Galatia was a region on the central plateau of Asia Minor, where the central part of Turkey lies today. The name comes from the Galatians, Celtic tribes that migrated from Europe and settled there in the third century before Christ.
In 25 BC Rome organized the territory as a province, joining that Celtic region in the north to Greek cities in the south, such as Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
Paul passed through Galatia at least twice, on his second and third missionary journeys, always on his way to another destination. He also wrote to the Galatians one of the most forceful letters in the New Testament, defending that salvation comes through faith in Christ, and not through the law.
Scholars debate whether the churches of this letter were the ones founded in the south of the province during the first missionary journey, or communities further north, in the ancient territory of the Galatians. The exact identification remains uncertain.
Years later, Peter also wrote to the Christians scattered throughout Galatia, and Paul, in his last letter, mentioned a certain Crescens sent there. The region appears in the Bible not because of one striking episode, but because of real churches that needed to be established in the gospel of grace.
