul’s use of Isaiah 54:1 right after his first conclusion in 4:26: “The Jerusalem
hard fate of barren women in ancient society, Ibid., 435.
57
Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven; Yale University Press, 1989), 120.
58
Mary C. Callaway, Sing, O Barren One: A Study in Comparative Midrash (SBLDS 91; Atlanta: Scholars Press,
1986), 59.
59
These texts are Isa 49:19-21, 51: 1-3, and 54:1-3.
60
Callaway, O Barren One, 60.
61
Ibid., 64.
62
Ibid., 77.
63
Ibid., 81.
22
above is free, and she is our mother,” through which he affirms the identity of the Galatians. Just
as Second Isaiah uses the image of mother Jerusalem to give a common identity to the exiled
people Israel, so Paul uses the image from Isaiah 54:1 to demonstrate who the Galatians are and
to give them, who might feel on the margins of the people of God, a common identity with the
rest of the people of God.
2. Function of “Mother Jerusalem” in 4:21-5:1
Paul’s use of “the Jerusalem above” has a rich Jewish background.64 Richard
Longenecker notes that references to a “heavenly Jerusalem” are to be found not only in Jewish
Scriptures but also in Jewish wisdom literature,65 and that the more advanced forms are found in
the apocalyptic writings of Second Temple Judaism.66 He insists that “the idea of a ‘heavenly
Jerusalem’ in contrast to the present Jerusalem appears a number of times in rabbinic literature as
well.”67 It is possible that Paul is familiar with such an apocalyptic concept of New Jerusalem
especially in the context of Jewish apocalyptic expectation during the time of the Second
Temple.68 Therefore, Paul’s use of this apocalyptic term, “heavenly Jerusalem,” should be
understood in an eschatological sense.
As this interpretation emphasizes, the idea of the eschatological Jerusalem affects Paul’s
use of “the Jerusalem above,” Paul understands that this “heavenly Jerusalem” is already present
See Longenecker, Galatians, 213-15; Guthrie, Galatians, 125; Eastman, “Metaphor and Mimesis,” 183-87; Ernest
D. W. Burton, Galatians (ICC 10; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1959), 263. Several other scholars point out the
difference between Jewish literature and Paul’s concept of heavenly Jerusalem. For example, Betz argues that Paul’s
concept of the “heavenly Jerusalem” is different from Jewish apocalypticism because of “his radical dualism
separating the two cities as the representatives of Judaism and Christianity,” Galatians, 246-47.
65
These are Ps 87:3; Isa 54; Ezek 40-48. Callaway argues that the development toward the Jewish doctrine of the
heavenly Zion has already begun with Third Isaiah’s use of “Mother Zion” which functions not as a place but as a
person, O Barren One, 81.
66
Longenecker gives specific texts of these writings. These are 1 Enoch 53.6; 90.28-29; 2 Enoch 55.2; Pss. Sol.
17.33; 4 Ezra 7:26; 8:52; 10:25-28; 2 Apoc. Bar. 4.2-6; 32.2; 59.4, Galatians, 214.
67
Ibid.
68
Eastman, “Metaphor and Mimesis,” 183-87.
64
23
with the Galatians as an eschatological reality. Paul believes that the new identity of the Galatians
as the children of promise is a sign of God’s fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham and
Sarah.69 More specifically, as Longenecker argues, “the Galatian believers had come into the
eschatological situation of already participating in that future reality, in that the promise made to
Abraham was fulfilled in Christ.”70 In the similar line of thought, Susan Eastman explains, “the
present tense verbs describing ‘Jerusalem above’ emphasize the present incursion of
eschatological reality into the present experience of the churches birthed by Paul’s mission.”71
These arguments lead us to understand that through the use of the eschatological term “the
heavenly Jerusalem,” especially in declaring this Jerusalem as our mother, Paul is saying to the
Galatians that our true identity belongs to “the Jerusalem above,” which is present among us as
an eschatological reality. Paul argues that God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah is
eschatologically being achieved through the new identity of the Galatians.
C. Application
Paul’s emphasis on the true identity of the Galatians is helpful in providing new identity
to the second-generation Korean Americans who are experiencing a difficulty in finding their true
identity. They are not purely Americans or Koreans, but “Korean Americans.” They are also a
new people of God who were born to Korean parents and raised in American culture. They not
only inherit Korean culture and pride but also succeed American custom and privilege.
III. Freedom from Bondage
Eastman, “Metaphor and Mimesis,” 217; Hansen, Galatians, 148.
Longenecker, Galatians, 215-16.
71
Eastman, “Metaphor and Mimesis,” 218. Callaway argues, “the tradition of Jerusalem as mother of the Jews not in
the future but in the present was developed by Third Isaiah,” O Barren One, 89.
69
70
24
A. Function of the Law
Paul puts several questions about the purpose of the law in 3:19-25. “Why is then the
law?” (3:19) “Then, is the law against the promises of God?” (3:21) Paul is explaining the
purpose of the law and the functions the law has in the salvation history of God. Paul argues that
“the scripture confined all things under sin in order that the promise of the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ might be given to the believers” in 3:22. Paul repeats his argument in 3:23 with a different
expression: “Before the faith came, we were confined under the law and keeping being prisoners
until faith should be revealed.” Paul is saying that the purpose of the law is to imprison all things
to the power of sin and to protect Israel until the coming of Christ into the world. The law has
functioned as God’s agent before the redeemer Christ comes.
Paul uses the word, “pedagogue” (paidagwgo.j), which must be a familiar image to
his Gentile believers, in order to explain his understanding of the function of the law.
“Pedagogue” was a slave who accompanied a school boy until the boy became an adult. Paul
argues that the main function of the law is to confine and keep people under the power of sin
before the coming of Christ who will save them from the power. Paul insists that now Christ has
come and we are no longer under the “pedagogue” in 3:25. The role of the law comes to an end
and faith begins its central role in God’s redemptive action in Christ. Now, through the coming of
Christ, especially through the event of the cross, a new world has come where faith is the main
agent of God’s redeeming action.
B. Bondage under the Elements of the World
After arguing the limited function of the law as “pedagogue” in chapter three, Paul moves
onto the Galatians’ bandage under “the elements (of the world)” in chapter four. The Greek word
25
stoicei/a, which could be translated “elements,” “basic principles,” or “elemental spirits”
appears in 4:3 and 9. What are “the elements”? What does the expression, “the elements of the
world” in 4:3 mean? Is it the law which Paul articulates in a previous chapter? Or something
else? Why does Paul use the first person plural in 4:3?
In 4:9, Paul rebukes the Galatians: “how can you turn back again to the weak and poor
elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them again?” This sentence may give us a hint for what
“the elements” would be. Paul accuses the Galatians that they are trying to “turn back again”72 to
“the elements” and want to be enslaved under them again. Then, “the elements” should be
something to which the Galatian Christians formerly belonged. Before becoming part of the
Christian community, the Gentiles were worshipers of Hellenistic gods and the Jews followed
Jewish law. As Paul articulates in 4:8, before knowing God, the Gentiles “were enslaved to things
that by nature are not gods.” They were under the domination of “evil powers which have cosmic
dimensions.”73 Paul seems to believe that for the Gentile Christians “the elements of the world”
are Hellenistic religions in which they worshiped things that were not really gods and that for the
Jewish Christians “the elements of the world” would be the law under which they have been
enslaved. Paul’s use of the first person plural form in 3:23-25 where he talks about people’s
enslavement under the law seems related to another use of it in 4:3; “when we (h=men) were
children, we (h;meqa) were enslaved under the elements of the world.” This connection allows
us to see that the phrase “the elements” could be another expression of the law.74 By using the
word stoicei/a Paul expresses his concern about the Galatians attempt to “turn back again”
to their former state of slavery.
72
73
74
Hays explains that the verb “turn” was used in contexts of religious conversion, Galatians, 287.
Patte, Paul’s faith, 53.
Hays, Galatians, 287-88.
26
Even though the Gentile Galatians do not try to go back to their Hellenistic religions but
instead participate in Jewish religious practices following the Jewish liturgical calendar in 4:10,
Paul believes that they are turning back to their former status of slavery. For Paul there is no big
difference between Judaism and Paganism in terms of putting people under the bondage of
slavery. Longenecker correctly argues that “in Paul’s view, from the perspective of being ‘in
Christ,’ Judaism and paganism could be lumped together under the rubric ‘the basic principles of
the world,’ and so a leaving of Christian principles for either one or the other was a renunciation
of freedom and a return ‘again’ to slavery.”75 Paul rebukes the Galatians who attempt to “turn
back to” their former state of slavery by participating in Jewish religious observances.
C. Christ Set Us Free
Freedom is the key theological idea on which Paul develops his arguments in the letter.76
This key concept is closely related to Paul’s assurance that an eschatological new world, “new
creation” is present among the Galatians. By participation in the cross and life of Christ, believers
experience the change of two realms, old and new. They enter the “new creation” where other
religious rituals such as Jewish religious activities and Hellenistic rites are no longer valid. In this
new world, religious, ethnic, sexual, and socioeconomic differences are no longer effective. That
is why Paul declares in 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
The characteristic of this new realm is freedom instead of religious enslavements, and
equality and unity instead of social and gender divisions. In this new world, “unity in God’s
75
76
Longenecker, Galatians, 225.
Hays, Galatians, 306; Betz, Galatians, 255; Patte, Paul’s faith, 31.
27
Christ has replaced religious-ethnic differentiation.”77 Paul exhorts the Galatians, who are trying
to “turn back again” to the previous world of slavery, to “stand firm” in the freedom of “new
creation.”
D. Application
Paul’s emphasis on freedom “in Christ” and his exhortation for the Galatians not to “turn
back again” to their previous state of slavery provides a significant insight for Korean immigrants
who are still under, or sometime try to go back to, the influence of negative aspects of
Confucianism, which has been an important part of their cultural inheritance, such as hierarchical
personal relationships in home and community and “outward show” attitude. Korean immigrants’
adherence to those influences not only becomes a main reason for their conflicts with second
generations but also prohibits them from being a real part of America, which became a new land
for them. First-generation Korean immigrants should get rid of the bondage of these “elements”
from the previous society and be able to enjoy freedom “in Christ.”
Paul’s teaching of “freedom from slavery status” also provides an important lesson for
second-generation Korean Americans who have suffered by being “in-between” two different
cultures, Korean and American, and by being criticized by both of them: for not being Korean
enough and for not being American enough. Christ sets them free. They are called not to be a
half-Korean and half-American, but to be “hybrid” people who can connect the two different
cultures and who can make contributions to both communities.
III. Role of Scripture
Martyn, Galatians, 383. Patte also correctly argues, “Paul’s discourse in Galatians makes it clear that the Gospel
radically abolishes the difference between Jews and Greeks,” Paul’s faith, 55.
77
28
The role of Scripture should be a “Family Album,” because the teaching from Galatians
encourages the all Koreans (first and second generations) to find their true identity in Christ and
to be free from the bondage which keeps them from being a significant part of this country.
IV. Comparison with Galatians in Global Bible Commentary78
A. Life Context of Néstor Oscar Míguez
1. Life Context: His country, Argentina, is experiencing “the effects of the new economic
globalization.” In the face of the serious threat of the globalization, Míguez finds several
problems in his country: a corrupt and inefficient political leadership; poverty over more than
half of the population; an increase in domestic and street violence; and separation and conflicts
among different social classes and regions.
2. Problem Analysis and Root Problem: Míguez believes, “The ideology of a free market”
is becoming “a law of death” by enslaving the losers in an unfair competition that “forces nonequals to compete, suppresses the weak” and it should be seen in “the true light of their
destructive powers.” The root problem he finds to be “a lack of ability,” because he and his
community do not have enough economic and political power to overcome the “law of death,”
“the ideology of a free market.”79
B. Contextual Commentary of Míguez
Míguez points out that there are conflicts between different groups of people in the
Galatian community who want to keep their old habits and identity from their previous
78
Néstor Oscar Míguez, “Galatians,” in Global Bible Commentary (Ed. Daniel Patte; Nashville: Abingdon, 2004),
463-72.
79
Ibid., 464.
29
societies.80 This argument is very useful for my approach to the Korean American community.
He, furthermore, articulates the problem of retaining the unique identity of each group and
achieving solidarity in the Christian community. He insists on the necessity of creating a new
identity “for the sake of community with others who have different identities.”81 He explores
Paul’s arguments in 3:16-4:16 focusing on the “slavery and freedom” antithesis. He explains
stocheia as “the natural and supernatural forces that have power upon humans” and believes that
believers have been set free from stocheia and obtain their freedom. Believers should use this
freedom for their “liberating love.” In Míguez’s understanding, Paul is encouraging the Galatians
to use their freedom not to place themselves under a slavery of stocheia but to serve their
neighbors “through a slavery of mutual love.”82
C. Conclusion of Míguez
Míguez argues that the freedom of the market excludes others’ freedom and that the free
market subjected Argentineans to a new kind of slavery. He argues that our neighbors should not
be “the boundary of my freedom” but must be “the opportunity of my freedom” to serve.83 This
point is also helpful for my understanding of mutual relationships between first- and second
Korean Americans.
D. Comparison My Interpretation with That of Míguez
Míguez and I share in finding the central arguments of Paul in this letter: identity and the
freedom/bondage issue. His life context of “threat and effect of ideology of “free market” and its
80
81
82
83
Ibid., 465-66.
Ibid., 467.
Ibid., 469-70.
Ibid., 471.
30
power to subject his people, Argentineans under “a new kind of slavery” leads him to critique the
destructive power of the ideology of the “new global economy” and focus on freedom and its
liberating power to serve one’s neighbors. My personal context of generational conflict between
first- and second-generation Korean Americans and the “silent exodus” of second generation
Koreans lead me to focus on Paul’s theology of “new creation,” “new identity,” and “freedom
from bondage.” One very helpful argument of Míguez for my personal context is his call to
action by using the “liberating power of freedom” for our neighbors. First generation Korean
Americans can contribute to their neighbors by sharing their unique Koreanness such as Korean
language, community-oriented attitude. Second-generation Korean Americans also can make a
contribution to a broader society by being mediators between Korean and American communities.
Conclusion
We have explored problems of Korean immigrant churches and homes, focusing on the
“silent exodus” phenomenon and the root problem behind it: lack of ideological vision for
harmonious unity in Christ. This root problem is the result of a lack of true identity for secondgeneration Korean Americans and first-generation Korean immigrants’ bondage to their previous
habits and perspective. Through the close reading of Galatians, we have realized that Paul’s
assurance of “new creation,” which enables him to emphasize the new identity of the Galatians
and freedom from their slavery bondage, is helpful in providing biblical insights to the problem
the Korean immigrant community is experiencing. The teachings of Paul in Galatians not only
calls for first-generation Korean Americans to leave their old world of distinction and slavery
bondage under their previous perspective, but also invites them to begin to enjoy their new lives
in a new land. Paul’s teachings also encourage second-generation Korean Americans to find their
31
true identity “in Christ” and to be positive contributors not only to Korean immigrant society but
also to a bigger community, America, which is struggling for its peaceful harmony among
diverse ethnic groups.
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