Benefaction in Galatians

Paul's use of χάρις in his letter to the Galatians provides a gateway to understanding the letter within the broader cultural framework of civic benefaction. In this book, David Wyman examines literary and documentary sources to reconstruct a Hellenistic cultural encyclopedia of gift-giving and civic benefaction within which to situate Paul's letter to the Galatians. This perspective illuminates numerous words, phrases, themes, and relational dynamics within the letter. Paul inherits and uses aspects of benefaction in a way that conforms to his cultural context yet reveals his own individuality.