Abstract:
The question of what subjects Paul addresses in his letters has been a matter of debate in New
Testament scholarship. This debate shows the evolution of Pauline studies, whereby early scholars
argued that Paul addressed topics ranging from questions of human existence, to relations between
Jews and Gentiles, and even topics connecting Paul with the Roman Empire. Most of these scholars
view Paul mainly from a religious perspective, particularly in terms of the relationship between
Judaism and Christianity. However, viewing Paul from a Jewish versus a Christian religious
perspective only fails to present the multivalent function of the Pauline corpus. This article employs
social identity theory to read Galatians 3:1–10 in order to defend the argument that Paul employs
his letters to construct a superordinate identity for his community which embraces not only
political perspectives but also has religious and economic trajectories.
CONTRIBUTION: The application of identification, contest and comparison, concepts derived from
sociology, to analyze Galatians 3:1-10 in reference to 1st century economic, religious and political
contexts to explain the multivalent nature of early Christian identity, contributes to multidisciplinary
research aspects of Biblical studies which is in tandem with the scope of HTS Theological Journal.
