The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council was held in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
around AD 50. It is unique among the
ancient pre-ecumenical councils in that it is considered by
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
to be a prototype and forerunner of the later
ecumenical council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote ar ...
s and a key part of
Christian ethics
Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, whic ...
. The council decided that
Gentile
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...
converts to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the fasts, and other specific rituals, including the rules concerning
circumcision of males.
The Council did, however, retain the prohibitions on eating
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...
,
meat containing blood, and meat of animals that were strangled, and on
fornication
Fornication is generally consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. When one or more of the partners having consensual sexual intercourse is married to another person, it is called adultery. Nonetheless, John ...
and
idolatry, sometimes referred to as the Apostolic Decree or Jerusalem Quadrilateral. The purpose and origin of these four prohibitions is debated.
Accounts of the council are found in
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
chapter 15 (in two different forms, the
Alexandrian and Western versions) and also possibly in
Paul's
letter to the Galatians
The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southe ...
(chapter 2).
Some scholars dispute that Galatians 2 is about the Council of Jerusalem, while others have defended this identification.
Historical background
The Council of Jerusalem is generally dated to 48 AD, roughly 15 to 25 years after the
crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consider ...
, between
26 and 36 AD.
Acts 15
Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Paul and Barnabas traveling to Jerusalem to attend the Council of Jerusalem and the beginning of Paul's second missionary jour ...
and
Galatians 2
Galatians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between 49 and 58 CE. This chapter contains the meeting acc ...
both suggest that the meeting was called to debate whether or not male Gentiles who were converting to become followers of Jesus were required to become
circumcised
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topic ...
; the rite of circumcision was considered execrable and repulsive during the period of
Hellenization
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
of the
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
,
and was especially adversed in
Classical civilization both from
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
and
Romans, which instead valued the
foreskin positively.
At the time, most followers of Jesus (which historians refer to as
Jewish Christians) were Jewish by birth and even
converts
Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
would have considered the
early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...
as a part of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
. According to scholars, the Jewish Christians affirmed every aspect of the then contemporary
Second Temple Judaism
Second Temple Judaism refers to the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
The Second Temple ...
with the addition of the belief that Jesus was the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
. Unless males were circumcised, they could not be
God's People
Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of a "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term ( he, עם ס� ...
. The meeting was called to decide whether circumcision for gentile converts was requisite for community membership since certain individuals were teaching that you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved".
Issues and outcome
The purpose of the meeting, according to Acts, was to resolve a disagreement in
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...
, which had wider implications than just circumcision, since circumcision is the "everlasting" sign of the
Abrahamic covenant (). Some of the
Pharisees
The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs b ...
who had become believers insisted that it was "needful to circumcise them, and to command
hemto keep the
law of Moses
The Law of Moses ( he, תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The law revealed to Moses by God.
Terminology
The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew ...
" (
KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
).
The primary issue which was addressed related to the requirement of
circumcision
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Top ...
, as the author of Acts relates, but other important matters arose as well, as the Apostolic Decree indicates. The dispute was between those, such as the followers of the "Pillars of the Church", led by
James, who believed, following his interpretation of the
Great Commission
In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain i ...
, that the church must observe the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, i.e. the rules of traditional
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
, and
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, who believed there was no such necessity.
The main concern for the Apostle Paul, which he subsequently expressed in greater detail with
his letters directed to the
early Christian communities in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, was the inclusion of Gentiles into God's
New Covenant
The New Covenant (Hebrew '; Greek ''diatheke kaine'') is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the ...
, sending the message that
faith in Christ is sufficient for
salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...
.
(''See also''
Supersessionism
Supersessionism, also called replacement theology or fulfillment theology, is a Christian theology which asserts that the New Covenant through Jesus Christ has superseded or replaced the Mosaic covenant exclusive to the Jews. Supersessionist theo ...
,
New Covenant
The New Covenant (Hebrew '; Greek ''diatheke kaine'') is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the ...
,
Antinomianism,
Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism wer ...
, and
Paul the Apostle and Judaism)
At the council, following advice offered by
Simon Peter ( and ),
Barnabas and Paul gave an account of their ministry among the gentiles (), and the apostle
James quoted from the words of the prophet
Amos (, quoting ). James added his own words to the quotation: "Known to God from eternity are all His works" and then submitted a proposal, which was accepted by the Church and became known as the Apostolic Decree:
sets out the content of the letter written in accordance with James' proposal.
The
Western version of Acts (see
Acts of the Apostles: Manuscripts) adds the negative form of the
Golden Rule ("and whatever things ye would not have done to yourselves, do not do to another").
This determined questions wider than that of circumcision, particularly dietary questions, but also fornication and idolatry and blood, and also the application of
Biblical law Biblical law refers to the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity.
Judaism
* Law of Moses
* Mitzvah, divine commandment
** The Ten Commandments
** 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah, laws applicable to all o ...
to non-Jews. It was stated by the
Apostles
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
and
Elders in the council: "the Holy Spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper." (Acts 15:27–28) And this Apostolic Decree was considered binding on all the other local Christian congregations in other regions. (''See also''
Biblical law directed at non-Jews,
Seven Laws of Noah
In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah ( he, שבע מצוות בני נח, ''Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach''), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws (from the Hebrew pronunciation of " Noah"), are a set of universal moral la ...
,
Biblical law in Christianity Biblical law refers to the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity.
Judaism
* Law of Moses
* Mitzvah, divine commandment
** The Ten Commandments
** 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah, laws applicable to ...
, and
Ten Commandments in Christianity)
The writer of Acts gives an account of a restatement by James and the elders in Jerusalem of the contents of the letter on the occasion of Paul's final Jerusalem visit, immediately prior to Paul's arrest at the temple, recounting: "When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present." (Acts 21:17–18,
ESV
The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published crit ...
) The elders then proceed to notify Paul of what seems to have been a common concern among Jewish believers, that he was teaching
Diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
Jewish converts to Christianity "to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs." They remind the assembly that, "as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality". In the view of some scholars, the reminder of James and the elders here is an expression of concern that Paul was not fully teaching the decision of the Jerusalem Council's letter to Gentiles, particularly in regard to non-strangled
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
meat, which contrasts with Paul's advice to Gentiles in Corinth, to "eat whatever is sold in the meat markets" (1 Corinthians 10:25).
Historicity
The description of the Apostolic Council in Acts 15, generally considered the same event described in Galatians 2, is considered by some scholars to be contradictory to the Galatians account. The historicity of Luke's account has been challenged, and was rejected completely by some scholars in the mid to late 20th century. However, more recent scholarship inclines towards treating the Jerusalem Council and its rulings as a historical event,
["There is an increasing trend among scholars toward considering the Jerusalem Council as historical event. An overwhelming majority identifies the reference to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 with Paul's account in Gal. 2.1–10, and this accord is not just limited to the historicity of the gathering alone but extends also to the authenticity of the arguments deriving from the Jerusalem church itself.", Philip, "The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology: the Eschatological Bestowal of the Spirit", Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2, Reihe, p. 205 (2005). Mohr Siebeck.] though this is sometimes expressed with caution.
Bruce Metzger's ''Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'' includes a summary of current research on the topic as of about 1994:
Interpreting the Council's decision
James's "Apostolic Decree" was that the requirement of circumcision for males was not obligatory for Gentile converts, possibly in order to make it easier for them to join the movement. However, the Council did retain the prohibitions against Gentile converts eating meat containing blood, or meat of animals not properly slain. It also retained the prohibitions against "fornication" and "idol worship". The Decree may have been a
major act of differentiation of the Church from its Jewish roots.
''
The Jewish Encyclopedia'' states:
''
The Jewish Encyclopedia'' also states:
The ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' article o
Judaizersstates:
Joseph A. Fitzmyer disputes the claim that the Apostolic Decree is based on the Noahide laws () and instead proposes as the basis for it
(see also
Leviticus 18). He also argues that the decision was meant as a practical compromise to help Jewish and Gentile Christians to get along, not a theological statement intended to bind Christians for all time.
According to the 19th-century Roman Catholic Bishop
Karl Josef von Hefele
Karl Josef von Hefele (March 15, 1809 – June 6, 1893) was a Roman Catholic bishop and theologian of Germany.
Biography
Hefele was born at Unterkochen in Württemberg and was educated at Tübingen, where in 1839 he became professor-ordinary ...
, the Apostolic Decree of the Jerusalem Council "has been obsolete for centuries in the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
", though it is still recognized and observed by the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
.
Karl Josef von Hefele
Karl Josef von Hefele (March 15, 1809 – June 6, 1893) was a Roman Catholic bishop and theologian of Germany.
Biography
Hefele was born at Unterkochen in Württemberg and was educated at Tübingen, where in 1839 he became professor-ordinary ...
'
commentary on canon II of Gangra
notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show. Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
in his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third (731) forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuse, like other laws." Acts 28 Hyperdispensationalists, such as the 20th century Anglican
E. W. Bullinger, would be another example of a group that believes the decree (and everything before Acts 28) no longer applies.
See also
*
Ancient church councils (pre-ecumenical)
In Christianity, Church councils are formal meetings of bishops and representatives of several churches who are brought together to regulate points of doctrine or discipline. The meetings may be of a single ecclesiastical community or may involv ...
*
Antinomianism
*
Biblical law in Christianity Biblical law refers to the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity.
Judaism
* Law of Moses
* Mitzvah, divine commandment
** The Ten Commandments
** 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah, laws applicable to ...
*
Binding and loosing
*
Brotherly love (philosophy)
Brotherly love in the biblical sense is an extension of the natural affection associated with near kin, toward the greater community of fellow believers, that goes beyond the mere duty in to "love thy neighbour as thyself", and shows itself as " ...
*
Christian ethics
Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, whic ...
*
Christian Torah-submission
*
Circumcision controversy in early Christianity
According to the Hebrew Bible, circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as "a token of the covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations, as an "everlasting covenant".
The Counc ...
*
Circumcision in the Bible#In rabbinic literature
*
Circumcision in the Bible
Religious circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism and Islam. Circumcision for religious reasons is most promi ...
*
Jewish Christians
*
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
*
Judaizers
*
Legalism (theology)
In Christian theology, ''legalism'' (or nomism) is a pejorative term applied to the idea that "by doing good works or by obeying the law, a person earns and merits salvation."
The ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States'' defines ' ...
*
New Perspective on Paul
The "New Perspective on Paul" is a movement within the field of biblical studies concerned with the understanding of the writings of the Apostle Paul. The "new perspective" was started with liberal scholar E. P. Sanders' 1977 work ''Pau ...
*
Pauline Christianity
*
Restorationism (Christian primitivism)
Footnotes
*
* Robert Eisenman in ''James the Brother of Jesus'' identifies Paul with Ananias the Jewish merchant (as described by
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
Jewish Antiquities 20.2.3–4, who proselytized Gentiles teaching them that faith in God is superior to circumcision.
* There are two major versions of Acts: Alexandrian and Western; with preference generally given to the Alexandrian, see
Bruce Metzger's ''Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'' which has for the Western 15:2, "for Paul spoke maintaining firmly that they should stay as they were when converted; but those who had come from Jerusalem ordered them, Paul and Barnabas and certain others, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders that they might be judged before them about this question."
* According to Bruce Metzger's ''Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'': "the Apostolic Decree
5.29, 15.20, 21.25... contain many problems concerning text and exegesis"; "it is possible ... (fornication means) marriage within the prohibited
Levitical Degrees (), which the rabbis described as "forbidden for ''porneia''", or mixed marriages with pagans (; also compare ), or participation in pagan worship which had long been described by Old Testament prophets as spiritual adultery and which, in fact, offered opportunity in many temples for religious prostitution"; "An extensive literature exists on the text and exegesis";
NRSV has things polluted by idols, fornication, whatever has been strangled, blood;
NIV has food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, meat of strangled animals, blood;
Young's
Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs.
The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...
has pollutions of the idols, whoredom, strangled thing, blood; Gaus' ''
Unvarnished New Testament'' has pollution of idolatrous sacrifices, unchastity, meat of strangled animals, blood;
NAB has pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, meat of strangled animals, blood.
Karl Josef von Hefele
Karl Josef von Hefele (March 15, 1809 – June 6, 1893) was a Roman Catholic bishop and theologian of Germany.
Biography
Hefele was born at Unterkochen in Württemberg and was educated at Tübingen, where in 1839 he became professor-ordinary ...
'
commentary on canon II of Gangranotes: "We further see that, at the time of the
Synod of Gangra
The Synod of Gangra was held in 340, at Gangra (in modern Turkey). The synod condemned Manichaeans, and their practices. The concluding canons of the synod condemned the Manichaeans for their actions, and declared many of their practices anathem ...
, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...
, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show.
Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third
Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
in his work
Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century,
Pope Gregory the Third (731) forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed
Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuse, like other laws."
*
Hillel the Elder
Hillel ( he, הִלֵּל ''Hīllēl''; variously called ''Hillel HaGadol'', ''Hillel HaZaken'', ''Hillel HaBavli'' or ''HaBavli'', was born according to tradition in Babylon c. 110 BCE, died 10 CE in Jerusalem) was a Jewish religious leader, s ...
when asked by a Gentile to teach the whole
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
while standing on one foot cited the negative form of the Golden Rule, also cited in
Tobitbr>
4:15 Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
in , part of the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It ...
, cited the positive form as summary of the "
Law and
Prophets".
* Whether or not is a record of the Council of Jerusalem or a different event is not agreed. Paul writes of laying his gospel before the others "privately", not as in a Council. It has been argued that Galatians was written as Paul was on his way to the council (see
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
).
Raymond E. Brown in ''Introduction to the New Testament'' argues that they are the same event but each from a different viewpoint with its own bias.
* Acts 16 says Paul personally circumcised
Timothy, even though his father was Greek, because his mother was a Jewish believer, i.e. a
Jewish Christian
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
.
* Some took "freedom in Christ" to mean
lawlessness, for example, .
* Possibly a reference to the
Ebionites
*
*
Hans Conzelmann
*
Christopher Rowland, ''Christian Origins'' (SPCK 1985) p. 234
References
Further reading
* Badenas, Robert. ''Christ the End of the Law, Romans 10.4 in Pauline Perspective'', 1985
*
Brown, Raymond E. ''An Introduction to the New Testament''.
Anchor Bible Series, 1997. .
*
Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. ''Peter, Stephen, James and John: Studies in Early Non-Pauline Christianity''
*
Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. ''Men and movements in the primitive church: Studies in early non-Pauline Christianity''
* Clark, A.C. ''The Acts of the Apostles'', A critical edition with Introduction and Notes on selected passages, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1933
*
Dunn, James D.G. "The Incident at Antioch ()," ''
JSNT'' 18, 1983, pg 95–122
*
Dunn, James D.G. ''Jesus, Paul and the Law'',
*
Dunn, James D.G. ''The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Galatians'' 1993
*
Dunn, James D.G. ''The Theology of Paul the Apostle'' Eerdmans 1997
*
Ehrman, Bart D. ''Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew'' 2003
* Eisenman, Robert, 1997. ''James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.'' A cultural historian's dissenting view based on contemporary texts.
*
Elsner, Jas. ''Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: Oxford History of Early Non-Pauline Christianity'' 1998
* Gaus, Andy. ''The
Unvarnished New Testament'' 1991
* Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary: Volume 3, 15:1–23:35. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014.
* Kim, Seyoon ''Paul and the New Perspective: Second Thoughts on the Origin of Paul's Gospel'' 2001
*
*
Maccoby, Hyam. ''The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity''. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. .
*
MacDonald, Dennis Ronald, 1983. ''The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon'' Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
*
Metzger, Bruce M. ''A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'' 1975
* Mount, Christopher N. ''Pauline Christianity: Luke-Acts and the Legacy of Paul'' 2001
* Ropes, J.H., ''The Text of Acts'', Vol. III; ''The Beginnings of Christianity: Part I: The Acts of the Apostles'', London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd., 1926
*
Sanders, E.P. ''Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion'' 1977
*
Sanders, E.P. ''Paul the Law and the Jewish People'' 1983
*
Sanders, E.P. ''Jesus and Judaism'', Fortress Press, 1987,
* Savelle, Charles. “A Reexamination of the Prohibitions in Acts 15.” Bibliotheca Ssacra 161 (2004): 449–68.
* Simon, Marcel. ''The Apostolic Decree and its Setting in the Ancient Church.'' Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, LII (1969–70), pp. 437–460
* Telfer, W. ''The Didache and the Apostolic Synod of Antioch'' The Journal of Theological Studies, 1939, pp. 133–146, 258–271
* Westerholm, Stephen. ''Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics'' 2003
*
Wright, N.T. ''What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?'' 1997
External links
NA26 Greek Acts 15
New Perspective on Paul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Jerusalem
1
1st century in Jerusalem
50
50s in the Roman Empire
Acts of the Apostles
Ancient Christian controversies
Christianity in Jerusalem
Christian terminology
Commandments
Judaism in the New Testament
Biblical law
Mosaic law in Christian theology
James, brother of Jesus
Saint Peter