Galatians 1b – Paul’s Travels

A good chunk of my study time this week was focused on trying to figure out how Acts 9 and Galatians 1 both fit together regarding Paul’s early travels after his conversion. Luke tells the story in Acts 9 and Paul tells it himself in Galatians 1. Naturally—as any of us might do when telling a story—both individuals leave out certain details and side trips.

                  For example, if someone were to ask me where I took my vacation last summer, I might tell them, “We spent the week in NJ.” Perhaps, though, during that week our family took a day to visit some museums in Philadelphia (we didn’t, but this is just for the sake of the example!). Would I be lying by only saying, “We spent the week in NJ”? No. I never committed to telling the individual every detail and excursion on the trip.

                  Paul and Luke do something similar. By comparing Acts 9 and Galatians 1, we can get a better sense of Paul’s early travels. I reviewed them with a map in the sermon, but here I’ll review them with the full text of Scripture (all text is in ESV). It may help to open up the map in the back of your Bible to follow along as your read this.