Bewitched: The Rise of Neo-Galatianism

by David R. Anderson

Legalism has a thousand faces.We usually associate it to an adherence to a stiff set of rules not found in the Bible- a bunch of no-no's. But, could legalism be more deeply rooted than keeping a set of rules? Could the rule keeping be a symptom of a disease of the heart? Neo-Galatianism proposes that all serious Christians struggle with legalism in one form or another, although they may not be aware of it. Whether Catholic, Arminian, Calvinistic, or otherwise, legalism is a daily struggle. The same problems plaguing the new Christians in Galatia can be found in every Christian group today, so we call this problem Neo (New)- Galatianism.Unfortunately, many of us are bewitched by its spell without even knowing it. Paul even says as "O, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you...?" (Gal. 3:3) Hence our Bewitched. In this book we will answer, "What did Paul mean, and what is his answer?" Together we'll discover Paul's cure for this disease, a remedy that is thankfully still effective for us today.

Genres: Theology

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[John Spaulding · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a commentary on the book of Galatians; this is not going to be a sufficient resource for you.
The author’s main goal in writing is to highlight the parallels between the Law message of the Pharisaic Jews disrupting the Galatian church and the modern teachings found today in Arminian, Calvinist, and Catholic groups.
Many of the points made are valid and grounded in the principles from the letter, however…
I don’t think that the author did a great job commenting on the text itself. In many sections of the book, the actual Bible passages in view are not discussed. Rather, separate citings of Calvinist or Arminian authors are disparaged to make points. And, just when I thought it was going to be an intro to his commentary, he moves on to the next section.

Overall, it’s a worthy read. But I don’t think I am a fan of the Bible commentary medium to be used as a vehicle to critique other views. While I do agree with almost all of the points made in the book, I do think this could be a much more attainable read in the form of 5-6 separate articles.