John2 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:29 pm
gryan wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:43 pm
If James the pillar was the son of Alphaeus, and "some from James" came from the Lord's brother, then the reader does not need to try to figure out why James changed from welcoming Paul into fellowship to inspiring Paul's opponents--"some from James".
I don't see any change going on here (except on
Paul's part). In Gal. 2:9 Paul says that James agreed that he "should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised," but he overstepped this boundary and preached that Torah observance was no longer necessary for Jews (as per Acts 21:21-24).
And since this had influenced Peter and other Jews to eat with Gentiles in Antioch, those sent there by James made them stop doing that. And this upset Paul because he believed that Jewish Torah observance was no longer necessary. But the deal he made with James in Gal. 2:9 was "that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised," and those sent from James appear to have had no issue with
that.
@John2
What is your interpretation of this passage in Acts where, in the end, everyone agrees that it is OK for Peter to eat with uncircumcised Gentiles?
Acts 11:1f
1The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believersa took issue with him 3and said,
“You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
4But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me. 6I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’
8‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impureb or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
10This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven.
11Just then three men sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home. 13He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’
15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’c 17So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”
18
When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
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As I read Acts, the "James" of Acts 15, who spoke in support of Paul's mission (and did so in one accord with Peter), and who represented the "James" of Gal 2:9 who gave Paul the right hand of fellowship (and did so even in the presence of Titus, and uncircumcised Greek) would have agreed that it was OK for Peter to eat with Gentiles (as long as he abstained from "food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality"). I think that in Gal 2:9, the right hand of fellowship would have naturally included table fellowship, and so I am picturing James, Cephas and John eating with Paul, Barnabas, and Titus.