DID YOU KNOW: What was the earliest of Pauls letters?

As school comes to an end, and we start to look to the new year, it is logical to start thinking about the books we will be studying in the next year. Last year was Acts - the story of the young Christian church from the Ascension of Jesus to Paul's journey to Rome. This coming year will be 5 books written by Paul to churches and people that he met during his travels in Acts: Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Collossians, and Philemon.

Our "DID YOU KNOW?" series for the summer asks the simple question, "What was the earliest of Paul's letters?"

Any thoughts? Well, consider what you read at the Sarris Bible Get-Togethers. Galatians, uniquely among these letters, addresses a topic specifically talked about in the book of Acts: whether one needs to be a Christian in order to be a believer. Sound familiar?

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Acts 15:1-2

[Paul speaking]
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.
Acts 15:19-21

Compare this with some words from Galatians.

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Galatians 3:25-25

This, along with other internal evidence, leads scholars to believe that Galatians is in fact the earliest of the letters of Paul to be found in scripture.

Pssst! Be sure to make a note of these "DID YOU KNOW?" features, because there may be a bonus quiz at or around the kickoff to see who was paying attention.