Council of Jerusalem

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This article is about the 1st-century council of early Christianity. For other uses, see Jerusalem Council.
Council of Jerusalem
Datec. 48–50 AD
Accepted by
Acts of Apostles and perhaps Epistle to the Galatians)[5]
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The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council is a council described in

Jerusalem
around c. 48–50 AD.

The council decided that

idolatry, sometimes referred to as the Apostolic Decree.[1] The purpose and origin of these four prohibitions is debated.[7]

Accounts of the council are found in Acts of the Apostles (chapter 15 in two different forms, the Alexandrian and Western versions) and also possibly in Paul's letter to the Galatians (chapter 2).[5][6][3][8] Some scholars dispute that Galatians 2 is about the Council of Jerusalem, while others have defended this identification.[9]

Historical background

Main article: Historical background of the New Testament
Further information:
Biblical law in Christianity § History and background, and Circumcision controversy in early Christianity § Jewish background

Jerusalem was the first center of the

kinsmen likely held leadership positions in the surrounding area after the destruction of the city until its rebuilding as Aelia Capitolina in c. 130 AD, when all Jews were banished from Jerusalem.[11]

The apostles

Classical civilization both from ancient Greeks and Romans, which instead valued the foreskin positively.[13][14][16][15][18]

At the time, most followers of Jesus (which historians refer to as

Jewish Messiah.[19]

Issues and outcome

Main article:
History of early Christianity
Further information: Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles and Antinomianism

The purpose of the meeting, according to Acts, was to resolve a disagreement in

KJV).[21]

See also: Supersessionism, Hellenistic Judaism, and Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity

The primary issue which was addressed related to the requirement of

faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation.[1][23][24]

At the council, following advice offered by

Simon Peter (Acts 15:7–11 and Acts 15:14), Barnabas and Paul gave an account of their ministry among the gentiles (Acts 15:12), and the apostle James quoted from the words of the prophet Amos (Acts 15:16–17, quoting Amos 9:11–12). James added his own words[25] to the quotation: "Known to God from eternity are all His works"[26]
and then submitted a proposal, which was accepted by the Church and became known as the Apostolic Decree:

It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.[a] For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.

— Acts 15:19–21

Acts 15:23–29 sets out the content of the letter written in accordance with James' proposal. The

Golden Rule ("and whatever things ye would not have done to yourselves, do not do to another").[b]

See also: Seven Laws of Noah, Christian views on the Old Covenant, and Proselyte § Rules for proselytes in the Torah

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 to non-Jews. It was stated by the Apostles 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.[27]

The author 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,

kosher meat,[29] which contrasts with Paul's advice to Gentiles in Corinth,[30] to "eat whatever is sold in the meat markets" (1 Corinthians 10:25).[31]

Historicity

Main article: Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles

The description of the Apostolic Council in Acts 15, generally considered the same event described in Galatians 2,

Bruce Metzger
's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament includes a summary of current research on the topic as of about 1994:

In conclusion, therefore, it appears that the least unsatisfactory solution of the complicated textual and exegetical problems of the Apostolic Decree is to regard the fourfold decree[39] as original (foods offered to idols, strangled meat, eating blood, and unchastity—whether ritual or moral), and to explain the two forms of the threefold decree[39] in some such way as those suggested above.[40] An extensive literature exists on the text and exegesis of the Apostolic Decree. ... According to Jacques Dupont, "Present day scholarship is practically unanimous in considering the 'Eastern' text of the decree as the only authentic text (in four items) and in interpreting its prescriptions in a sense not ethical but ritual" [Les problèmes du Livre des Actes d'après les travaux récents (Louvain, 1950), p.70].[41]

Interpreting the Council's decision

Main article: Pauline epistles
Further information:
Paul the Apostle and Judaism
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The Council of Jerusalem retained the

from its Jewish roots.[44]

The Jewish Encyclopedia states:

For great as was the success of Barnabas and Paul in the heathen world, the authorities in Jerusalem insisted upon circumcision as the condition of admission of members into the church, until, on the initiative of Peter, and of James, the head of the Jerusalem church, it was agreed that acceptance of the Noachian Laws—namely, regarding avoidance of idolatry, fornication, and the eating of flesh cut from a living animal—should be demanded of the heathen desirous of entering the Church.

The Jewish Encyclopedia also states:

laws of Moses and the Sabbath
.

The decision was interpreted by the Council of Florence and the Papal encyclical Ex Quo Primum. The latter affirms:

So the Decree for the Jacobites of the Council of Florence reads: "The holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and preaches that every creature of God is good and not to be rejected if it is taken with thanks. According to the Lord's word, a man is not defiled by what enters his mouth. The Church affirms that the distinction made by the Mosaic Law between clean and unclean foods belongs to the ceremonial laws which have passed away with the coming of the Gospel…. So it declares that no kind of food is to be condemned which human society regards as food, and no distinction is to be made between animals on the basis of gender or the manner of their death. However many things which are not forbidden may and should be given up for the health of the body, the practice of virtue, and regular Church discipline. As the Apostle says: 'All things are permitted, but not all are expedient.'"

— Ex Quo Primum, n. 62[45]

According to the 19th-century German Catholic bishop Karl Josef von Hefele, the Apostolic Decree "has been obsolete for centuries in the West", though it is still recognized and observed by Eastern Orthodox Christians.[46]

The 20th-century American Catholic priest and biblical scholar

SJ disputes the claim that the Apostolic Decree is based on the seven Noahide laws (Gen 9), and instead proposes Lev 17–18 as the basis for it.[7] (See also: Leviticus 18
).

See also

Notes

  1. 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."
  2. ^ Hillel the Elder when asked by a Gentile to teach the whole Torah while standing on one foot cited the negative form of the Golden Rule, also cited in Tobit 4:15. Jesus in Matthew 7:12, part of the Sermon on the Mount, cited the positive form as summary of the "Law and Prophets".

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-385-50584-1
    .
  3. ^ a b Acts 15:1–2, 15:6–10; Galatians 1:15–16, 2:7–9, Galatians 5:2–3, 5:6–12, 6:12–15; Philippians 3:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:17–21; Romans 2:17–29, 3:9–28, 5:1–11, Romans 11:13; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11; Titus 1:10–16.
  4. ^
    S2CID 170331485. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. ^
    JSTOR 3267745
    .
  6. ^
    JSTOR 24735868
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 9780300139822
    .
  8. ^ Whether or not Galatians 2:1–10 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 in a Council. It has been argued that Galatians was written as Paul was on his way to the Council (see Paul the Apostle). Raymond E. Brown in his Introduction to the New Testament argues that they (Acts 15 and Galatians 2) are the same event but each from a different viewpoint with its own bias.
  9. ^ a b "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.
  10. St. James' Liturgy
    ", ed. Brightman, p. 54). Saint Mark of syriac orthodox church is also known as last supper church and believe first christian church. "
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3
    .
  12. right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision" (Galatians 2:9
    )."
  13. ^
    S2CID 29580193
    . Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  14. ^
    PMID 6994325
    . Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-19051-9
    .
  16. ^
    PMID 9623850
    . Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  17. Antiochus Epiphanes
    prohibiting circumcision (I Macc. i. 48, 60; ii. 46); and the Jewish women showed their loyalty to the Law, even at the risk of their lives, by themselves circumcising their sons.
  18. epispasm
    , that was aimed at elongation.
  19. ISBN 1-4051-0899-1
    . Page 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief — that Jesus was the Messiah."
  20. ^ Acts 15:1–2
  21. ^ Acts 15:5
  22. S2CID 242771713
    .
  23. ^
    ISBN 9781032199344
    .
  24. ^
    ISSN 0167-9732
    .
  25. ^ Gill, J., "Acts 15". Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible. Accessed 13 September 2015.
  26. ^ Acts 15:18
  27. ^ "Apostolic Presbyterianism" Archived 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine by William Cunningham and Reg Barrow.
  28. ^ Robert McQueen Grant Augustus to Constantine: The Rise and triumph of Christianity in the Roman World. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, p. iv. "According to Acts 21:25, the elders at Jerusalem were still concerned with observance of them when Paul last "
  29. ^ Paul Barnett (2004). Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament. p. 292. "He chided Paul later for his failure to require the Gentiles to observe the decree (Acts 21:25). Paul delivered the letter from the Jerusalem meeting expressing James's decree, but only to churches in Syria, Cilicia and Galatia ... Paul did not impose the food requirements for the kosher-killed meat and against the idol-sacrificed meat upon the Corinthians"
  30. ^ 1 Corinthians: a new translation Volume 32 Anchor Bible William Fridell Orr, James Arthur Walther – 1976 "Paul's openness regarding dietary restrictions raises again the question of the connection with the decrees of the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:29; Introduction, pp. 63–65). There is no hint here of an apostolic decree involving food."
  31. ^ Gordon D. Fee (1987). The First Epistle to the Corinthians. p. 480. "Paul's 'rule' for everyday life in Corinth is a simple one: 'Eat anything sold in the meat market'".
  32. ^ "In spite of the presence of discrepancies between these two accounts, most scholars agree that they do in fact refer to the same event.", Paget, "Jewish Christianity", in Horbury, et al., "The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Early Roman Period", volume 3, p. 744 (2008). Cambridge University Press.
  33. ^ "Paul's account of the Jerusalem Council in Galatians 2 and the account of it recorded in Acts have been considered by some scholars as being in open contradiction.", Paget, "Jewish Christianity", in Horbury, et al., "The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Early Roman Period", volume 3, p. 744 (2008). Cambridge University Press.
  34. ^ "There is a very strong case against the historicity of Luke's account of the Apostolic Council", Esler, "Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology", p. 97 (1989). Cambridge University Press.
  35. ^ "The historicity of Luke's account in Acts 15 has been questioned on a number of grounds.", Paget, "Jewish Christianity", in Horbury, et al., "The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Early Roman Period", volume 3, p. 744 (2008). Cambridge University Press.
  36. ^ "However, numerous scholars have challenged the historicity of the Jerusalem Council as related by Acts, Paul's presence there in the manner that Luke describes, the issue of idol-food being thrust on Paul's Gentile mission, and the historical reliability of Acts in general.", Fotopolous, "Food Offered to Idols in Roman Corinth: a socio-rhetorical reconsideration", pp. 181–182 (2003). Mohr Siebeck.
  37. ^ "Sahlin rejects the historicity of Acts completely (Der Messias und das Gottesvolk [1945]). Haenchen's view is that the Apostolic Council "is an imaginary construction answering to no historical reality" (The Acts of the Apostles [Engtr 1971], p. 463). Dibelius' view (Studies in the Acts of the Apostles [Engtr 1956], pp. 93–101) is that Luke's treatment is literary-theological and can make no claim to historical worth.", Mounce, "Apostolic Council", in Bromiley (ed.) "The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia", volume 1, p. 200 (rev. ed. 2001). Wm. B. Eerdmans.
  38. ^ "The present writer accepts its basic historicity, i.e. that there was an event at Jerusalem concerning the matter of the entry of the Gentiles into the Christian community, but would be circumspect about going much further than that. For a robust defence of its historicity, see Bauckham, "James", and the relevant literature cited there.", Paget, "Jewish Christianity", in Horbury, et al., "The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Early Roman Period", volume 3, p. 744 (2008). Cambridge University Press.
  39. ^ a b For a clarification of "fourfold decree" vs "threefold decree", see International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: A-D, 1995, by Geoffrey W. Bromiley ("Apostolic Council"), page 202.
  40. ^ Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd edn, (NY: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994), 382.
  41. ^ Metzger, Textual Commentary, 383n9.
  42. ISSN 0295-5652 – via Cairn.info
    .
  43. JSTOR 44076024
    .
  44. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Baptism: "According to rabbinical teachings, which dominated even during the existence of the Temple (Pes. viii. 8), Baptism, next to circumcision and sacrifice, was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism (Yeb. 46b, 47b; Ker. 9a; 'Ab. Zarah 57a; Shab. 135a; Yer. Kid. iii. 14, 64d). Circumcision, however, was much more important, and, like baptism, was called a "seal" (Schlatter, "Die Kirche Jerusalems," 1898, p. 70). But as circumcision was discarded by Christianity, and the sacrifices had ceased, Baptism remained the sole condition for initiation into religious life. The next ceremony, adopted shortly after the others, was the imposition of hands, which, it is known, was the usage of the Jews at the ordination of a rabbi. Anointing with oil, which at first also accompanied the act of Baptism, and was analogous to the anointment of priests among the Jews, was not a necessary condition."
  45. ^ "Papal encyclical "Ex Quo Primum"".
  46. 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."

Further reading

External links

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