39 PLEASING GOD PLEASING PEOPLE ? OR theory derives from the text (v. 10) and fits the details of Paul’s account in chap. 1. Does Paul’s desire to please God attest to the truth of his gospel ? Arguments from motivation were not unknown in Paul’s day : in John 7,18 Jesus pointed to his goal of glorifying God as proof of his own righteousness. If Paul set his heart to please God, it would follow that he would truthfully recount his vision of Christ and would preach the message God gave him unaltered. If Paul were simply mistaken, he was not mistaken about having seen a vision because there were witnesses with him — he would hardly travel to Damascus alone if his purpose was to persecute the church (cf. Acts 9,1-9 ; Gal 1,13.17). Paul could of course have been mistaken about the message he heard in the vision. But then one would have to explain why God specially chose Paul as a messenger and yet left him not only to bungle the message the rest of his life but to do so in the same way the pillar apostles must have in 2,7-9. Sincerity in striving after God does, in Paul’s case, argue for his message. b) Objections to Paul’s Argument There are various points of Paul’s sincerity and his argument, however, that scholars have questioned. They note, for example, that 1 Cor 15,3, a parallel to Gal 1,11-12 on Paul’s reception of the gospel, uses paradıdwmi “ hand down” and paralambanw ¥ ¥ “ receive ” to say that what Paul received he also passed on to the Corinthians. Since the combination of these two words may indicate traditions that are handed down, some exegetes assume that Paul claims in Galatians 1 to have received the gospel from the Lord directly and in 1 Corinthians 15 to have received it as a tradition from other people 42. However, Paul uses both words in 1 Cor 11,23 See BDAG, paralambanw, 768 on the combination of words indicating ¥ 42 tradition. See J.T. SANDERS, “Paul’s Autobiographical Statements in Galatians 1–2 ”, JBL 85 (1966) 335-343, for the unvarnished view that Paul contradicts himself. See W. BAIRD, “Visions, Revelation, and Ministry: Reflections on 2 Cor 12 :1-5 and Gal 1:11-17 ”, JBL 104 (1985) 651-662; R.Y.K. FUNG, “ Revelation and Tradition: The Origins of Paul’s Gospel”, EQ 57 (1985) 23-41; MATERA, Galatians, 53; SCHÜTZ, Apostolic Authority, 129-131; SILVA, Interpreting Galatians, 157-158; WINGER, “Tradition, Revelation, Gospel”, 65-86, for various ways of handling this apparent contradiction.