Cosmopolitanism in Gal 3:28 and the Divine Performative Speech-Act of Paul’s Gospel

Galatians 3:28 has often been compared and contrasted with ancient conceptions of “cosmopolitanism.” However, the present study takes a modern, etic approach to the definition of term, based on the longitudinal investigation of historical trends by a Cambridge working group. Seen from that vantage point, Paul’s declaration in Gal 3:28 can be described in terms of the “political cosmopolitanism” that is characteristic of empire-builders in the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean. At the same time, Gal 3:28 is rooted in Paul’s Jewish apocalyptic worldview, especially as exemplified in the Enochic tradition, which had already been interacting with the political cosmopolitanism of pagan empires for centuries.