γέγραπται

The introductory greetings of Paul’s epistles can be a challenge to arc, but they shouldn’t be ignored because they are rich with doctrine. A classic example is Galatians 1:1-5 where Paul opens his offensive against the Judaizers’ false gospel by giving a panoramic overview of the true gospel in all its majesty.

But what relationships do you apply when arcing an introduction? That’s a tough question, but I find “Series”, “Progression”, and “Idea / Explanation” to be the most helpful.

• I use “Idea / Explanation” for Paul’s name and its frequent expansion. So, in Gal 1:1, I use “Idea” for his name and office (“Paul, an apostle”) and “Explanation” for Paul’s expansion on his apostleship (“not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead”).
• I use “Series” to join Paul’s name with those who send greetings with him (eg. “and Timothy”, “and Silvanus”, or in the case of Gal 1:2: “and all the brethren who are with me”).
• I use “Progression” to link together the standard stages of Paul’s introductions: name and office (“Paul, an apostle, etc.”), the recipients (eg. “unto the churches in Galatia”), the greeting (“Grace to you and peace, etc.”)

We’ll take a closer look at our Arc of Galatians 1:1-5 in a future post, in the meantime, what have you found helpful when Arcing introductions to the epistles? You can use the comments section below to post a link to your own arc of one of Paul’s greetings.

Arc of Galatians 1:1-5 (KJV / NASB): Link