[soc.religion.christian] Council of Jerusalem

John_Graves@cellbio.duke.edu (John Graves) (03/08/91)

In article <Mar.5.23.05.47.1991.22716@athos.rutgers.edu> 
ee8kag@gdt.bath.ac.uk (K A Goatman) writes:
> The early church, though, were clearly rigorous in maintaining their 
religious
> purity.  For instance, at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) there
> were arguments about whether the Jewish practices which were creeping 
into
> the church were acceptable.  Judaism is surely the closest 'relative' to
> the Christian faith and yet there could not even be compromise with the 
Jews!

My reading of Acts 15 describing the Council of Jerusalem is quite of a 
different import than that quoted above.  It is my understanding that this 
section opened up Christianity to Gentiles and not only Jews.  However 
they must still remain Kosher:

But we should write to them [gentiles] to abstain only from things 
polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been 
strangled and from blood.  (Acts 15:20)

This then repeated to the people at Antioch through Judas and Silas in 
Acts 15:29.  It seems clear that the council did not fully agree with 
Peter's more radical postion and took a bit of a compromise position.  
Only the sexual and dietary parts of the law were required to be kept.  

It would appear that most of us are not following the Council's decision 
and are in apostasy if we eat meat that is strangled or in which the blood 
has not been drained.  But if we are of Jewish origin and became a follower of Jesus there does not seem to be any relaxation of the Jewish law.





John Allan Graves                              Unitarian Universalism
Duke University                                 An inclusive religion!
and all its components                                    ()  
including the Divinity School,                           \__/
 disavow anything I say.                                  II

[Acts 15 is generally read as requiring only a subset of Jewish law,
not all of the kosher rules.  It appears to be based on a set of rules
that 1st Cent. Jewish rabbis derived from the covenant God established
with Noah after the flood.  These rules were considered binding on all
mankind, whereas the kosher rules were part of a covenant specifically
with the Jews.  --clh]