374 - The Cross and the Spirit: A Study in the Argument and Theology of Galatians

The Cross and the Spirit: A Study in the Argument and Theology of Galatians

By Charles H. Cosgrove

Macon, Mercer University Press, 1989. 216 Pp. $37.50.

A thorny and much-debated problem in the study of the Epistle to the Galatians is the relative weight to be given to each section of the argument and how the whole letter fits together. Charles H. Cosgrove, in a revision of a dissertation written at Princeton Theological Seminary, proposes a new and interesting solution. The place to begin reading the letter, he argues, is 3:1-5, with the first unit that addresses the Galatian problem with directness and specificity ("Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?"). If one begins there, then the line of the agitators is that life in the Spirit is promoted by performing works of the law. Paul counters by declaring that participation in the crucifixion of Christ is the sole condition for ongoing life in the Spirit. The apostolic autobiography of Galatians 1 and 2, often highlighted in traditional readings, becomes, in Cosgrove's thesis, primarily

376 - The Cross and the Spirit: A Study in the Argument and Theology of Galatians

a preparation of the readers, emotionally and theologically, for the central argument of chapters 3 and 4.

Cosgrove has presented a forcefully argued case and has very helpfully connected the language about the Spirit in Galatians with the language about the cross. I personally find not so convincing his argument relegating the issue of the gentiles in the church to an assumption. His book, nevertheless, represents a major contribution to the discussions and sheds considerable light on the thorny problem of Galatians.

Charles B. Cousar, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga.