Christ’s Π？στι？ vs. Caesar’s Fides: Π？στι？ Χριστο？ in Galatians and the Roman Imperial Cult

This study examines the meaning of π？στι？ Χριστο？ with respect to the political and religious situations of Paul’s Galatian recipients, including the issue of circumcision. When the apostle sent his letter to the Galatian churches, the Gentile believers were returning to the Roman imperial cult; by doing so, they were accepting the emperor as the ultimate authority and benefactor and incorporated into the reciprocity of fides. Through π？στι？ Χριστο？, our apostle criticised and superseded this Roman imperial ideology and the imperial cult. Paul’s π？στι？ Χριστο？ was intended to advocate Christ’s faithfulness in opposition to Caesar’s faithfulness. He exhorted the recipients to live in a relationship of π？στι？ with Christ, not Caesar. Christ’s faithfulness and ‘the believer’s faith in Christ’ are not mutually exclusive. Paul deliberately intended the ambivalence of the Greek phrase to denote the reciprocal π？στι？ between Christ and the believer. The apostle defined the believer’s relationship with both the Jewish tradition and the Roman Empire concurrently