11 Doctrine Analysis — Galatians (Full Book Coverage)

This document executes PRD Phase 1 Step 4/5 doctrine analysis for the Galatians curriculum. It is fully consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json (Galatians version): same 21 doctrines, same risk tiers, same review routing. The core passage, Galatians 2:15-21, is the theological anchor of the letter (it states the doctrine of Justification by Faith three times in two verses) but every chapter of Galatians 1–6 is analyzed below; no chapter is silently omitted.

Risk tier definitions (unchanged from the Romans baseline):

• Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
• High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
• Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
• Low — mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding; automated review sufficient.

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Part 1 — Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage

Chapter 1 (1:1-24)

Paul opens by grounding his apostolic authority directly in God and the risen Christ, then immediately confronts the Galatians’ defection toward a rival message.

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
Paul’s Apostleship	1:1, 1:11-12, 1:15-17	Medium	Authority “not from men” grounds the whole letter’s argument.
Resurrection of Christ	1:1	Critical	Single clause (“raised him from the dead”) carries the letter’s entire authority claim from its first verse.
Lordship of Christ	1:3	Critical	Opening benediction; “our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The True Gospel versus False Gospels	1:6-9, 1:11-12	Critical	The double anathema (1:8-9) and “a different gospel” (1:6) are stated here for the first time.
Universal Human Accountability	1:4 (implicit — “for our sins”)	High	Grounds the gospel’s necessity; treated fully in ch. 2-3.

Chapter 2 (2:1-21 — includes core passage 2:15-21)

The Antioch confrontation (2:1-14) and the doctrinal thesis statement (2:15-21).

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
Circumcision and the New Creation	2:3-9	Critical	Titus not compelled to be circumcised; sets up the letter’s central controversy.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles	2:11-14	Medium	Peter’s hypocrisy at Antioch; table fellowship.
The True Gospel versus False Gospels	2:5, 2:14	Critical	”Truth of the gospel” preserved/compromised.
Justification by Faith	2:15-17, 2:21	Critical	CORE PASSAGE. Stated three times in 2:16 alone.
Law and Grace	2:16-21	High	”Works of the law” vs. “faith in Christ”; “I do not nullify the grace of God.”
Crucified with Christ	2:19-20	Critical	”I have been crucified with Christ… Christ lives in me.”
Deity of Christ / Sonship of Christ	2:20	Critical	”The Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Universal Human Accountability	2:15-17	High	”We ourselves are sinners” — Jew and Gentile alike.

Chapter 3 (3:1-29)

Paul’s Scripture argument from Abraham, the curse of the law, and the law’s temporary custodial role.

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise	3:6-9, 3:14-18, 3:29	High	”Seed” (singular, Christological, 3:16); “sons of Abraham” by faith.
The Law’s Purpose	3:10-13, 3:19-25	High	Curse of the law (3:10,13); law as paidagōgos (3:24-25).
Law and Grace	3:10-13	High	Redemption from the law’s curse; “Christ redeemed us… having become a curse for us.”
Unity of Jews and Gentiles	3:8, 3:14, 3:28	Medium	”Neither Jew nor Greek… all one in Christ Jesus.”
Circumcision and the New Creation	3:27-28	Critical	”Baptized into Christ… put on Christ” — union language anticipating ch. 6’s “new creation.”

Chapter 4 (4:1-31)

Adoption as sons, the incarnation clause, and the Hagar/Sarah allegory.

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
Incarnation	4:4	Critical	”Sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” — uniquely adds “under the law.”
Adoption and Sonship	4:1-7, 4:9	High	Slave/minor/heir contrast; “Abba, Father” (4:6).
Sonship of Christ	4:4, 4:6	Critical	Unique divine Sonship vs. believers’ adoptive sonship — must not be flattened together.
The Law’s Purpose	4:1-11	High	”Elemental things of the world” (stoicheia).
The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise	4:21-31	High	Hagar/Sarah allegory; two covenants.
Freedom in Christ	4:21-31	High	”Son of the free woman” — freedom vs. slavery allegory.

Chapter 5 (5:1-26)

Freedom, the flesh/Spirit conflict, and the fruit of the Spirit.

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
Freedom in Christ	5:1, 5:13	High	”For freedom Christ has set us free”; freedom FOR loving service, not license.
Law and Grace	5:1-4, 5:18	High	”Fall from grace” (5:4) scoped precisely to seeking law-righteousness.
Circumcision and the New Creation	5:2-6	Critical	”Circumcision counts for nothing… faith working through love.”
Faith Working through Love	5:6, 5:13-14	High	Love as faith’s fruit, not an added justification requirement.
Flesh versus Spirit	5:16-25	High	Works of the flesh (vice list) vs. fruit of the Spirit.
Fruit of the Spirit	5:22-23	Medium	Singular “trái” (fruit); distinct “trung tín” vs. “đức tin.”

Chapter 6 (6:1-18)

Mutual burden-bearing, sowing and reaping, and the closing new-creation statement.

Doctrine	Passages	Risk	Notes
Bearing One Another’s Burdens	6:1-5, 6:10	Medium	Communal burden-bearing (6:2) vs. personal accountability (6:5).
Flesh versus Spirit	6:7-8	High	Sowing/reaping; personal-God moral order, not karma.
Circumcision and the New Creation	6:12-15	Critical	”Neither circumcision… but a new creation” — the letter’s climactic restatement.
Lordship of Christ	6:14, 6:18	Critical	Closing benediction and boast “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Part 2 — Master Doctrine Matrix (All 21 Doctrines)

#	Doctrine	Vietnamese Doctrine Name	Risk	Primary Passages (Galatians)	Translation Risk (Summary)	Review Routing
1	Justification by Faith	Sự Xưng Công Bình bởi Đức Tin	Critical	2:16-17, 2:21, 3:6, 3:8, 3:11, 3:24, 5:4-5	Antithesis between ân điển and các việc làm của luật pháp must stay maximally sharp; risk of unconscious mapping onto công đức/phước đức.	Human theologian
2	The True Gospel versus False Gospels	Tin Lành Thật đối với Các Tin Lành Giả	Critical	1:6-9, 1:11-12, 2:5, 2:14	”Tin Lành khác” risks reading as merely a different Protestant teaching, not Paul’s claim of a message that forfeits the name “gospel.” Anathema must retain solemn divine-curse weight.	Human theologian
3	Paul’s Apostleship	Chức Sứ Đồ của Phao-lô	Medium	1:1, 1:11-12, 1:15-17, 2:7-9	”Revelation” wording must avoid folk spirit-medium/fortune-teller vocabulary (đồng bóng, thầy bói).	Native speaker review
4	Law and Grace	Luật Pháp và Ân Điển	High	2:16-21, 3:10-13, 3:19-25, 5:1-4, 5:18	Sustained antithesis across the whole letter; “ở dưới luật pháp” must stay verbatim-consistent; “lìa khỏi ân điển” scoped precisely.	Human theologian
5	Crucified with Christ	Cùng Bị Đóng Đinh với Đấng Christ	Critical	2:19-20, 5:24, 6:14	Risk of assimilation to Buddhist ascetic self-mortification/detachment; must remain a completed, Christ-accomplished union event appropriated by faith.	Human theologian
6	The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise	Giao Ước và Lời Hứa với Áp-ra-ham	High	3:6-9, 3:14-18, 3:29, 4:21-31	Vietnamese lineage-centered identity (dòng họ, gia phả) risks reframing “sons of Abraham” as devaluing bloodline generally; singular Christological “seed” risks reading as generic plural.	Human theologian
7	The Law’s Purpose	Mục Đích của Luật Pháp	High	3:10-13, 3:19-25, 4:1-11	Traditional “thầy giáo” for paidagōgos undersells the custodial-slave/disciplinary/temporary sense; stoicheia must never default to bare “thần linh.”	Human theologian
8	Adoption and Sonship	Sự Làm Con Nuôi và Địa Vị Làm Con	High	4:1-7, 4:9, 4:21-31	Confucian filial duty (đạo hiếu) risks reading sonship as hierarchical inherited obligation rather than grace-given status.	Human theologian
9	Freedom in Christ	Sự Tự Do trong Đấng Christ	High	2:4, 4:21-31, 5:1, 5:13	Risk of reading as general social liberation from Confucian hierarchy rather than freedom from the law’s condemnation and sin’s dominion; must be taught as freedom FOR service, not license.	Human theologian
10	Circumcision and the New Creation	Phép Cắt Bì và Sự Dựng Nên Mới	Critical	2:3-9, 3:27-28, 5:2-6, 6:12-15	”Sự dựng nên mới” must be a decisive, singular, once-for-all transformation, never a repeatable renewal cycle (luân hồi-adjacent risk).	Human theologian
11	Flesh versus Spirit	Xác Thịt đối với Thánh Linh	High	5:16-25, 6:7-8	Ethical “xác thịt” must be distinguished from Buddhist body-as-impermanence/detachment framework; sowing/reaping is personal-God moral order, not karma.	Human theologian
12	Fruit of the Spirit	Trái của Thánh Linh	Medium	5:22-23	Preserve singular “trái” (organic unity, not checklist); “trung tín” (fruit sense) must not conflate with “đức tin” (saving faith).	Native speaker review
13	Faith Working through Love	Đức Tin Hay Làm Ra bởi Sự Yêu Thương	High	5:6, 5:13-14	Love must be faith’s expression/fruit, not an added justification requirement — risk of reintroducing công đức-style merit into justification.	Human theologian
14	Bearing One Another’s Burdens	Mang Gánh Nặng cho Nhau	Medium	6:1-5, 6:10	Distinguish communal burden-bearing (6:2) from personal accountability (6:5) so the two are not read as contradictory.	Native speaker review
15	Incarnation	Sự Nhập Thể	Critical	4:4	Uniquely adds “born under the law,” which must be preserved (grounds 4:5’s redemption claim); never framed through hóa thân.	Human theologian
16	Deity of Christ	Thần Tính của Đấng Christ	Critical	2:20, 4:4-6	Co-equal eternal deity, not a deified folk hero; “Christ lives in me” risks non-dual misreading.	Human theologian
17	Sonship of Christ	Địa Vị Con của Đấng Christ	Critical	2:20, 4:4, 4:6	Eternal, unique Sonship must not be flattened to the same category as believers’ adoptive sonship, which the same chapter also teaches.	Human theologian
18	Resurrection of Christ	Sự Sống Lại của Đấng Christ	Critical	1:1	Sự sống lại, never đầu thai/luân hồi; grounds Paul’s entire apostolic authority claim from the letter’s first verse.	Human theologian
19	Lordship of Christ	Quyền Làm Chúa của Đấng Christ	Critical	1:3, 6:14, 6:18	Exclusive, supreme Lordship frames both the letter’s opening and closing benedictions.	Human theologian
20	Unity of Jews and Gentiles	Sự Hiệp Một của Người Do Thái và Dân Ngoại	Medium	2:11-14, 3:8, 3:14, 3:28	Requires OT/NT background; 3:28’s extension to social/gender categories needs unqualified-universality handling.	Native speaker review
21	Universal Human Accountability	Trách Nhiệm của Mọi Người trước Đức Chúa Trời	High	2:15-17, 3:10, 3:22	Must not soften into a graded karmic or ancestral-merit scale where some persons’ law-works partially offset guilt.	Human theologian

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Part 3 — Risk Summary (Consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json)

Tier	Count	Review Routing
Critical	9	Human theologian (every occurrence)
High	8	Human theologian
Medium	4	Native speaker review
Low	0	Automated review
Total doctrines	21	17 theologian / 4 native speaker / 0 automated-only

No chapter of Galatians was found to contribute zero doctrinal load. Chapters 1 and 2 concentrate apostolic-authority and gospel-purity doctrines; chapter 2:15-21 (the core passage) concentrates the letter’s justification thesis; chapters 3-4 concentrate covenant, law, and sonship doctrines; chapters 5-6 concentrate freedom, flesh/Spirit, fruit, and community-ethics doctrines. This matrix, together with 08_core_glossary.md and doctrine_risk_registry.json, forms the complete Phase 1 doctrine-risk foundation for Phase 2 segment translation.

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Critical Risk Doctrines

Justification by Faith

Vietnamese name: Sự Xưng Công Bình bởi Đức Tin
Key terms: justification, righteousness, works of the law, imputed righteousness, faith
Review routing: Human theologian

Galatians 2:16 states this doctrine three times in one verse — the letter’s thesis. Grounded risk: Vietnamese hearers from Buddhist backgrounds may unconsciously map ‘works that earn standing’ onto công đức/phước đức (merit accumulated through religious practice/almsgiving) rather than understanding sự xưng công bình as a forensic declaration credited apart from any performance. The antithesis between ân điển and các việc làm của luật pháp must be rendered with maximum sharpness.

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The True Gospel versus False Gospels

Vietnamese name: Tin Lành Thật đối với Các Tin Lành Giả
Key terms: gospel, different gospel, anathema, truth of the gospel
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: ‘Tin Lành’ is itself the common Vietnamese name for Protestantism generally, so ‘Tin Lành khác’ (a different gospel) risks being read as merely ‘a different Protestant teaching or denomination’ rather than Paul’s actual claim that the rival message forfeits the name ‘gospel’ entirely. The twice-repeated anathema (1:8-9) must retain the weight of a solemn divine curse, not ordinary disapproval — a real risk given that Vietnamese has many milder words for disagreement that translators may reach for by habit.

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Crucified with Christ

Vietnamese name: Cùng Bị Đóng Đinh với Đấng Christ
Key terms: crucified with Christ, Christ lives in me, gave himself for me, crucified the flesh, world crucified to me
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: ‘Tôi đã cùng bị đóng đinh…với Đấng Christ’ risks being assimilated to the gradual self-mortification and extinguishing of desire pursued in Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist ascetic practice toward liberation from suffering, rather than understood as a completed, Christ-accomplished union event appropriated by faith. Separately, ‘Đấng Christ sống trong tôi’ risks being read through Vietnamese Buddhist non-dual concepts of self as the believer’s personal identity dissolving into an impersonal divine essence, rather than personal indwelling by a personal Christ.

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Circumcision and the New Creation

Vietnamese name: Phép Cắt Bì và Sự Dựng Nên Mới
Key terms: circumcision, uncircumcision, baptized into Christ, new creation, neither Jew nor Greek
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: ‘sự dựng nên mới’ (new creation, 6:15) must be taught as a decisive, singular, once-for-all, God-accomplished transformation — parallel in weight to the baseline’s Critical caution around resurrection and salvation — and must never be framed as a repeatable renewal cycle, which would risk collapsing into luân hồi-adjacent (rebirth-cycle) thinking central to Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist cosmology.

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Incarnation

Vietnamese name: Sự Nhập Thể
Key terms: son of God, born of a woman, born under the law, sent forth his Son
Review routing: Human theologian

Galatians 4:4 uniquely adds ‘born under the law’ to the incarnation statement — this clause grounds Christ’s qualification to redeem those under the law (4:5) and must be preserved, not smoothed into a generic birth notice. As in the Romans baseline, never framed through hóa thân, the Buddhist concept of a bodhisattva’s or deity’s manifestation into a body as one instance among many possible manifestations.

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Deity of Christ

Vietnamese name: Thần Tính của Đấng Christ
Key terms: Son of God, Christ lives in me
Review routing: Human theologian

As in the Romans baseline: co-equal, eternal divine nature, not a deified historical hero venerated at folk temples (đền) or an enlightened teacher. Galatians 2:20’s ‘Christ lives in me’ additionally risks a non-dual misreading (see Crucified with Christ doctrine) that would obscure Christ’s distinct personal deity.

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Sonship of Christ

Vietnamese name: Địa Vị Con của Đấng Christ
Key terms: Son of God, his Son
Review routing: Human theologian

Eternal, unique Sonship, not a title claimed by a deified ancestor or folk-hero spirit, as in the Romans baseline. Galatians 4:4-6 ties this directly to believers’ own adoption as sons, requiring care that the Son’s unique, eternal Sonship is not flattened to the same category as the adopted sonship believers receive through him.

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Resurrection of Christ

Vietnamese name: Sự Sống Lại của Đấng Christ
Key terms: raised him from the dead
Review routing: Human theologian

As in the Romans baseline: sự sống lại, never đầu thai/luân hồi (rebirth/reincarnation, central to Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist cosmology). Galatians grounds Paul’s entire apostolic authority in this single opening clause, so its mistranslation would compromise the letter’s authority claim from its first verse.

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Lordship of Christ

Vietnamese name: Quyền Làm Chúa của Đấng Christ
Key terms: Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ
Review routing: Human theologian

As in the Romans baseline: exclusive, supreme Lordship, distinguished from generic respectful address. Frames both the letter’s opening and closing benedictions, requiring consistent Critical-tier care at both ends of the letter.

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High Risk Doctrines

Law and Grace

Vietnamese name: Luật Pháp và Ân Điển
Key terms: law, grace, works of the law, under the law, fall from grace, nullify grace, died to the law
Review routing: Human theologian

Galatians restates the baseline’s ân điển vs. công đức/phước đức/ơn nghĩa collision in its sharpest Pauline antithetical form, sustained across the entire letter rather than a single passage as in Romans. ‘Lìa khỏi ân điển’ (fall from grace, 5:4) must be scoped precisely to seeking law-righteousness, not read as implying salvation can be lost through ordinary moral failure. ‘Ở dưới luật pháp’ must remain verbatim-consistent across all five occurrences (3:23; 4:4-5,21; 5:18) as a technical argumentative term.

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The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise

Vietnamese name: Giao Ước và Lời Hứa với Áp-ra-ham
Key terms: promise, covenant, seed, sons of Abraham, heir
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: Vietnamese identity is strongly organized around lineage and ancestral descent (dòng họ, gia phả), so Paul’s paradoxical redefinition of ‘sons of Abraham’ around faith rather than bloodline requires deliberate teaching to avoid being read as devaluing family lineage generally, when Paul’s point is narrower — redefining covenant membership specifically. The singular, Christological argument about ‘seed’ (dòng dõi, 3:16) also risks being read as a generic plural collective in natural Vietnamese usage, obscuring Paul’s grammatical point.

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The Law’s Purpose

Vietnamese name: Mục Đích của Luật Pháp
Key terms: guardian/tutor (paidagōgos), under the law, elemental things of the world, curse of the law
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: the traditional Vietnamese rendering ‘thầy giáo’ for παιδαγωγός foregrounds instruction and undersells the custodial-guardian-slave, disciplinary, strictly-temporary sense that is the entire point of Paul’s argument that the law’s role was custodial and provisional, not salvific. Separately, στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (‘elemental things of the world’) must never default to bare ‘thần linh,’ which would collide directly with the folk-spirit category the baseline already forbids for Holy Spirit.

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Adoption and Sonship

Vietnamese name: Sự Làm Con Nuôi và Địa Vị Làm Con
Key terms: adoption, Abba Father, sent forth his Son born of a woman born under the law, heir, known by God
Review routing: Human theologian

Galatians 4 develops the slave/minor/heir contrast at greater length than Romans 8, intensifying the risk that Vietnamese readers, shaped by Confucian filial duty (đạo hiếu), read sonship as primarily a hierarchy of inherited obligation to a father figure rather than a grace-given status secured entirely by Christ’s redemptive work (4:4-5).

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Freedom in Christ

Vietnamese name: Sự Tự Do trong Đấng Christ
Key terms: freedom, yoke of slavery, slave woman/free woman, fall from grace
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: ‘sự tự do’ could be misread as a general social liberation from Confucian hierarchical or filial (hiếu) obligation, a socially significant claim in Vietnamese culture, rather than the specific freedom from the law’s condemning power and sin’s dominion that Paul teaches. Must also be taught as freedom FOR loving, Spirit-led service (5:13), not freedom as license — a misreading Paul himself immediately guards against.

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Flesh versus Spirit

Vietnamese name: Xác Thịt đối với Thánh Linh
Key terms: flesh (ethical sense), walk by the Spirit, works of the flesh, sow/reap
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: the ethical sense of ‘xác thịt’ (flesh) must be distinguished from the Buddhist framework of the body as a source of impermanent suffering to be transcended through meditative detachment. Paul’s flesh is a morally culpable, sin-oriented disposition requiring the Spirit’s decisive victory through union with Christ, not a detachment technique achieved by the practitioner’s own discipline.

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Faith Working through Love

Vietnamese name: Đức Tin Hay Làm Ra bởi Sự Yêu Thương
Key terms: faith working through love, faith, love
Review routing: Human theologian

Grounded risk: love must be taught as faith’s active expression/fruit, not as a separate additional requirement alongside faith for justification. If Vietnamese phrasing implies love is an added condition, it risks reintroducing a merit-based requirement resembling công đức into the doctrine of justification, directly undermining the Justification by Faith doctrine stated in 2:16.

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Universal Human Accountability

Vietnamese name: Trách Nhiệm của Mọi Người trước Đức Chúa Trời
Key terms: sinners, no one justified by works of the law, all flesh
Review routing: Human theologian

As in the Romans baseline: all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike, stands equally guilty before a personal God and equally unable to be justified by law-works; must be retained without softening into a graded karmic or ancestral-merit scale in which some persons’ ‘works of the law’ might partially offset their guilt.

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Medium Risk Doctrines

Paul’s Apostleship

Vietnamese name: Chức Sứ Đồ của Phao-lô
Key terms: apostle, not from men nor through man, revelation, set apart from the womb
Review routing: Native speaker review

The term ‘sứ đồ’ itself carries low syncretism risk in established Vietnamese Christian usage. The main translation-risk is ensuring ‘sự tỏ ra/mặc khải’ (revelation, 1:12,16) is not phrased with vocabulary suggestive of Vietnamese folk spirit-mediums or fortune-tellers (đồng bóng, thầy bói) receiving messages, which would undermine the claim of direct disclosure from the one true God.

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Fruit of the Spirit

Vietnamese name: Trái của Thánh Linh
Key terms: fruit of the Spirit, faithfulness (fruit sense), love, joy, peace, self-control
Review routing: Native speaker review

The singular ‘trái’ (fruit, not ‘các trái’) must be preserved to convey organic Spirit-produced unity rather than a checklist of separately achieved virtues. πίστις within this list (character faithfulness) must be rendered ‘trung tín,’ distinct from ‘đức tin’ (saving faith directed at Christ) used elsewhere in the letter, to avoid conflating the two senses.

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Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Vietnamese name: Mang Gánh Nặng cho Nhau
Key terms: bear one another’s burdens, restore in gentleness, his own load, household of faith
Review routing: Native speaker review

Relatively low direct syncretism risk; the main clarity concern is distinguishing communal burden-bearing (6:2) from continued personal accountability (6:5, ‘his own load’) so the two commands are not read as contradictory.

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Unity of Jews and Gentiles

Vietnamese name: Sự Hiệp Một của Người Do Thái và Dân Ngoại
Key terms: Jew and Gentile, no distinction, neither Jew nor Greek, one in Christ
Review routing: Native speaker review

As in the Romans baseline: requires OT/NT background teaching; comparatively low direct cultural-analogue risk in the Vietnamese context, though Galatians 3:28’s extension to social and gender categories requires the same unqualified-universality handling as the baseline’s validation rules require.