Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters 2.2 89–103 he Nature of Salvation History in Galatians Jason Maston Highland heological College Jason.Maston@htc.uhi.ac.uk According to some scholars, Paul’s development of an “apocalyptic” theology in Galatians results in a denial of salvation history. Contrary to these claims, this article contends that Paul develops a salvation-historical argument in Galatians 3:15–4:7. Paul, however, does not present God’s acts as a linear history of positive redemptive acts. Rather, in light of God’s act in Christ, Paul develops a diferent understanding of salvation history in which the period of the Torah is identiied as a period of Unheil. he nature of salva- tion history in Galatians, therefore, has a strong element of discontinuity. Key Words: salvation history, heilsgeschichte, continuity, apocalyptic, law, Torah, mediator, Gal 3:15–4:7 Indeed, one has to say that throughout Galatians, far from proposing a linear history that begins with Abraham, Paul stands in opposition to such a view. Given the work of the Teachers, Paul’s insistence on the singularity of the gospel has necessarily to be anti-heilsgeschichtlich. —J. Louis Martyn 1 Instead of an aversion to a theology of salvation history in relation to the covenant people Israel, Paul’s case in Galatians positively requires it, even if that theological dynamic is neither developed extensively nor worked out in terms that place the Christian community within the unfolding story of ethnic Israel. —Bruce W. Longenecker 2 1. Author’s note: I would like to thank Preston Sprinkle and Adam Copenhaver for their helpful comments on a previous drat. J. Louis Martyn, “Events in Galatia: Modiied Covenantal Nomism versus God’s Inva- sion of the Cosmos in the Singular Gospel: A Response to J. D. G. Dunn and B. R. Gaventa,” in Pauline heology, vol. 1: hessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon (ed. Jouette M. Bassler; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 176 (emphasis original). 2. Bruce W. Longenecker, he Triumph of Abraham’s God: he Transformation of Identity in Galatians (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1998), 94. Offprint from: Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters 2.2 © Copyright 2012 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.