The first view is that Paul used "Galatia" in an ethnic sense and referred to a group of people of Celtic descent (Northern). The second view is that he used it in a Roman provincial sense thus it referred to those people living in the major cities in the southern portion of the province (Southern). For a long time the majority of scholars held to the northern view. This changed in the 1800s when W. M. Ramsay completed comprehensive research that laid a strong archeological foundation for the southern view [Bruce]. From this time on the majority of scholars have held to the southern view [Boice]. However, there are respectable scholars on either side of the issue. I will give you a quote from I think Hendriksen and Kistemaker later ...


In Christ,
5 Solas