The Dramatic Presentation of Paul's Letter to the Galatians (streaming)

(This resource is in streaming format. If you would prefer a DVD click here.)

"Paul's letter to the Galatians was drafted for the purposes of being performed," says David Rhoads. "All the books in the New Testament are like that. When they were written, 95 percent of the people couldn't read. The books were meant to be experienced as drama."

Gestures, facial expressions and voice inflections shape the message, both for listeners and the presenter.

"Memorizing and presenting it changes the way I relate to it," he said. "As biblical scholars, we spend all our time studying texts. But that's like a musicologist who never goes to a concert or a Shakespearean scholar who never sees a play. We've lost the dramatic experience of these pieces."

Rhoads has spent more than 20 years studying how this works and trying to recover it. This DVD contains the performance of the epistle of Galatians, a segment on the orality of scripture, background on the church at Galatia and a bonus feature on the doctrine of justification in the epistle to the Galatians. To download the study guide click here.

1. Introductions (27:45 min.)
2. Paul's Letter (29:39 min.)
3. Reflections (17:40 min.)

Click here for the study guide.

Dramatic Presentation of Paul's Letter to the Galatians from Select Learning on Vimeo.