Gamaliel's Principle
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Gamaliel's principle,Brown, Raymond E. (1994).
A once-and-coming Spirit at Pentecost: essays on the liturgical readings between Easter and Pentecost, taken from the Acts of the Apostles and from the Gospel according to John
'. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press. p. 36.
Kealy, Sean P. (1975).
The early church and Africa: a school certificate course based on the East African syllabus for Christian religious education
'. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. p. 77.
Valentine, Mary Hester (1970).
Prayer and renewal : proceedings and communications of regional meetings of the Sister Formation Conferences, 1969
'. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 139.
Editors (Jan 12, 1922)
The Jews and Christian Liberties
. ''The Christian Century''. Vol 39. Iss 2. Christian Century Foundation.
Hoefer, Reginald (February 15, 2017)
"The Gamaliel Principle"
Dominicana.
also called Gamaliel's rule, Gamaliel's rule-of-thumb, Gamaliel's counsel,MacLaren, Alexander (1900). ''Expositions of Holy Scripture: the Acts''. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 196. Gamaliel's law, or the Gamaliel attitude, is a
principle A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning. They provide a guide for behavior or evaluation. A principle can make values explicit, so t ...
outlined in the
Book of Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...
in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
by the Rabban Gamaliel. Gamaliel cautions the Jewish
Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...
against killing
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
' disciples, saying that if their ideas were of human origin, they would "come to nought" and the
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
did not need to worry about them; but if they were from
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, their ideas would be impossible to overthrow anyway, and if the Jews tried to stop them, they would be fighting against God. Therefore, in Gamaliel's view it would be better to do nothing and let God take care of the situation. In modern times Gamaliel's principle has been used in support of
religious pluralism Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religion, religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following: * Recognizing and Religious tolerance, tolerating the religio ...
and reforms within religious groups.


Origin

In the Acts 5 in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, an account is told of the
apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...
of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
being brought before the
Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...
in Jerusalem, which acted as a Jewish court system. The high priest accuses them of disobeying an order to stop preaching, to which the apostle
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
responds by beginning to preach to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin then considers killing the apostles in retaliation, at which point Gamaliel gives the following advice: :"And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: :"But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." ::- ,
King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...
To prove his point, Gamaliel also notes two examples, Theudas and
Judas of Galilee Judas of Galilee, or Judas of Gamala, was a Jewish leader who led resistance to the census imposed for Roman tax purposes by Quirinius in the Judaea Province in 6 AD. He encouraged Jews not to register, and those that did were targeted by his f ...
, who gained a large following but came "to nought". According to the Bible, the other rabbis in the Sanhedrin agree with Gamaliel and decide to not kill the disciples, instead having them beaten and then released. Various theories have been put forth regarding Gamaliel's motives, and how much he believed or disbelieved the Christians, and some have even theorized that he secretly was a Christian, although there is no evidence to support that theory. It is also possible he was happy that the Christians were preaching the resurrection from the dead, a doctrine which he believed in as a
Pharisee The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...
, but the
Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...
in the Sanhedrin did not.Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "Acts 5".
In: ''The
Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919
''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by Biblesoft, Inc.
According to the ''
Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919
'', there is "no doubt" that being Pharisee "would rather dispose him to resist the violent counsels of the Sadducean members, and the more so as the doctrine of the Resurrection was in question." According to
Alexander Maclaren Alexander Maclaren (11 February 1826 – 5 May 1910) was a Scottish Baptist minister and writer. Biography Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher.Edwin Charles Dargan (1912) '' ...
, Gamaliel was known to be "prudent, wise, cautious and calm, tolerant, opposed to fanaticism and violence" and so it is unsurprising he would have given advice such as this. It is also possible Gamaliel did not want the Sanhedrin to anger the general population in Jerusalem, because many of them supported the Christians; and according to John F. MacArthur it is likely that he really did believe what he said.


Modern application

Some Christians have argued that Gamaliel's principle should guide Christians when interacting with other religions or denominations, and that following it would avoid religious violence and intolerance.
Raymond E. Brown Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was a specialist on the hypothetical Johannine community, which he speculated contributed to the authorship of the Gosp ...
argued that while "it may not be true that every religious movement that is of human origin fails; nevertheless, the church would have been wiser many times in its history if it had used Gamaliel's principle to judge new developments in Christianity rather than reacting in a hostile manner too quickly." The Gamaliel principle has also sometimes been applied to changes or reforms, especially within the church, such as the
ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...
. Reginald Hoefer writes that "the Gamaliel Principle is a helpful lens through which to view all the things that might disturb us about the state of the world, the country, the Church" because it argues that what is right will win and anything that is wrong will lose. Gamaliel's principle has also been compared to Jesus's admonition " You will know them by their fruits".
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
used what he called "the Gamaliel attitude" to argue that church bodies should "''judge the fruit'' before akingany rash or rigid pronouncements".


Criticism

Some have argued that Gamaliel's principle is a
fallacy A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western intellectual tradition by the Aristotelian '' De Sophisti ...
.Span John (Feb 17, 2014)
“You Might be Opposing God”: Bring on the “Gamaliel principle”
Biblical Missiology.
For instance, John F. MacArthur argued from an
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
perspective that since evil is allowed to exist, "Gamaliel's principle will come true only when Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth".MacArthur 1988, p. 54. MacArthur gives for an example that the Sanhedrin still existed in Israel at the time of Gamaliel even though it was "instrumental in Christ's death", and that therefore the only valid part of Gamaliel's argument is the second part: "If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it". He concludes that the proper argument that Gamaliel should have used is not to "wait and see" but to study the scriptures.MacArthur 1988, pp. 54-55. One writer argued against the Gamaliel principle as applied to the
ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...
, saying that the time it would take to determine whether it was right would produce "profound and lasting damage to the Church".Pate, Beatrice; Field, Barbara (ed.) (1989).
Fit for this office: women and ordination
'. Melbourne: Collins Dove. pp. 116-117.
Beatrice Pate responded that this position demonstrates "a surprisingly low view of the Church, and a low view of the sovereignty of God."


See also

*
Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ("Acts"), the principal historical source for the Apostolic Age, is of interest for biblical scholars and historians of Early Christianity as part of the debate over the historicity of the Bible. Historical reliability is ...
*
Interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...
*
Ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamaliel's principle Acts of the Apostles 1st-century Christianity Interfaith dialogue Christianity and other religions Christian terminology Christian ecumenism Sanhedrin