"1Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead"
Galatians 1:1
Another consideration in this debate is the fact that Barnabas is referred to in 2:1 as if he were known to the Galatians; and Barnabas was with Paul on his first missionary journey, when he visited the south of Galatia, but not on his second, when he visited the north. Then there is the question of Paul's visits to Jerusalem. The Acts of the Apostles record three visits, Acts 9:26; 11:30 and Acts 15, while Galatians mentions only two, Galatians 1:18ff and 2:1ff. It is generally agreed that Acts 9:26 and Galatians 1:18ff refer to the same event. Ramsay suggests that Acts 11:30 corresponds to Galatians 2:1ff, and that the third visit - Acts 15 - had not taken place when Galatians was written, and there- fore Paul could not refer to it. It certainly seems inconceivable that the apostolic decree could have been in existence at the time Galatians was written, without Paul making any reference to it. This should surely incline us to believe that the recipients of the letter were the south Galatian people, in Lystra, Derbe, Iconium and Antioch. The appropriate section of Acts - chs 13 and 14 - should therefore be studied to provide the background to what Paul has to say to them in this epistle, for it is there that we are able to ascertain the nature and content of the message that Paul preached to them.