Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — Galatians
English → Tamil | Galatians | Language Package
Input doctrines (full book-level list, scripts/data/hindi-books.json): Justification by Faith, The True Gospel versus False Gospels, Paul’s Apostleship, Law and Grace, Crucified with Christ, The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise, The Law’s Purpose, Adoption and Sonship, Freedom in Christ, Circumcision and the New Creation, Flesh versus Spirit, Fruit of the Spirit, Faith Working through Love, Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Core passage: Galatians 2:15-21 (theological anchor, not the analysis boundary)
Generated: 2026-07-08 (v2 — full-book-coverage regeneration; supersedes the 2026-07-07 version, which listed only 5 of the 14 assigned book-level doctrines here and lacked a dedicated entry for Faith Working through Love)
Convention: risk tiers and review routing follow the Tamil Romans registry (language-packages/tamil/doctrine_risk_registry.json). Critical/High → human theologian review; Medium → native speaker review; Low → automated review. Machine-readable form: assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json.
0. Book-level doctrine list coverage mapping
Every one of the 14 assigned book-level doctrines maps to a registry entry below (registry keys use different, more specific names in several cases, matched here for auditability):
| Assigned book-level doctrine | Registry key(s) |
|---|---|
| Justification by Faith | justification_by_faith |
| The True Gospel versus False Gospels | exclusivity_of_the_gospel |
| Paul’s Apostleship | apostolic_authority |
| Law and Grace | law_and_grace |
| Crucified with Christ | union_with_christ_in_crucifixion |
| The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | abrahamic_covenant_and_promise (+ christ_the_singular_seed) |
| The Law’s Purpose | law_as_temporary_guardian |
| Adoption and Sonship | adoption_as_sons (+ sonship_and_deity_of_christ) |
| Freedom in Christ | freedom_in_christ (+ liberty_not_license) |
| Circumcision and the New Creation | circumcision_and_identity + new_creation |
| Flesh versus Spirit | life_by_the_spirit |
| Fruit of the Spirit | fruit_of_the_spirit |
| Faith Working through Love | faith_working_through_love (added in this v2 regeneration — see §2) |
| Bearing One Another’s Burdens | mutual_burden_bearing |
Registry doctrines beyond this list (incarnation, resurrection_of_christ, unity_in_christ, sowing_and_reaping, boasting_in_the_cross, doing_good_to_all) are implicit/supporting doctrines the letter also teaches, surfaced by the full-book analysis rather than pre-assigned — included per the Full-Book Coverage mandate’s instruction to derive doctrines from every chapter, not only the assigned list.
1. How the doctrine chain holds together
Galatians is a single sustained argument, so its doctrines are not parallel topics but links in one chain:
- Justification by Faith (2:15-21; 3:6-14) — the verdict: righteous standing comes by faith in Christ, not works of the law.
- Law and Grace / The Law’s Purpose (2:21; 3:10-25) — the framework: why the law cannot justify, what it was for (a temporary guardian, 3:24-25), and why grace excludes law-righteousness.
- Crucified with Christ (2:19-20; 5:24; 6:14) — the mechanism: the believer’s union with Christ’s death ends the law’s jurisdiction and the old self’s rule.
- Freedom in Christ (5:1, 13; 4:21-31) — the resulting status: released from the law’s custody and curse.
- Adoption and Sonship (3:26; 4:1-7) — the resulting identity: sons and heirs who cry Abba.
- Circumcision and the New Creation (5:2-6; 6:15) — the resulting irrelevance of the old identity-marker: what counts now is new creation, not circumcision or uncircumcision.
- Flesh versus Spirit / Fruit of the Spirit (5:16-26; 6:8) — the resulting walk: the Spirit produces what the law demanded but could not produce.
- Faith Working through Love (5:6) — the resulting ethic: the only thing that avails is faith made active through love, not a ritual marker and not bare intellectual assent.
- Bearing One Another’s Burdens (6:1-5) — the resulting community practice: the law of Christ fulfilled in mutual care.
Paul’s Apostleship (1:1-24; 2:1-14), The True Gospel versus False Gospels (1:6-9), and The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise (3:6-29) supply the chain’s authority, boundary, and scriptural warrant respectively. Mistranslating an upstream link corrupts every downstream one — which is why the top of the chain carries Critical ratings.
2. Doctrine matrix
| Doctrine | Supporting passages (this letter) | Risk level | Translation risk | Review routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justification by Faith | Galatians 2:15-21; 3:6-14; 3:24; 5:4-5 | Critical | Forensic declaration collapsing into dharmic performance (தர்மம்), forgiveness-only (மன்னிப்பு), or made-virtuous readings; works vocabulary (கிரியைகள்) heard as Saiva Siddhanta’s kiriyai ritual path or karma-merit | Human theologian |
| Law and Grace | Galatians 2:21; 3:10-14; 3:19-25; 5:4 | Critical | Grace-merit contrast dissolving into Tamil merit economy (புண்ணியம், parihāram); law read as dharma or as an ongoing guru rather than expired custodian | Human theologian |
| Freedom in Christ | Galatians 2:4; 4:21-31; 5:1, 13 | Critical | விடுதலை absorbed by moksha-liberation (முக்தி/மோட்சம்/வீடுபேறு), by Dravidian/Eelam political liberation, or by autonomy (license) readings | Human theologian |
| Exclusivity of the One Gospel | Galatians 1:6-9 | Critical | Anathema softened under Tamil religious pluralism (“all religions one path”); double pronouncement reduced to rhetorical flourish | Human theologian |
| Christ Our Curse-Bearer | Galatians 1:4; 2:20; 3:10-14 | Critical | சாபம் rendered as தோஷம் (ritual-remediable affliction), re-importing the parihāram economy; substitution direction blurred | Human theologian |
| Union with Christ in Crucifixion | Galatians 2:19-20; 5:24; 6:14 | Critical | ”No longer I” read as Advaita-style self-dissolution; co-crucifixion read as ascetic தவம்; perfect passive lost | Human theologian |
| Incarnation | Galatians 4:4-5 | Critical | அவதாரம் substitution (strongest pull in Tamil via dasavatara devotion); “born under the law” clause dropped | Human theologian |
| Resurrection of Christ | Galatians 1:1 | Critical | மறுபிறவி (rebirth) substitution; Hindu and Jain frameworks both live in Tamil | Human theologian |
| Sonship and Deity of Christ | Galatians 1:16; 2:20; 4:4-6 | Critical | தெய்வப்புத்திரன் (pantheon-member) reading; the double sending of 4:4-6 losing trinitarian parallelism | Human theologian |
| Life by the Spirit (flesh vs Spirit) | Galatians 3:2-5; 5:16-26; 6:8 | High | மாம்சம் reduced to body (asceticism); Spirit depersonalized to life-force or yogic interior state; fruit (கனி) becoming merit-payoff (பலன்) | Human theologian |
| Adoption as Sons | Galatians 3:26; 4:1-7 | High | Son-status diminished; slave-to-son inversion lost against the bhakti அடியார் (devotee-as-slave) ideal; Abba warmth formalized away | Human theologian |
| Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | Galatians 3:6-9, 15-18, 29 | High | வாக்குத்தத்தம் shading into வரம் (boon); Genesis 15:6 quotation mismatching the inherited கணக்கிடப்பட்ட நீதி | Human theologian |
| Christ the Singular Seed | Galatians 3:16, 19, 29 | High | Number-of-‘seed’ argument destroyed by collective-only rendering of சந்ததி | Human theologian |
| Law as Temporary Guardian | Galatians 3:19-25; 4:1-3 | High | காப்பாளர் becoming குரு (sacralizing the law in the guru-sishya frame); or the law becoming evil (3:21 guard) | Human theologian |
| Unity in Christ | Galatians 2:11-14; 3:28 | High | 3:28 pairs qualified or spiritualized; table-fellowship concreteness lost; புறஜாதியார் misread as caste vocabulary — the live wire of Tamil Nadu church life | Human theologian |
| Liberty, Not License | Galatians 5:13-15 | High | Freedom detached from love-shaped mutual service; the deliberate serve-one-another slave-verb paradox flattened | Human theologian |
| Sowing and Reaping under God’s Judgment | Galatians 6:7-9 | High | Surface-identical to the Tamil karma proverb; must anchor to the personal God and eschatological horizon, never வினைப்பயன்/கர்மபலன் | Human theologian |
| Apostolic Authority of Paul | Galatians 1:1, 11-24; 2:1-14 | High | ”Not from men” independence claim weakened; apostleship assimilated to guru-lineage (parampara) succession | Human theologian |
| New Creation | Galatians 6:15 | High | மறுபிறவி confusion; conflation with மறுபிறப்பு (new birth — related, distinct term) | Human theologian |
| Faith Working through Love | Galatians 5:6 | High | Medio-passive verb misread as “love earns/completes standing,” reopening a works-righteousness door 2:16 closes; அன்பு direction confused with பக்தி | Human theologian |
| Fruit of the Spirit | Galatians 5:22-23 | Medium | Singular head noun pluralized into nine achievements; கனி/பலன் slip | Native speaker |
| Boasting Only in the Cross | Galatians 6:14 | Medium | Honor-shame paradox softened | Native speaker |
| Circumcision and Identity Markers | Galatians 5:2-6, 11-12; 6:12-13 | Medium | சுன்னத்து (Muslim-marker colloquialism) misframing the referent | Native speaker |
| Mutual Burden Bearing | Galatians 6:1-5 | Low | βάρη/φορτίον wordplay lost (minor) | Automated |
| Doing Good to All | Galatians 6:9-10 | Low | Universal scope narrowed (minor) | Automated |
3. Doctrine classification
Explicit doctrines (argued in so many words): justification by faith; law and grace; freedom in Christ; adoption as sons; life by the Spirit; exclusivity of the gospel; curse-bearing substitution; Abrahamic promise; law as guardian; unity in Christ; new creation; faith working through love (5:6, stated as a thesis sentence, not merely implied).
Implicit doctrines (assumed and load-bearing): deity and sonship of Christ; resurrection (stated once, 1:1, then presupposed); trinitarian sending pattern (4:4-6); inspiration and authority of Scripture (Paul argues from a single noun’s number, 3:16 — an extremely high view of the text that the translation must be able to sustain); final judgment (6:7-9).
Contested doctrines (historically debated; translation must not silently take sides beyond the established Tamil Bible tradition): the pistis Christou genitive (rendered objective per tradition; alternative logged); the scope of ἔργα νόμου (whole law vs boundary markers — the Tamil compound works for both); the referent of “Israel of God” (6:16 — translate literally, let the ambiguity stand); the relationship of James’s “men” to James himself (2:12 — translate what the text says, no more).
Essential doctrines (Critical tier): all nine Critical rows above. These are the doctrines whose corruption would change what a Tamil reader believes about how a person is made right with God — the letter’s own test (Galatians 1:8-9).
Secondary doctrines (Medium/Low tiers): expressions and ethics that flow from the essentials; errors reduce clarity but do not alter the gospel.
4. Tamil-specific doctrinal pressure points (summary)
- Merit economy: புண்ணியம்/pariharam/karma vocabulary constantly available in Tamil to re-frame grace as transaction — the single largest class of risk in this curriculum (touches justification, law and grace, curse-bearing, sowing/reaping, fruit of the Spirit).
- Liberation theology collision: விடுதலை vs முக்தி/மோட்சம்/வீடுபேறு vs political liberation — unique in force to Tamil among this pipeline’s languages because the word itself is a live political term on both sides of the Palk Strait.
- Kiriyai collision: Tamil Bible “works” (கிரியைகள்) is homophonous with Saiva Siddhanta’s ritual path (கிரியை) — Galatians is the curriculum where this matters most, since “works” is the letter’s negative pole.
- Guru frame: both the law-as-paidagōgos and Paul’s apostleship must be kept out of the guru-sishya frame (never குரு; no parampara framing of apostolic authority).
- Union without absorption: 2:20’s “no longer I” adjacent to Advaita/Saiva union theologies — the believer indwelt, not dissolved.
- Caste and commensality: 2:11-14 + 3:28 speak directly into Tamil Nadu’s most sensitive social structure; universality must be retained without political sloganeering in the translation itself.
- Astrological ritualism: stoicheia/calendar observance (4:9-10) lands on பஞ்சாங்கம்/ராகு காலம்/navagraha practice — application belongs in teaching notes, not concretized into the terms.
5. Counts
| Tier | Count |
|---|---|
| Critical | 9 |
| High | 11 |
| Medium | 3 |
| Low | 2 |
| Requiring theologian review | 20 |
| Native speaker review | 3 |
| Automated only | 2 |
Cross-checked against assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (identical keys and tiers). Comparative-tradition analysis of these doctrines: 04_comparative_theology.md.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Justification by Faith
Tamil name: விசுவாசத்தினால் நீதிமானாக்கப்படுதல்
Key terms: justified, righteousness, faith, works of the law, credited as righteousness
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the letter’s center. Three Tamil collisions converge here: நீதி must not drift to தர்மம் (dharmic duty-righteousness); the verb must keep the forensic declared-righteous compound நீதிமானாக்கப்படுதல், not மன்னிப்பு (forgiveness) or a made-virtuous reading; and works-vocabulary (கிரியைகள்) must stay bound to the Mosaic law so it cannot be heard as Saiva Siddhanta’s kiriyai ritual path or karmic merit accumulation.
Law and Grace
Tamil name: நியாயப்பிரமாணமும் கிருபையும்
Key terms: law, works of the law, grace, nullify, under law, curse of the law
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Galatians 2:21 makes grace and law-righteousness mutually exclusive. Tamil religious culture is saturated with merit-economy vocabulary (புண்ணியம், கர்மா, parihāram ritual remediation); any softening of the antithesis re-imports the merit economy. கிருபை must never shade toward earned favor, and the law’s role must read as temporary custodian (காப்பாளர்), never as a guru or as dharma.
Freedom in Christ
Tamil name: கிறிஸ்துவில் விடுதலை
Key terms: freedom, free, set free, yoke of slavery, free woman
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: விடுதலை sits in a crowded Tamil semantic field. (1) Hindu liberation theology: முக்தி/மோட்சம் and the Saiva வீடுபேறு mean release from the rebirth cycle — freedom in Christ is release from law, sin, and curse INTO sonship, not escape from embodiment or rebirth. (2) Political register: விடுதலை is the vocabulary of Dravidian anti-caste politics and of the Sri Lankan Tamil armed struggle (விடுதலைப் புலிகள்); for Sri Lankan Tamil readers especially, the theological register must be established by context. (3) It must not collapse into autonomy (சுயாதீனம் reading) — Galatians 5:13 immediately binds freedom to love-shaped service.
Exclusivity of the One Gospel
Tamil name: ஒரே சுவிசேஷத்தின் தனித்தன்மை
Key terms: another gospel, different gospel, accursed, pervert the gospel
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Tamil popular religion holds a deeply rooted pluralism, memorably carried by Thirumular’s line ஒன்றே குலம் ஒருவனே தேவன் (one family, one God) as popularly used to mean all religions are one path. Galatians 1:8-9 pronounces God’s anathema on any alternative gospel — the strongest exclusivity claim in Paul. Translators must not soften the anathema into disapproval, and reviewers must confirm the double pronouncement (1:8 and 1:9) is preserved in full.
Christ Our Curse-Bearer (Substitutionary Atonement)
Tamil name: நமக்காக சாபமான கிறிஸ்து
Key terms: curse, became a curse for us, redeemed, hanged on a tree, gave himself
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: two failure modes. (1) சாபம் must be the law’s judicial curse borne once for all by Christ — never தோஷம், the astrological-affliction category (naga dosham, pithru dosham) that Tamil temple economy treats as removable through paid parihāram rituals; a dosham framing re-creates the transactional remediation system 3:13 abolishes. (2) The substitution direction of 2:20 (the Son gives himself FOR me) inverts the Tamil devotional pattern of the devotee offering self to the deity; the direction must be unmistakable.
Union with Christ in His Crucifixion
Tamil name: கிறிஸ்துவுடன் சிலுவையில் அறையப்பட்ட ஐக்கியம்
Key terms: crucified with Christ, no longer I, Christ lives in me, crucified the flesh, world crucified to me
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Galatians 2:20 can be absorbed by two ready-made Tamil frameworks — Advaita/Saiva Siddhanta union-with-deity (the ‘no longer I’ read as dissolution of the self into the divine) and ascetic self-mortification (co-crucifixion read as தவம்-style austerity). The perfect passive must be preserved (God’s completed act with abiding result), the believer must remain a distinct person indwelt by Christ, and the continuing ‘life I now live in the flesh’ clause must not be dropped.
Incarnation (Born of a Woman, Born under the Law)
Tamil name: தேகதாரணம்
Key terms: born of a woman, born under the law, God sent his Son, fullness of time
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: inherited from the Romans package — never அவதாரம்; Tamil Vaishnavism’s dasavatara devotion makes the avatar frame the strongest single substitution pull in Tamil. Galatians 4:4 adds ‘born under the law’: the Son enters the human condition permanently and specifically under the law’s obligations to redeem those under it — a once-for-all sending, not a repeatable descent.
Resurrection of Christ
Tamil name: கிறிஸ்துவின் உயிர்த்தெழுதல்
Key terms: raised from the dead, raised him
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: inherited convention — உயிர்த்தெழுதல், never மறுபிறவி (a rebirth doctrine shared by Tamil Hindu and Jain frameworks). In Galatians 1:1 the resurrection grounds Paul’s apostleship; the once-for-all bodily sense must be exact.
Sonship and Deity of Christ
Tamil name: கிறிஸ்துவின் குமாரத்துவமும் தெய்வத்துவமும்
Key terms: Son of God, his Son, God sent his Son
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: தேவனுடைய குமாரன் fixed phrase (inherited), never தெய்வப்புத்திரன் (one divine offspring among many in a pantheon). The sending formula of 4:4-6 (God sent his Son … God sent the Spirit of his Son) is implicitly trinitarian; the two sendings must be rendered in parallel and both persons kept fully divine and personal.
High Risk Doctrines
Life by the Spirit (Flesh vs Spirit)
Tamil name: ஆவியானவரால் வாழும் வாழ்க்கை
Key terms: walk by the Spirit, flesh, led by the Spirit, fruit of the Spirit, live by the Spirit, sow to the Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Two coupled risks: (1) மாம்சம் (flesh) must not be reduced to the physical body — Tamil ascetic traditions (தவம், Siddhar discipline, Jain heritage) would then turn Spirit-life into body-negation, whereas Paul’s works of the flesh include social and religious sins; (2) ஆவியானவர் must remain the personal Holy Spirit (inherited term), never an impersonal life-force or the practitioner’s own refined interior state (yogic frame). The fruit/works asymmetry (கனி vs கிரியைகள்) is doctrine-bearing.
Adoption as Sons
Tamil name: புத்திரசுவிகாரம்
Key terms: adoption, sons of God, Abba Father, no longer a slave, heir
Review routing: Human theologian
புத்திரசுவிகாரம் inherited (full son-status with inheritance rights). Galatians sharpens it with the slave-to-son contrast of 4:7 — which directly inverts the Tamil bhakti ideal in which the devotee’s highest self-description is the deity’s slave (அடியார்/அடிமை): the gospel makes slaves into sons. The Abba/அப்பா correspondence (4:6) is the package’s unique zero-gap opportunity — Appa is every Tamil speaker’s ordinary word for father — and should be rendered with full warmth.
Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Tamil name: ஆபிரகாமின் உடன்படிக்கையும் வாக்குத்தத்தமும்
Key terms: promise, covenant, Abraham believed God, blessing of Abraham, inheritance
Review routing: Human theologian
No analogous unilateral promise-covenant concept exists in Tamil Hindu or Jain tradition; வாக்குத்தத்தம் must not shade into வரம் (a boon granted to a petitioner). Genesis 15:6 as quoted in Galatians 3:6 must match the inherited imputed-righteousness rendering (கணக்கிடப்பட்ட நீதி) exactly.
Christ the Singular Seed
Tamil name: ஒரே சந்ததியாகிய கிறிஸ்து
Key terms: seed, offspring, to your seed, Abraham’s seed
Review routing: Human theologian
Paul’s argument turns on grammatical number (‘seed,’ not ‘seeds’). சந்ததி must be handled so the singular referent (Christ) in 3:16 and the corporate extension in 3:29 both work without switching lexemes; a plural or collective-only rendering in 3:16 destroys the argument.
The Law as Temporary Guardian
Tamil name: தற்காலிக காப்பாளராகிய நியாயப்பிரமாணம்
Key terms: guardian, tutor, held in custody, until Christ came, no longer under a guardian, mediator
Review routing: Human theologian
The paidagōgos must read as custodial escort whose term has expired — never குரு (which would sacralize the law as an ongoing spiritual master within the guru-sishya frame Tamil readers know intimately) and not primarily a teacher (OV’s உபாத்தி over-teaches the metaphor). Simultaneously the law must not become evil or worthless (3:21 ‘is the law against the promises of God? Never!’).
Unity in Christ (Neither Jew nor Greek)
Tamil name: கிறிஸ்துவில் ஒற்றுமை
Key terms: neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, all one in Christ Jesus, table fellowship
Review routing: Human theologian
Galatians 3:28 is the New Testament’s most direct anti-hierarchy text, and in Tamil Nadu it lands on the live wire of caste. The Antioch incident (2:11-14) is about who may eat with whom — commensality is precisely the historical marker of caste separation, including documented caste-separated seating and burial in Tamil church history. Retain every pair of 3:28 without qualification; ensure புறஜாதியார் is not misread as caste vocabulary; do not soften table-fellowship language into generic hospitality.
Liberty, Not License
Tamil name: விடுதலை — தன்னிச்சைக்கு அல்ல, அன்பின் ஊழியத்திற்கே
Key terms: freedom, opportunity for the flesh, serve one another, through love
Review routing: Human theologian
Freedom bound immediately to love-shaped mutual service. Guards the விடுதலை rendering against both antinomian misreading (freedom as autonomy — the சுயாதீனம் shading) and political misreading. The serve-one-another clause uses slavery vocabulary (δουλεύετε) deliberately: the freed become willing servants through love — the paradox must survive.
Sowing and Reaping under God’s Judgment
Tamil name: விதைத்ததை அறுத்தல் — கடவுளின் நியாயத்தீர்ப்பின் கீழ்
Key terms: God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, reap corruption, reap eternal life, due season
Review routing: Human theologian
The highest karma-collision passage in the letter: the sowing/reaping maxim is nearly identical in surface form to the Tamil karma proverb வினை விதைத்தவன் வினை அறுப்பான். Translation must anchor the principle to the personal God who is not mocked and to the eschatological horizon (eternal life through the Spirit), not to an impersonal moral mechanism operating across rebirths. Never வினைப்பயன்/கர்மபலன் vocabulary.
Apostolic Authority of Paul
Tamil name: பவுலின் அப்போஸ்தல அதிகாரம்
Key terms: apostle not from men, revelation of Jesus Christ, pillars, right hand of fellowship, opposed him to his face
Review routing: Human theologian
Inherits the Romans package’s elevated apostleship rating for Tamil (குரு collision; the Thomas-at-Mylapore apostolic heritage makes apostleship regionally significant). Galatians adds the independence claim — Paul’s authority is from God’s revelation, not human commissioning or guru-lineage succession (parampara); the not-from-men framing must be exact.
New Creation
Tamil name: புதிய சிருஷ்டி
Key terms: new creation, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
Review routing: Human theologian
புதிய சிருஷ்டி — never மறுபிறவி (reincarnation); keep distinct from மறுபிறப்பு (new birth). The new creation relativizes ritual identity markers — in the Tamil context an implicit word against treating any birth-community identity (including caste) as spiritually decisive.
Faith Working through Love
Tamil name: அன்பினால் செயல்படும் விசுவாசம்
Key terms: faith working through love, avails, faith expressing itself through love
Review routing: Human theologian
One of this curriculum’s assigned book-level doctrines. HIGH: the medio-passive Greek verb means faith IS BEING activated through love, not that the believer manufactures love to earn standing — a Tamil rendering that reads as ‘faith plus love-works secures salvation’ would reopen exactly the works-righteousness door 2:16 closes. Distinguish the love produced (அன்பு, self-giving) from பக்தி (devotee-to-deity devotion, wrong direction) and from கிரியை (a meritorious deed performed for standing).
Medium Risk Doctrines
Fruit of the Spirit
Tamil name: ஆவியின் கனி
Key terms: fruit of the Spirit, love joy peace, against such things there is no law
Review routing: Native speaker review
கனி (organic fruit, singular) not பலன் (karmic payoff). The nine-fold list has stable OV renderings; keep the singular head noun so the fruit reads as one integrated character produced by the Spirit, not nine meritorious achievements.
Boasting Only in the Cross
Tamil name: சிலுவையில் மட்டுமே மேன்மைபாராட்டுதல்
Key terms: boast, far be it from me, cross of our Lord
Review routing: Native speaker review
மேன்மைபாராட்டுதல் (OV). In an honor-shame culture, boasting in an instrument of shame is the point — do not soften the paradox.
Circumcision and Religious Identity Markers
Tamil name: விருத்தசேதனமும் மத அடையாளங்களும்
Key terms: circumcision, uncircumcision, compel to be circumcised, make a good showing in the flesh
Review routing: Native speaker review
விருத்தசேதனம் (Bible term), never colloquial சுன்னத்து — in Tamil society circumcision is primarily a Muslim community marker, so the colloquial term would misframe Paul’s referent. The doctrinal point (no ritual marker adds standing before God) must be kept general enough to apply to any ritual identity badge.
Low Risk Doctrines
Mutual Burden Bearing
Tamil name: ஒருவர் பாரத்தை ஒருவர் சுமத்தல்
Key terms: bear one another’s burdens, law of Christ, restore gently
Review routing: Automated review
Low risk. Note the wordplay: bear one another’s burdens (6:2) yet each carries his own load (6:5) — two different Greek nouns (βάρη/φορτίον); OV distinguishes them (பாரங்கள்/சுமை); preserve the distinction.
Doing Good to All
Tamil name: எல்லாருக்கும் நன்மை செய்தல்
Key terms: do good to everyone, household of faith, not grow weary
Review routing: Automated review
Low risk. நன்மை செய்தல் is plain; the universal scope (‘to everyone’) should stay unqualified.
Referenced passages