Editing Epistle to the Galatians (section)

=== Paul's opponents ===
Scholars have debated whether it is possible to reconstruct the arguments against which Paul is arguing. Though these opponents have traditionally been designated as [[Judaizers]], this classification has fallen out of favor in contemporary scholarship.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last1= Lyons |first1= George |authorlink = George Lyons (theologian) |title= Galatians: a commentary in the Wesleyan tradition |publisher=Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City |isbn= 978-0-8341-2402-8 |location=Kansas City, Missouri |oclc= 436028350 |year= 2012}}</ref> Some instead refer to them as Agitators. While many scholars have claimed that Paul's opponents were circumcisionist Jewish followers of Jesus, the ability to make such determinations with a reasonable degree of certainty has been called into question.<ref name= ":6" /> It has often been presumed that they traveled from Jerusalem, but some commentators have raised the question of whether they may have actually been insiders familiar with the dynamics of the community. Furthermore, some commentaries and articles pointed out the inherent problems in mirror-reading, emphasizing that there is not sufficient evidence to reconstruct the arguments of Paul's opponents.<ref>{{Cite book|title= Galatians: a new translation with introduction and commentary|date=1997|publisher= Doubleday| last = Martyn | first = James Louis |isbn= 0-385-08838-8 |edition= 1st|location= New York|oclc= 36001181}}</ref> It is not enough to simply reverse his denials and assertions as it does not result in a coherent argument nor can it possibly reflect the thought processes of his opponents accurately. It is nearly impossible to reconstruct the opponents from Paul's text because their representation is necessarily polemical.  All that can be said with any certainty is that they supported a different position of Gentile relations with Jews than Paul did.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Keener |first1= Craig S. |authorlink=Craig S. Keener |title= Galatians |isbn= 978-1-108-42681-7 |location= Cambridge, [[United Kingdom|UK]] |oclc= 1004849095|date= 2018}}</ref>