A letter that appears in the bible
We’re going to look at the Bible this week. And at a particular people that appear in the Bible. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul has letters.
Right now, I’m going to have a quick look at one letter. That is the Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians. In the Letter, Paul writes, “Oh,
foolish Galatians…” He wasn’t exactly enamoured with them.
Paul was in Galatia before. He was preaching there. It is said in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles that Paul went through “the entire land of
Galatia…? And Paul himself says that he received a warm welcome from the people in Galatia. But some rejected what Paul was teaching them. In the
Letter he asks the Galatians to return to the road he showed them.
But where is Galatia? Because it’s not on the map today. Well, it’s in the country that was called Asia Minor. Today we call that country Anatolia. It
is part of Turkey. Galatia was in the middle of Asia Minor. Ancyra was the capital of the Galatians. That is where the capital city of Turkey is today
– a city called Ankara.
When Paul was in Galatia, what language was he speaking to the people? The Galatians were Celts. The Gal- at the start of the name tells that. Like the
people in Gaul and Galicia – and the Gaels themselves – they spoke a Celtic language. They were related to us, distantly.
They still spoke a Celtic language when Paul was among them. A man made a report in the 4th Century AD on their language. He said it was
like the language spoken by a tribe in central Europe. They were a Celtic tribe.
But how did Celts get as far east as Asia Minor? We’ll look at that question next week.
Litir a nochdas anns a’ Bhìoball
Tha sinn a’ dol a thoirt sùil air a’ Bhìoball an t-seachdain seo. Agus air sluagh àraidh a nochdas anns a’ Bhìoball. Anns an Tiomnadh Nuadh tha litrichean
aig an Abstol Phòl. An-dràsta, tha mi a’ dol a thoirt sùil bheag air aon litir. ’S e sin Litir an Abstoil Phòil chum nan Galatianach. Anns an Litir, tha
Pòl a’ sgrìobhadh, “O a Ghalatianacha amaideach...” – Oh, foolish Galatians. Cha robh e buileach toilichte leotha.
Bha Pòl ann an Galatia roimhe. Bha e a’ searmonachadh ann. Thathar ag ràdh ann an Leabhar Ghnìomharan nan Abstol gun deach Pòl “tro thìr Galatia uile...”
Agus tha Pòl fhèin ag ràdh gun d’ fhuair e fàilte chridheil bho na daoine ann an Galatia. Ach chaidh cuid an aghaidh na bha Pòl a’ teagasg dhaibh. Anns an
Litir tha e ag iarraidh air na Galatianaich tilleadh don rathad a sheall e dhaibh.
Ach càite a bheil Galatia? Oir chan eil e air a’ mhapa an-diugh. Uill, tha e anns an dùthaich air an robh Asia Minor. An-diugh canaidh sinn Anatolia ris an dùthaich sin. Tha i mar phàirt dhen Tuirc. Bha Galatia ann am meadhan Asia Minor. B’ e Ancyra prìomh bhaile nan Galatianach. ’S e
sin far a bheil prìomh bhaile na Tuirc an-diugh – baile mòr air a bheil Ankara.
Nuair a bha Pòl ann an Galatia, dè an cànan a bha e a’ bruidhinn ris na daoine? ’S e Ceiltich a bha anns na Galatianaich. Tha an Gal- aig toiseach
an ainm ag innse sin. Coltach ris na daoine ann an Gaul is Galicia – is na Gàidheil fhèin – bha cànan Ceilteach aca. Bha iad càirdeach dhuinn, fad às.
Bha cànan Ceilteach fhathast aca nuair a bha Pòl nam measg. Rinn fear aithris anns a’ cheathramh linn AC air a’ chànan aca. Thuirt e gun robh i coltach ris
a’ chànan aig treubh ann am meadhan na Roinn Eòrpa. ’S e treubh Ceilteach eile a bha sin.
Ach ciamar a fhuair Ceiltich cho fada sear ri Asia Minor? Bheir sinn sùil air a’ cheist sin an ath-sheachdain.
