Benny Nalkara, CMI

The distinct statement by St Paul, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) has been a both a welcome statement as well as a problematic one from the first century onwards. A lot of discussions have been taken place for and against this prophetic statement of Paul in history. Whether he was intending a total abolition of the ethnic, gender and social discriminations or simply making a soothing statement to touch the finest fibres of the hearts of the believers through this statement? Or was he aiming at the inner transformation of the people so that there occurs an egalitarian society? We need to understand the context of the letter and the theology contained in it to grasp the meaning of his statement and to interpret it for our own times and seasons.
The letter to the Galatians was written in the context where the authenticity of apostleship of Paul and his Gospel was questioned by a group of the pharisaic minded Jewish Christians who are named as Judaizers who were considering the Christian movement as a sect within Judaism. In the first part of the letter to the Galatians, Paul defends his apostleship against the accusation of the Judaizers (1:11-2:21). Now he wants to make some doctrinal clarifications against a wrong principle of divine acceptance on the basis of human performance. In the doctrinal section of the letter after giving a passionate introduction, Paul makes a quick review of how God inaugurated the history of salvation with Abraham and his faith commitment (3:6-21). Reminding the believers about their entry into a new life in Christ through baptism, Paul is bringing out the hermeneutical implications of “the truth of the Gospel” in Gal 3:26-29.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek: This couplet indicates the racial division in the world from the point of view of Jew. Hellen (Greek) means the uncircumcised, the Gentiles. With the coming of Christ there is no longer salvific relevance for the ethnic boundary of the Jews as the covenant people, defined in such terms as the circumcision, the purity law, the Sabbath, and other ceremonial regulations. “There is neither slave nor free”: This couplet points to the social barrier in the Greco-Roman world. The social barriers and distinctions are also removed. There will be no more social hierarchy that distinguishes slave and free. The participation in Christ as new creation gives the believer a new identity as the “children of God.” More than a social rebellion against slavery Paul is speaking here about an inner transformation which brings a social equality where every one considers each other as brothers and sisters. “There is neither male nor female”: This couplet points to the sexual barrier between human beings. Echoing the language of Gen 1:27: “male and female He created them,” Paul declares that even the gender discrimination no longer exists in Christ. “For all of you are one person in Christ Jesus”: All the baptized form a single person in Christ: they are a new creation. Distinctions of race, class, and sex have been dissolved by the new creation that has occurred in Christ. All the believers, without any distinction or discrimination, are children of God in Christ Jesus via “the faith.” It is through the gracious act of faithful self-giving of Jesus Christ, they have been brought into God’s family as children. Paul argues that all who are in Christ through baptism are now the sons (children) of God. All humanity is now under the same grace of Jesus Christ.
The radical newness of human experience envisaged by Paul in Gal 3:26-29 is a direct result of the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ. By employing a Christian baptismal liturgy, he tries to convey the notion that the believer’s baptism serves as proof that they become the children of God and seed of Abraham through faith in Christ. The main emphasis of the statement on the abolition of the discrimination and oneness in Christ is on the reality of kinship in the covenantal family of Abraham as a result of faith in Christ. Paul’s declaration that the Gentiles in Christ are also “heirs according to the promise” through faith might have been an epoch-making statement in those days. The focus of Gal 3:28 is the unity of the new covenant community that is marked by all-inclusiveness. In the cultural and religious context of the first-century Galatia, Paul’s words declare here the inauguration of a new paradigm of human value. Paul’s language implies a radically reshaped social world as viewed from a Christian perspective. More than the abolition of the roles, it means that the racial, social and gender distinctions are no longer the determinative identity markers and the basis for exclusion.
The radical statement of Paul challenges us even after so many centuries with its all-inclusive stance in a world where we are preoccupied with distinctions, differences and discriminations and where religious leaders are more worried about uniformity than unity in relationships. The Christian movement envisioned by him was an all-inclusive community without identity markers. The humanity dreamt by him was the one without borders and boundaries. His table-fellowships, parables and miracle stories and above all his selection of companions vouch for this. Faith in Christ should help us to form or transform a society after this great ideal: “All are brothers and sisters in Christ”- Fratelli Tutti.