Romans: Chapters 1 to 8

Click here for the end of Acts of the Apostles.

CHAPTER 1

Now it comes – the letters.  Almost all the rest of the Bible is a series of letters (epistles, they’re called in the Bible).  Only the last chapter – Revelations – isn’t a letter. 

And most of the letters are penned by St. Paul, including this one.  Weighing in at 16 chapters, Romans is tied for honors as the longest letter.  (The letters section is loosely organized from longest to shortest, which is why the two 16-chapter letters both come first).

According to the notes at the outset here, this letter is believed to have been written from 56 to 58 AD.  So there were already Christians in Rome – but we really don’t know exactly hot the community began there.  (Yes, there is a tradition that Peter went to Rome, but that’s not actually in the Bible, at any rate assuming he did do that, there is no way to know if he was responsible for the first conversions there).  These letters are offering guidance, advice, and theology. 

This letter by Paul gets off to a memorable start with its very first line in the greeting: “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.”  Whoah!  That line hasn’t aged well.  He means devoted follower and all that – but he says slave.  Sure, that was common then, and freedom wasn’t the end-all, be-all value like it is for most of modern societies.  That’s why it’s just a jarring start, though. It reminds us that Paul lived in a very different world with rather different values from the one we live in.

The opening is fairly standard stuff.  Paul pronounces his love of God and gives thanks to the community in Rome he’s writing to.  It’s standard, polite stuff – but we’re not yet getting into it.

Oh, one thing I should note, in that very first sentence – right after Paul calls himself a slave to Christ Jesus, he says he’s been called on to be an apostle. Mind you, he never met Jesus Christ.  He just had his visions.  So I wonder if the apostles of the earthly Christ would appreciate Paul claiming a similar status to them?  I doubt they would.  It’s one thing to allow a guy in as a missionary because he said he had a vision of Christ, but if you give equal apostle status to anyone who tells you they had a vision, then the apostles run the risk of having their authority and prestige diminish because any visionary can do an end-run around them.

When Paul does get to the meat of the matter, he still starts off a big slowly.  He begins by stressing the importance of opposing idols.  That’s something that any Jew can agree with, but Paul is writing to a Christian community in Rome, whose members contain many/mostly former pagans. 

Paul says God punishes people for engaging in idolatry by handing, “them over to degrading passions.  Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another.  Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.” 

There you have it – for the first time in the New Testament, the denouncing of homosexuality.  Jesus Christ never did it, but St. Paul did.  The way Paul describes it, this is a punishment God places upon people for going against his ways (such as by engaging in idolatry).

CHAPTER 2

Moving on to his next point, Paul warns people not to be judgmental.  My Bible doesn’t actually say, “judge not least ye be judged” – that’s in Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount (even there, my Bible has a clunkier, though I’m sure more accurate – translation). 

Paul’s point here is simple.  God is the judge.  Don’t presume to do his job form him.  Just follow his ways as best as you can, and you’ll be repaid with eternal life.  God will judge and if you are deemed worthy, that’s your reward.  Those deemed unworthy will get wrath.  Paul never actually says heaven and hell, but you can see the genesis of that idea.  He says the good will find glory, honor, and immorality.  The bad get “wrath.”  Paul never mentions heaven and hell because he is expecting a more imminent coming of God (he doesn’t say that here, but it’s something I know about Paul’s thoughts).  Later, when it becomes clear that God’s return isn’t imminent, you need to change Paul’s ideas into heaven above and hell below, because neither will be here.

Finally, Paul dives into what is probably the main theme of this entire letter – God and the law.  By law, he means the laws of Moses, the old codes of law laid done all those years ago that Jews faithfully follow, and believe that their salvation depends upon.

Paul disagrees.  He notes that there are Gentiles outside the law – by which I assume he means outside the covenant (re: uncircumcised), but if they are good and true to God, why shouldn’t they be saved?  Alternately, you can be a bad person and still part of God’s community, but if you’re bad, why should God be nice to you? 

Paul isn’t saying that the laws of old are bad.  Actually, he’ll say the opposite.  He says circumcision has value, but that’s not what it’s all about.  If you get snipped and are a dick, who cares if you’ve lost your foreskin.  Then again, if you act righteously, why should God let a foreskin come between you and him?  Paul notes, “Rather, one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter.” 

Among other things, this indicates that some of the Christian community in Rome are Jews.  Paul has to explain to them why it’s OK for the Gentile brethren to keep their foreskins and still be good Christians.

CHAPTER 3

In a favorite literary device of his (Lord knows he’ll do it enough), Paul will ask a rhetorical question – the sort of question he thinks a critic of his ideas might have – and then answer it right away.  It’s not a bad literary trick to use, really.

This chapter uses it a lot, as it begins with a section called “Answers to objections.”  Paul asks the question – is there value to being a Jew?  (After all, he just said circumcision isn’t all that).  Paul answers himself – sure there is value.  But that value comes from being entrusted with God’s laws.  Now you have to live up to them – that’s the key thing.  Mind you, if you’re unfaithful, that won’t nullify God’s fidelity because, “God must be true, though every human being is a liar.”  My golly that’s a nice line from Paul. 

Though the letters are rather dry, if you dig into them, they make sense and show an enormous amount of thought.  There is a reason such a big religion was built heavily on the pen of Paul – he’s good at this whole theology thing.

Getting back on track, what matters isn’t circumcision, but having faith – and that means faith in Christ.  We are all sinners, but God sent down his son to redeem us.  So if you have faith in him, you can be redeemed, “though faith, by his blood.”  Faith is the central thing, not works.  (He’s not anti-good works, but faith is still central).  Reading this, I can definitely understand why Martin Luther and his ilk both: 1) had problems with Catholic theology, and 2) wanted to get the Bible in as many hands as possible.  The Catholic Church, in contrast, traditionally eschewed (and still eschews) reading the Bible.  In one of my all-time favorite historical bits, Martin Luther never even SAW a Bible until after he became a monk.  (To be fair, that was still early in the Guttenberg Revolution; until the printing press mass production of Bibles was impossible).

However, since faith is the key thing, that means that Christ isn’t restricted just to Jews.  If a Gentile has the same faith as a Jew, then that’s the ballgame right there. 

CHAPTER 4

To back up his point of view, Paul turns to scripture.  In particular, he turns to Abraham.  The original patriarch is often looked at as the best example of the importance of circumcision.  After all, God tells Abraham to get snipped in order to show he’ll follow God’s covenants.  That’s where it all comes from.

But Paul reverses it all to argue against the centrality of circumcision.  Why did God pick Abraham, Paul wonders.  Was it because he was wandering around town without a foreskin?  No!  It’s because he was such a righteous man.  It was that righteousness of his – that faith – that caused God to pick him and make a great nation of him.  Circumcision was just a sign of it.  Thus a person with the sign but not the internal faith may as well not have the sign.  Then again, a person with the faith may as well keep his foreskin.  I got to admit, that’s a mighty inspired bit of theological argument making by Paul.

Faith is our guide, therefore don’t worry too much about all those old rules.  And now that’s all amplified through Christ.  We believe in him and thus don’t need circumcision.

CHAPTER 5

This just builds on where Paul ended up last chapter.  We’re justified by faith, and that means faith in Jesus Christ. 

You see, we are all sinners through Adam.  Paul doesn’t use the phrase “Original sin” here, but clearly that doctrine largely comes out of what Paul says in this chapter.  That sin happened, and we’ve all come out from that sin. Due to it, we have no chance to be saved from out sinful nature. 

Then Jesus Christ entered.  Through him we are saved from our own sinful nature.  As Paul says of Adam and Jesus, “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.”  Adam is the first one.  (Interestingly, Paul never mentions Eve here, though he does mention Adam.  People often blame the Fall from Eden on Eve, but Paul isn’t doing that). 

CHAPTER 6

By having faith in Christ, people can be free from sin, and live an eternal life.  This is a little interesting because while it’s kind of similar to what we’ve always heard from Christian pulpits, it’s also kind of different.  Oh, this sounds like heaven – sure.  That’s how it’s similar: believe in Jesus and go to heaven.

But it’s a bit off for a few reasons.  First, it’s not heaven above.  Paul just talks about how being baptized in Christ gives us eternal life – “we believe that we shall also live with him.”  But we will go up with him or will he return with us down here?  Paul never really says, but the lack of talk of heaven at any point here makes me think it’s more the latter.

Also, traditionally the sense is that everyone has eternal life – some go upstairs, others go downstairs.  But with Paul, the idea of eternal life begins with Christ.  It’s not that you get a better eternal life than you otherwise would – it’s that you otherwise wouldn’t.  Again, that makes sense if you expect Christ to return to earth soon.

As Paul goes on, he tackles one possible pitfall of his approach: “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under the grace [of God]?”  In other words, if you’re de-emphasizing the laws (as Paul openly is), then does that mean people can sin all they want, as long as they believe in Christ?

Paul’s answer: “Of course not!”  If you believe – if you truly believe – then good works will flow from your faith.  Works and faith are connected.  You start with inner belief, and then let outer behavior follow.  He says we’re all slaves to something.  (Again, the slave talk reminds the reader how different it was in ancient times).  But if you’re a slave to passions, then you’ll receive death and nothing more.  But if you’re a slave to Christ, then you’ll get eternal life. 

CHAPTER 7

Here is where Paul reaches the culmination of the last several chapters.  He flatly and explicitly states, “now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not under the obsolete letter.” 

We are now released from the law – this means the laws of Moses.  All the other edicts and codes of old – all of that Leviticus stuff – is no more.  It served its purpose as a code to guide us, but now we have Jesus Christ.  This right here is arguably the notion that makes Christianity a separate religion – Jewish law no longer applies.  Based on the first seven chapters, this approach makes sense.

It’s also precisely why the Jews in Jerusalem want to kill Paul back in Acts of the Apostles.  He is on trial for believing what he’s written here.  He tries to wiggle out of it there, but they were accusing him, essentially, of believing what he actually believed.  This is also, by the way, what James Christ opposed.  In his letter of instructions he says it’s OK for Gentiles to avoid circumcision, but they have to follow all the rest. Now Paul is saying the law is dead.  That’s not a minor difference.

This is also why it’s such a humiliating humbling for Paul when he’s ordered by James to go to the Temple and give a ritual offering.  James orders Paul to do exactly what Paul said you don’t need to do.

CHAPTER 8

Paul now gives the good news – life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.  Again, there is no notion of an eternal soul if you’re outside Christ.  Paul isn’t really talking of a heaven/hell afterlife here.  You only get life after death if you believe in Christ.  It’s not heaven vs. hell but spirit vs. flesh.

And we tend to think it’s the same thing – flesh leads to hell while spirit leads to heaven.  But Paul is just talking spirit/flesh.  Afterlife is a one-way street – a reward.  Punishment is the lack of an afterlife.

Paul tells the little campers to buck up. Sure, you’ll go through pains now.  Sure you’ll experience hardships in the present – but the reward is worth it.  “I consider that the sufferings of this present are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”  It gets better, people.  It has to get better.  After all, God is on our side.  (That’s even better than Batman backed up by an army of mini-Ditkas!)  As Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” 

That’s an awesome line, by the way.   That’s a wonderful sentiment.  I’m sure it helped some people plow through their sufferings and persevere.  In fact, I’m sure it still does the same for many in modern times. 

Paul also asks: “What will separate us from the love of Christ?”  Again, the answer is nothing.  And there is a tremendous amount of comfort a Christian can take in that call-and-response. 

Click here for the second half of Romans.

Romans main page

Chapters 1 to 8
Chapters 9 to 16

Acts of the Apostles: Chapters 22 to 28

Click here for the previous installment of Acts.

CHAPTER 22

Now that he’s under arrest, Paul has to defend himself.  He recounts his experiences and how he came to Christ.  He notes that when Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus, his companions didn’t hear a voice.  Huh?  I thought they did.  (checks back).  Yeah, this contradicts Chapter 8 that way.

It’s a bit weird because the Jews he’s testifying before get really irate BEFORE Paul gets to the part where he discusses the crimes he’s accused of.  He gets as far as noting he decided to leave Jerusalem and try to convert Gentiles to Christianity.  When Paul gets this far, all hell breaks loose and they want to stone him.

Wait – what?  Why’d they do that?  Are they upset he’s a Christian?  Then they should’ve called to stone him earlier.  (Also, they should be willing to stone James Christ and the rest).  That would at least be in character from how we saw Christians persecuted in Jerusalem earlier in this book.  But that’s not it.  Why would the Jews be upset at Paul talking to Gentiles about Christ if the Jews themselves don’t think Jesus was the Messiah?  It seems a bit off-point.

Well, maybe.  But all the above is perhaps getting ahead of things.  The previous paragraph only works if Christianity is in fact a totally separate religion.  But what if it’s still art of the Jewish tradition?  After all, that’s what it was.  James Christ, for instance, was a strict adherer to Jewish customs.  That’s how the early Christians were able to get by in Jerusalem.  But Paul is moving a Jewish sect a bit out of the Jewish community.

Still, even if you approach it from that angle, the crowd still gets upset too early.  Peter has also called for converting Gentiles.  James Christ himself signed off on waiving the circumcision requirement.  What Paul is accused of doing is voiding all Mosaic laws.  That’s why people want to stone him – but he never got that far in his explanation. So this reads a bit odd.

Paul plays his trump card to get out of this meeting unscathed – he’s a citizen of Rome.  So the Jewish authorities have to tread a bit more lightly around him.

CHAPTER 23

Paul gets a second interrogation – this time before a more important body of Jews.  He throws out an odd insult: “you whitewashed wall,” he bellows at one person.  Huh?  I don’t get it, but I like it.

Before the Big Jewish Council, Paul tries to play an angle.  He sees Pharisees and Sadducees in the group and tries to play them off each other.  He announces he’s a Pharisee and tries to split the crowd.  He gets some supporters, but most still want him dead.  That night, God speaks to Paul, telling him to take courage. 

However, there is a conspiracy to kill Paul by about 40 Jews next time he speaks before the council.  But the good news is word leaks out and the Roman authorities don’t want a prisoner dying on their watch, so they transfer him to another realm. 

CHAPTER 24

Now that he’s been transferred, Paul has to testify before an official (named Felix) instead of a Jewish council. The Jewish leaders can also testify, but they less in control.  They testify that they want Paul punished for spreading dissension.  They say he’s a leader of the sect called the “Nazoreans” which means Christians.  But at this time Christians aren’t a separate religion.

And you can see why Paul angers them so much.  He is breaking with all old customs and trying to essentially create a new religion.  This also explains something I didn’t quite get in the previous sequence of chapters.  There, I thought the only concern Paul had with going back to Jerusalem was dealing with James and the other leading Jerusalem Christians.  Heck, they were the least of his worries.  His real problem wasn’t that the Christians there had heard what he’d said.  No, his real problem was that the Jews had heard he’d broken with Moses on so many points.  They want payback for that.  James’s confrontation with Paul was a big of a big timing, it was trying to get Paul on his side, but it was also an attempt to keep Paul from getting lynched – a way to make amends not only with the Christians of Jerusalem but with the Jews as well. It didn’t take.

These interrogations are inconsequential.  Felix hopes that Paul will bribe him, but it doesn’t happen.  Paul spends two years in a holding pattern instead.

CHAPTER 25

There is some more back-and-forth, and Paul – as his right as Roman citizen – appeals directly to Caesar.  OK, ‘To Caesar you will go” Felix tells him.  I guess Paul was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but after two years he just couldn’t take it anymore. 

A lot of this reads more like legal minutia.

CHAPTER 26

The king of the region – a guy named Agrippa – hears out Paul.  And at the end, he gives Paul some unpleasant good news.  Agrippa likes Paul’s case – but since Paul has appealed to Caesar, he can’t let him go.  If he hadn’t made that appeal, he’d be free.  I don’t quite get the legalistic issues of the Roman Empire, but there you go.  Paul outsmarted himself.  D’OH!

Oh, and Paul also mentions Satan in this chapter.  It might be the first Satan mention in the book so far.  Maybe not, but he hasn’t come up much.  I also noted you didn’t see much of him in the Gospels. I’m a little surprised.  I figured he’d get mentioned more than this in the New Testament.

CHAPTER 27

Off to Rome for Paul and some friends.  Apparently there are friends, because the narrative shifts back to “we” mode.  The voyage is a disaster, and they wreck on Malta.  Well, at least the natives are nice. Also, everyone lives, so that’s nice.  God tells Paul he doesn’t want them to die because they’re with Paul.  Well, that’s nice of God.

One thought while reading this: Paul reminds me a bit of Jeremiah.  Both are treated shabbily.  Both are nearly killed on multiple occasions.  Both die far from their land of birth.  Both of their stories end a bit inconclusively (neither are dead when their stories come to an end).  Both possibly die feeling that they hadn’t achieved their missions.  Jeremiah dies in Egypt surrounded by a bunch of Hebrew abandoning God.  Paul dies in Rome, far from the churches he founded with no way of preventing James Christ and friends from changing the theology he’d given those churches.

Oh, and both Jeremiah and Paula are arguably the most important people to constructing their respective Testaments.  I noted in the Old Testament how Biblical scholar Richard Elliot Friedman argues that Jeremiah is the perhaps the author of Deuteronomy, and that he’d used previous sources to edit/compile what’s known as the Dueteronomic history – Joshua, Judges, the Samuels and the Kings.  He told the events through his moral slant, and that’s the heart of the Old Testament.  Paul’s letters will serve as half the New Testament books, and the gospels are written from the perspective of Paul’s theology more than James Christ. 

So though both Jeremiah and Paul may have died feeling unfulfilled, they both played a crucial role in establishing the Jewish and Christian religions as we understand them.

CHAPTER 28

OK, here is where Paul and his friends have their Gilligan’s Island adventure spending the winter in Malta. Oh, we’re still talking in “we” mode, by the way. 

Eventually, Paul arrives in Rome, though.  Good news and bad news for Paul.  Good news: no one has come to offer a complaint about him.  Bad news: no one has said anything about his case at all.  So Paul stays in his holding pattern. 

And that’s where things end.  We’re told Paul spends two more years in his lodgings, trying to spread the word of Christ.  Then it just ends.

There is no death. There is a tradition that he’s executed after Rome burns under Nero, but that tradition isn’t in Acts of the Apostles.  There is a tradition that Peter was also in Rome independent of Paul, but he’s not mentioned here either.  In fact, once Paul takes center stage in Chapter 13, we never hear about any of the apostles again after that. If they are mentioned, it’s only in passing. There is Paul, a bit of James Christ in relation to Paul  - but the last 16 chapters are all Paul, not Peter.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

This is a fascinating work.  The gospels were great, too, but they were (obviously) more than a little bit redundant of each other. This, meanwhile, is unlike anything else.

Paul comes off as the main force, yet he doesn’t get along with the church leaders.  Given that he never met Jesus (pre-death Jesus anyway) and the church we have comes to us through Paul, it’s interesting to wonder about what the original leaders would think of the modern Christian movement now. 

Also, it’s interesting that while Peter and Paul are the most famous leaders, the biggest guy in the movement in this generation was neither – but James Christ. 

It’s fascinating, to be sure.

Click here to start Romans.

Acts of the Apostles: Chapters 15 to 21

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CHAPTER 15

Time for some growing pains in the early Christian community.  There is a big debate: is circumcision necessary to be a Christian?  This is a key issue, because if it is necessary, then the community is just a subset of Judaism, but if it’s not, then it’s leaving the Jewish tradition and becoming its own religion.  Paul and Barnabas have to go to Jerusalem, because they’re at the center of the controversy.  They are, after all, the ones preaching to uncircumcised Gentiles, and telling them that you don’t need to get snipped to join Christ’s kingdom of heaven. 

The author clearly is on the side of Paul and Barnabas.  In fact, he claims that “some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers” led the charge against Paul.  Ah, Pharisees.  Well, we all remember those guys from the gospels, right? They were sticklers for rules who were always wrong, and they always sucked.  If they’re opposing Paul, then that’s a sign that Paul must be write. Get bent, former Pharisees who had become believers. 

Paul makes his case and is strongly backed by Peter, who had come to a similar conclusion after his vision of Holy Bacon (but then again, is there any other kind of bacon?).  Peter notes that the Holy Spirit had come to the Gentile believers, so that’s a sign we should welcome the uncircumcised.  This position carries the day.

However, there are some intriguing things going on.  While Peter testifies on behalf of the Paul approach, he isn’t the final authority there.  Another person ends up issuing the final authority – James Christ, brother of Jesus.  When it’s all said and done, he’s the one who declares, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God.”  James issues the judgment, and more importantly everyone accepts it.  Everyone, of course, knows about Jesus Christ.  And we’ve heard of the apostles.  But in these early post-Christ days of the church, the actual leader of the church isn’t Peter or any of the other apostles – it’s the younger brother of Jesus. 

Also interesting is what else James says.  While he seems fine with the idea of not mandating circumcision, he also says in his judgment to: “to [the Gentiles] by letter to avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.”  So Gentiles are supposed to avoid idols.  They are to avoid improper marriages.  They are to keep a kosher diet.  So circumcision isn’t necessarily required, but once you join the Jesus movement, you should try to keep kosher in most of the easier to fulfill laws.  It’s still half in the Jewish tradition.  Also, when we get to the letters from Paul, I think we’ll see that he isn’t really down with this at all.

James has a letter written to send to the Christians abroad.  A key portion reads: “Since we have heard that some of our number [who went out] without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with once accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth.”  (Note: brackets in the Bible itself). 

Hmmmm…. So who are the people sending out ideas that need to be cleaning up?  Is it Paul and Barnabas or their opponents?  Because Jerusalem is siding with Paul and Barnabas on circumcision, but not on everything.  Did Paul have their mandate or not?  Chapter 9 has Paul with the apostles in Jerusalem, but when we next see him (in Chapter 13) he is on his missionary work, and we never do get a scene where he’s authorized to go out.  Also, Chapter 9 is a bit of a question mark.  As I noted at that time – some of what it says of Paul contradicts what Paul’s own letters say about himself.  Acts of the Apostles says he went to Jerusalem shortly after his conversion, but in his letters Paul explicitly denies getting his message from people, but instead says he got it directly from God.  So how much time (if any?) did he really spend in Jerusalem with the apostles?  Did he take off on his own to try to spread the word as had been revealed to him?  If so, this meeting in Jerusalem can be an operation at cleaning things up and getting everyone on the same page.  OK, circumcision isn’t needed (a win for Paul) but try to keep all other Jewish laws (a win for the former Pharisee contingent). 

Going back to the letter – who exactly are the chosen representatives going out?  Four people are mentioned that will depart – Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas.  But the chosen representatives are said to be going “with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.”  That indicates that Paul and Barnabas aren’t the actual representatives.  Thus Judas and Silas are.  It’s nicely phrased, saying that Paul and Barnabas are beloved and have dedicated their lives to Christ. 

Still, there is an interesting power dynamic at work here.  James Christ is trying to get all the Jesus communities in line with one another.  He wants them all to practice and believe the words of Jesus (his older brother) as he sees fit.  Paul and Barnabas are wild cards to him.  Hey – great work spreading the gospel, guys.   We really appreciate it.  But guys – did you ever even meet Jesus?  He’s my actual brother and so I do know a few things about him.  Let’s get everyone in line, and to make sure that happens, I’ll send a couple guys from my posse out to make sure the message your followers get is the same message we have in Jerusalem. 

There is more than a little bit of looking over Paul’s shoulder going on here.  It’s not necessarily antagonistic.  He is called “out beloved” after all.  There is a definite sense of wanting to work with him on this matter.  But in terms of authority, James in Jerusalem feels confident that he should be the final arbitrator on all matters.  Again – the religion is about his brother. He should know best.  And people do accept his authority – as indicated by his issuing the judgment here.

But Paul really is a wild card.  James Christ might not even realize what a big wild card he is.  Paul is convinced he’s received the message from Jesus Christ himself up in heaven.  If that’s true, then why should he worry what James Christ in Jerusalem says?  If there is any contradiction in message, Paul will side with his messages from heaven, not the kid brother in Jerusalem.  And there will be differences in message – as indicated by James’ insistence that other traditional laws be followed. 

The irony is that the new religion will largely be shaped by a guy who never actually met the flesh and blood Jesus Christ.  Some of Paul’s ideas will be opposed by those who knew Jesus best (remember, James isn’t just the kid brother, but he also followed by the apostles), and ultimately it will be Paul’s ideas that win out. 

A few other things to note. First, when James speaks, he notes how “Symeon” had already described Gentiles getting the Holy Spirit.  Symeon?  Well, Peter’s real name was Simon, so maybe it means him.  Perhaps, but why spell it differently then?  My footnotes say that Luke was probably compiling this from various sources, and one source here referred to “Symeon.”  It may, in fact, have been a different person than Simon/Peter, but who knows?

Second, the letter James writes the Gentiles ends with a call to uphold also those non-circumcision laws.  So he is really holding the line on that. 

Paul and Barnabas go off with Silas and Jude, but things don’t last too long.  The end of the chapter is a bit vague as to why, but apparently Paul and Barnabas have a major falling out, and Barnabas leaves Paul.  It’s apparently a debate of if they should take “John who was called Mark” (our second gospel writer, again).  That’s an odd reason for a debate to break up a partnership, but these things happen.

The timing is also curious.  Right after the Jerusalem meeting where the leaders half-supported, but half-didn’t support Paul, his right hand man leaves.  Well, then again Silas and Judas stay with him, so the timing might have nothing to do with Jerusalem at all.

CHAPTER 16

Paul stays on the road, and takes up a new sojourner, someone to take Barnabas’s place.  Paul is his name, and he’s half-Jew and half-Greek.  His mom is Jewish, so he hasn’t been circumcised.  Wait – isn’t that backwards?  This is something I know a little bit about from my own family history.  My great-grandmother was a Catholic Slovene who married a Jew from the Ottoman Empire.  Their kids were raised Catholic because by Jewish custom, the kids inherit the religion of the mother (because we’re always 100% sure who the mother of the child is.  Besides, it helps keep Jewish boys from marrying outside the faith).  By that approach, shouldn’t Timothy be snipped already?  Eh, who knows.  Maybe there is some qualifier or things were different back then.

Anyhow, Paul decides to order Timothy to lose the foreskin.  Well, that’s unexpected.  He just won a big debate in Jerusalem in which his anti-circumcision approach carried the day, and now Paul immediately does the opposite.  What gives?  Simple, he figures Timothy will make a better spokesperson when talking to Jews if he’s passed the club initiation.  Paul still doesn’t think circumcision is required for a believer, but for a missionary, it can make things more effective.

Actually, that points out one of the more surprising things (to me) in Acts.  Paul – famous for the man who tries to convert Gentiles – spends a lot of time dealing with Jews.  Whenever he goes to a town, he goes to the synagogue to try to win over the Jews.  In fact, it often seems like that’s his main focus.  Well, I guess he figures that since they’re familiar with traditional law that they’ll be responsive to his message.  Paul does try to convert the Gentiles, but he’s not Gentile-only.  He may try to convert the Jews, but he puts greater emphasis on non-Jews than other Christian missionaries. 

Paul spreads the message over several places, including Galatian territory.  (And later, one of his letters in the Bible will be Galatians).  He runs into some troubles.  A mob tries to beat him up at Philippi (another Bible book is a letter to this town by Paul, too).  He’s thrown in jail, but escapes in the third divine jail break of the book so far. He’s also beaten up by authorities, who later became scared when they learn that Paul is an actual Roman citizen.  Oops.

Oh, and part of this chapter is written in first person plural. Verses 10-17 use the word “we.”  That’s totally unlike anything so far.  Apparently, this book is based on previous sources – a compendium of sorts.  And some sources were in first person, and those stayed in first person. 

CHAPTER 17

Paul keeps on trucking.  He goes to Thessalonica (he’ll write two letters to them that make the New Testament).  Again, his first appearance there is talking to the Jews in their synagogue.  Huh.  It’s like Gentiles are a secondary concern for him, and only become the main show for Paul when the Jews keep rejecting his message.  Paul is with Silas and I guess Timothy (no idea where Judas is).  They win some converts – just enough to cause problems.  Others really hate the message Paul is sending, and a mob forms, disturbing the peace.  Paul is forced to move on.

He goes to Beroea. Again, a ruckus occurs by Paul’s message.  He’s forced to leave town, leaving Silas and Timothy (OK, so Timothy is still with him) behind.  But those two soon catch up with Paul.  (Thought: maybe Judas went with Barnabas after the big break up?  After all those two were there to synthesize the message of Jerusalem with that of both Paul and Barnabas.  Whatever happened to Judas, I missed it). 

Side note: unless I missed it, I don’t think we hear from Silas again in this narrative.

Next, Paul goes to Athens.  He gives a big speech on behalf of his religion.   Much of it is just a speech on behalf of monotheism. (He’s in Athens, so he first has to win people over to that).  He gets some sympathy, but when he gets to the end he loses many of them.  He notes on the Day of Judgment the dead will rise, and at that point in the speech, “some began to scoff.”  I guess they don’t go for zombie flicks in Athens.  Paul does make some believers, though.  It’s the same thing we’ve seen all along – Paul goes to a place and plants the seeds.  They are small seeds, but it’s enough to make him the Johnny Appleseed of Christianity. 

CHAPTER 18

Paul says on the move, going to Corinth (and later on, there will be a pair of Bible books of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians).  Once again, Paul begins by speaking in a synagogue.  He once again runs into problems, and this time it seems especially severe.  In an uncharacteristic rant, Paul completely lays into the Jews who oppose him, saying “Your blood be on your heads!  I am clear of responsibility.  From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 

Well there you go.  So far, Paul has tried to spread the word to Jews and Gentiles, but spending most of his time with the Jews.  But he’s done with that.  They’re too unreceptive to his message.

Why would that be the case?  Why would they be so opposed to what he says?  Just the newness of the religion might be an issue.  It’s one thing to thing Elijah was a special prophet, but that was so long ago, and it’s always been the case.  There was always an Elijah for you and your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents. It’s always easier to go with tradition than to change it. 

Second, Paul is talking about a guy that the Jewish authorities wanted dead.  There is that.  (True, but the authorities are way out in Jerusalem.  This is way up in Greece.  The Pharisees can’t be that strong outside Judah).  Third, there is circumcision.  OK, so the Jews have already been circumcised, but Paul is letting in others.

And that leads to a fourth issue.  Despite what James said back in Jerusalem, according to the letter of Paul later in the Bible, he doesn’t really think it’s necessary to follow all the old Jewish laws, like keeping kosher. He thinks Christ’s death freed us from those rules.  So it’s not just a matter of snipping or not, but a host of other customs.  The Jewish tradition has always been a combination of faith and practice, and both are being challenged by Paul.  (You don’t have to avoid the practices if you want, but it’s not necessary, and that’s why both are challenged – because both had been so long enmeshed together). That’s also why it might be easier for a Gentile to convert – the new religion is just a challenge to faith, not one’s practices. 

Once Paul makes this statement, God speaks to Paul.  God doesn’t speak too often to Paul in Acts of the Apostles, so this is A Very Big Deal.  The timing makes it even more interesting – it’s immediately after Paul has just pulled out of Judaism altogether.  God tells Paul, “Do not be afraid.  Go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you.  No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.”  As soon as Paul turns his back on the Jews, God tells Paul that He has his back.  That must be reassuring at a time when Paul sure could use some reassurance. 

Paul stays in town 18 months we’re told.  The Jews accuse him of violating God’s laws.  Well, that’s true enough, going by what Paul will say in his letters later in the Bible.  Here, Paul’s answer sounds legalistic, like he’s dodging the question without trying to be deliberately false.  Yeah, it sounds like he is advocating breaking with traditional law.

Now Paul starts retracing his steps.  He leaves Greece for Syria.  He takes a Nazarite vow, which involves the cutting (or complete lack of cutting) of hair for a period of time. That’s interesting, as it’s part of Jewish traditional law.  He is asked to stay longer, but says he must be going, noting,  “I shall come back to you again, God willing.”  That sounds not very optimistic.  (And in fact, I don’t think he ever does come back this way again).  He then travels to other places he’s already been to, like the Galatian country.

CHAPTER 19

Paul returns to Ephesus (another place he’ll write a letter to that makes the New Testament) where he gets some bad news – the followers there have never heard of the Holy Spirit.  D’OH!  That sounds like a sizable oversight during the first round of missionary work. Well, he corrects that and the Spirit comes to them.

Paul next goes to a synagogue.  Huh.  I suppose he hasn’t totally decided to write off the Jews; maybe just the ones in Corinth. He spends there months with them, but due to “their obstinacy and disbelief” Paul breaks off with his followers for a separate group.  Again – Christianity is becoming a separate religion, one step at a time, one town at a time.  Paul spends two years there, which is a personal record for him.  There is a bit about Jewish exorcists, but I didn’t quite get the story.  It has a happy ending for Paul, apparently.

But the plot advances to the next act, as Paul says he’ll return to Jerusalem, and then maybe to Rome.  Why he does this is unsaid.  But what’s coming up is interesting.  When he does get to Jerusalem, he’s questioned about what he’s been teaching people.  (And again – based on what Paul says in the letters later on the Bible, and what James Christ decided back in Chapter 15 – what Paul has been teaching isn’t in line with what the Jerusalem gang wants taught).  Is Paul really returning voluntarily, or has he been requested back there in order to answer questions?  I really don’t know, but my hunch is the latter.  It would make more sense.  If so, did he just get the summons now?  He has been retracing his steps for a while now.  Well, to be fair Paul might’ve wanted to retrace anyway, to make sure things are going according to plan.  (Look at Ephesus – they didn’t know of the Holy Spirit!)  But the rest of the journey back to Jerusalem, there is this odd background air of doom.  It makes sense if he’s being asked to go back to be grilled by James Christ and the other leaders of the Jerusalem group. 

One intriguing incident happens – silversmiths riot against Paul and the Christians.  They have an economic motive.  Paul has denounced idols and at the same time tried to win over Gentiles.  Well, many Gentile gods are idols – made out of silver.  So winning over more Gentiles to Christ can hurt the livelihood of the silversmiths.  That makes so much sense that the story makes me grin a bit.

CHAPTER 20

It’s mostly more of Paul’s travels back to Jerusalem (some of it again is written in first person plural – “we”), with a few interesting stories along the way. At one stop, Paul is talking to a room full of people late one night, and a young man named Eutychus is sitting on the windowsill.  Well, Eutychus falls asleep listening to Paul – and falls down below to his apparent death.  This room isn’t on the first floor, you see.  Imagine: he’s been bored to death by listening to Paul.  No, not really – Paul rushes to him and restores him to life.  Actually, it’s not clear if the kid ever really did die or if people just thought he was dead.  Either way, Paul is the hero of the story.

When Paul leaves another town – Milteus – he gives a long speech goodbye.  He blames the problems he is having upon “the plots of the Jews.”  Well, that’s an ugly turn of phrase.  Also, he notes he’s going to Jerusalem, and “What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me.”  See what I mean?  You get a sense of doom as Paul goes back to that town. 

In fact, Paul goes on to say, “But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again.”  Wow!  That is bleak.  (Actually, it’s a little like Christ saying he had to go to Jerusalem to be killed – but there is no talk of a resurrection here with Paul).  Still – why would Paul fell (know, as he puts it) that this will happen?  I guess because he knows that his message isn’t the message of James Christ’s crew, and now he’s got to deal with them. 

Paul goes on to warn his followers of dangers to them: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you and they will not spare the flock.”  Jeepers.  I told you an air of doom happens on the way back to Jerusalem.  Who would these wolves be?  It could be the Jews.  They’ve been Paul plenty of problems.  But the communities he’s formed have largely split with them by now.  Their initial problems with Jews and Paul were more birth pangs of the new religious community.

Here’s an alternate theory: the wolves will be new missionaries sent from Jerusalem; ones who will spread the message of James Christ and seek to undo the differing messages of Paul.  If Paul is coming back to get his comeuppance, that would make sense. 

Question: if that’s the case, then how come we now live with Paul’s church, and not that of James Christ?  Why is Paul a revered name with half of the New Testament books consisting of his letters (or at least attributed to him?) while James Christ gets one, brief forgettable epistle and many devout Christians don’t even know he existed?  How does that happen if Paul is about to get doomed in Jerusalem?

Simple – the big Jewish revolt is nearing.  It’ll take place from 66-70 and result in the complete destruction of Jerusalem.  Since that’s the headquarters of James Christ, the destruction of his town will lead to the destruction of his hierarchy.  Remaining Christian communities will have to scramble.  And the ones furthest from Jerusalem will be the ones Paul founded among the Gentiles.  And they’ll have his letters to base their theology upon.  In fact, given that those letters were written before the gospels, it’s likely the gospel writers were inspired by the Paul-approach, and thus our vision of Jesus is filtered through the lens of Paul. 

But I’m getting ahead of things.

CHAPTER 21

Paul finally finishes returning to Jerusalem.  The first half of the chapter is written in first person plural again – “we.”  All along the way people beg him not to go to Jerusalem.  So apparently the Holy Spirit isn’t just telling Paul it’s a bad idea to go back there.  People can see which way the wind is blowing.  Paul replies to them by saying, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?  I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” and then concluded, “The Lord’s will be done.”

If you think about it, there is something deeply strange going on here.  Throughout the entire section, this Bible book is equating Paul’s return to Jerusalem with utter doom.  There is no reason to think that given – except that the Holy Spirit says so.  But why is it such a bad thing?  Go back to James Christ’s letter in Chapter 15.  The message from the church leaders isn’t the message of Paul, and he knows he’s in for it now.

Paul finally meets James Christ again.  It has a pleasant start, with a warm meeting, and Paul then telling all that he had done in Christ’s name.  But then things start to derail as the James Gang informs Paul that, “They have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews who live among Gentiles to abandon Moses and that you are telling them not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices.”  Folks, all James ever authorized was Gentiles could avoid circumcision.  And Paul is guilty as charged.

But James goes on.  He has a solution.  Paul’s critics are in town and will know he’s back.  To avoid any more discord, James says, “So do what we tell you.  We have four men who have taken a vow.  Take these men and purify yourself with them and pay their expenses that they may have their heads shaved.  In this way everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports they have been given about you but that you yourself live in observance of the law.” 

Well, that’s an interesting passage with several things to note.  First – how much is James opposing Paul and how much is he trying to work with him?  He clearly isn’t throwing Paul out.  He wants to work with Paul – but wants to work with him on James’s terms.  Second, along those lines please note that this isn’t a discussion at all.  It was a discussion back in Chapter 15, but not here. These are orders.  James is willing to work with Paul – but Paul MUST follow these orders.  If Paul doesn’t follow the orders, then he isn’t part of the community at all after all.

Does James believe the reports or not? Frankly, it sounds like he’s trying to strong arm Paul.  Look at it this way – Paul is being called into the boss’s office.  The boss says we have some bad reports, now Do This – or else!  Yeah, it’s done all cordially (with a warm welcome and everything) but that’s often how savvy bosses operate.  The goal is to get Paul on James’s page.  Ideally for James, he can force Paul to back down and do what James wants him do without having any breaks in the church. 

Along those lines, James throws this little nugget out there for Paul: “As for the Gentiles who have come to believe, we sent them our decision that they abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and unlawful marriage.”  So not only if James strong arming Paul here in Jerusalem, but he’s also sent word out to all the communities that Paul has founded – do it the James way.  This will completely cut out the legs from underneath Paul. 

Now, even if he wants to go against James and strike out on his own, his communities will have already gotten word from Jerusalem that Paul isn’t right.  And hey – maybe Paul will win this dispute in those communities.  After all, he has a personal relationship with them.  He’s the one who started those churches. True enough, but he also never met Jesus Christ, and this is a religion about Jesus Christ, and the guy writing the letter opposing Paul is James Christ, and James Christ is backed by all the surviving apostles of Jesus Christ – that’s some serious credibility there.  At the very least, Paul’s support in his communities will be greatly, greatly strained.

Paul isn’t given any choice in this matter.  James uses the past tense to tell Paul the letters have already been sent.  Frankly, James has so cornered Paul that letting him do the purification and ritual observance is damn near a goodwill gesture.  It’s an olive branch he’s holding out to Paul – do it as I want, or I’ll dump you altogether.  James has completely big timed Paul.

As it happens, Paul complies.  The Bible doesn’t say he meekly complies, but man – he’s just been big times but good. 

He spends a week purifying himself, as he’s supposed to according to all those rituals (the rituals that his letters tell people to ignore, mind you).  Finally, he’s getting ready to go the temple for the ceremony itself – in what will essentially be his final humiliation and defeat.  Instead, however, he’s saved from this total surrender. 

In a massive stroke of luck, a bunch of Jews who hate his guts see Paul and have him arrested.

As strokes of luck go, that’s not a very good one.  But, as the old saying goes, the Lord moves in mysterious ways.  Some Jews see him and cry out, “Fellow Israelites, help us. This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and what is more he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled the sacred place.”  You know, this must be exactly what James was hoping to avoid.  He wanted Paul to do the ceremony to shut up these critics in advance. Damn shame for James that the purification process takes so long.  Or, maybe it’s just that so many had heard so much of what Paul was teaching that it didn’t matter any more what he was going to do in Jerusalem. 

A mob forms, and they want to kill Paul.  It’s a lynch mob.  (Just think – Paul is being saved from his total loss to James because people want to murder him in the streets of Jerusalem.  Oh, the massive irony).  Oh, by the way – does Paul’s massive sense of impending doom upon arrival in Jerusalem make sense now?  This book doesn’t tell us much of what Paul had been teaching in his travels, but he knew what he’d been teaching, and he knew how well that would go over in Jerusalem.  Well, he was right, wasn’t he?

Roman soldiers arrest Paul as a troublemaker.  They inquire if he’s any of the other troublemakers they’ve put up with.  (The Bible here mentions a few actual incidents of overt rebellion in the region) but Paul is none of them.  Paul is then given permission to speak in his defense before Jerusalem’s Jews.

Click here for the final chapters in Acts.

Acts of the Apostles: Chapters 8 to 14

Click here for the first part of Acts.

CHAPTER 8

Well, after Stephen has been killed, people have to scatter.  We’re told that they go across the area, and only the apostles stay in Jerusalem.  People kept trying to destroy the church – with Saul leading the charge against them.

But enough about that, because we get an oddly placed segue that focuses on the apostle Phillip.  We’re told he goes to Samaria (which is odd, because just three verses earlier this book explicitly told us the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. 

Anyhow, Phillip does good deeds, and wins over some supporters, most notably a magician named Simon (who becomes devoted to Philip). Tales of Phillip’s accomplishments reaches Jerusalem, and they send Peter and John down to help.  The apostles pray to lay the Holy Spirit on the new followers.  Simon sees this and offers Peter money to know how to do it.  To put it mildly, Peter doesn’t think much of this plan.  He demands Simon repent, and it appears he does.

Phillip takes to the road in search of new converts, and finds a doozy.  Actually, it’s a scene I remember from the TV mini-series “A.D.” – it’s Phillip and the Ethiopian treasurer.  Essentially, the treasurer picks Phillip up in an ancient version of hitchhiking.  Phil spreads the good news about Christ, and the treasurer is tickled to hear it, and converts as soon as they come to a river (for water to baptize him with).  Mission accomplished, God immediately snatched Phillip away to go elsewhere. 

It’s a little weird, because we had just been introduced into the Saul-Paul cycle of stories right before the Phillip stories, and now that this little detour is over, we’ll go back to Saul next chapter.  Maybe it was just some stories Luke didn’t know how to incorporate otherwise.  But to me it reads like a possible later addition.  This was the book about the apostles, and a guy knew some Phillip stories left out of the original, and so added them here.  May as well put them here – it is after people started leaving Jerusalem but before the Saul-Paul stories really get going. (One problem: we end up with Phillip converting a gentile before the apostles decide doing so is a good idea.  So yeah, these stories are probably a later addition). 

There is one other thing about this story that is remarkable – Ethiopia would be a Christian land until, well, essentially it still is. Christianity worked its way down there during the Roman/Byzantine times and managed to survive.  It lost out in some other places it had once been established in, but survived there.  It’s the historic stronghold for Christ in Africa.  And wouldn’t you know it, you get the story of Phillip with an Ethiopian. 

CHAPTER 9

Back to Saul.  He’s on the hunt to persecute more Christians, when something happens.  He’s going to Damascus to help Jews there persecute Christians where one of the most famous incidents of the Bible occurs.  He’s blinded by a heavenly light, and hears a voice ask, “Why are you persecuting me?”  When Saul asks who is talking, the voice says it’s Jesus. 

Interestingly, there are some people with Saul.  I think the story works better if it’s just a personal Saul-Jesus meeting with no one else there.  But then again, if he is blind and on the road by himself, he won’t survive.  The others hear the voice as well, by the way.  It scares them – a voice and no face to go with it!

Blind Saul enters the town, and after a few days, he gets some unexpected help.  Jesus has spoken in a dream to a good Christian named Ananias.  Jesus tells Ananias to go to Saul and offer help.  Use the power Christ is now giving him, and let Saul see again.  Ananias is rather skittish when he first hears this – you want me to help the top persecutor of Christians?  Are you sure you’ve thought this one through, oh Lord?  Jesus assures him that yes, this is the way to go.  Saul is an instrument of Jesus, and will later preach the word to the gentiles.  So Ananias goes off to help.

After a quick applying of the hands and prayer, scales fall from Saul’s eyes.  He’s been blind for three days (during which time he neither ate nor drink, which sound like bad ideas to me, but never mind).  Anyhow, the most famous conversion of all-time has just taken place.  Saul is now on the side of those he had been persecuted.

Saul (and yes, the Bible still calls him Saul here, and for a little bit later) starts spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of Damascus.  The Jews are floored – this is not the message they expected to hear from this guy.  Eventually, they get upset and the situation is now too hot for Saul.  His followers help him escape, lowering Saul from the walls of Damascus hiding in a basket.

Immediately after that, Saul goes to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles.  He wins them over and learns from them.  At least, that’s the version we get in Acts.  Later, in one of his letters, Paul tells a different story.  He’ll say he didn’t go to Jerusalem and argue that his knowledge of Christ comes not from some third party source like the apostles, but directly from Christ in heaven.  This’ll be an issue later on.  For now, I’ll just note that sometimes the stories told of Paul here are at odds with the words by Paul about Paul.  (Note: at this point in Acts he’s still called Saul, though).

Meanwhile, Peter performs some miracles, most notably bringing a girl named Tabitha back from the dead.  But she wasn’t nearly as dead as Lazarus had been, so no one remembers this story.  That seems to be a shame.

CHAPTER 10

Now we see a historical shift in focus begin.  So far, the apostles had looked just to Jews for converts.  (Well, aside from Phillip and the Ethiopian, that is). In Chapter 10, the decision is made to convert gentiles.

It begins with a vision.  A Roman centurion named Cornelius is a believer in God.  He is Jewish in everything but circumcision – but that means he isn’t Jewish.  He has a vision from God telling him to see Peter, who is in town.

While Cornelius is processing that, God sends a second vision to Peter.  Basically, it’s a vision of pork chops.  No, not exactly – but God gives Peter a vision of all sorts of animals (including some which Jews are not to eat according to the laws of Moses).  God tells Peter to feast on them, but Peter protests – he knows the rules.  God responds with a great line, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”  Yeah, nice line.  The laws are in place not because Moses said so – but because God said so.  And if God says, “Never mind” that means you don’t have to mind the laws.  This makes lots of sense.  Just to drive the point home, God repeats the message three times in all.  (Boy, I guess Peter went to be hungry to have so much food in his holy vision).

At any rate, Peter is trying to figure out what the vision of righteous bacon meant, when Cornelius sees him.  Ah!  Now it all makes sense!  OK, so Cornelius isn’t snipped, but if God thinks he is clean, who is Peter to say Cornelius is profane?  And so Peter welcomes him into the church. 

This is the key moment.  Peter is now on board with converting gentiles to the religion without making them undergo traditional Jewish rituals – like circumcision.  You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Christian.  The Jesus movement is becoming a completely different religion instead of a new variation on Judaism. 

CHAPTER 11

Peter, convinced of converting gentiles, now convinces the other apostles of this approach.  It’s a short chapter and half of it basically repeats what was said in Chapter 10, but the upshot: everyone is on board with this new approach. Let’s start converting gentiles as well.

With the new approach, a church dedicated to Christ is established in the gentile town of Antioch.  And there, we get a new name for the followers of Christ: Christians.  They get the name from gentiles in order to distinguish them from Jews.  That’s why the name emerges with the new approach. And it’s just another step in become a different religion – having a different name. 

CHAPTER 12

Meanwhile, persecution of the Christians continues.  King Herod apparently really hates them.  He has the apostle James – the brother of John one, not the other James – is killed by a sword.  The Jews liked this, so Herod arrests Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  He puts pretty elaborate security precautions in place, putting four squads of four soldiers each with Peter in double chains.  Man, that’s some serious overkill, isn’t it?  All these precautions are only needed if you really think the Lord is going to help Peter.  Wait – no, then they’d be futile (spoiler!) because – dude: Lord! Thank you.  There is one other reason to engage in all these security precautions: it makes a more dramatic story when Peter does escape (spoiler!).  Yeah, I think that this story is either inflated greatly or just a fable.

Peter is in jail, and the Lord stages a jailbreak.  The shackles fall from his wrists.  An angel guides him out past the guards.  Peter recovers his senses and dashes to the house of Mary, “the mother of John who is called Mark.”  So this Mary isn’t one of our famous Marys from the gospel.  But “John who is called Mark” happens to be the Mark as in Gospel of Mark.  (You can’t have two Gospels According to John, so they went with his nickname).  Everyone is amazed to see Peter.  In fact, when some are first told that Peter is there, the replay is “You are out of your mind.”  Heh.  Even in a book people full of miracles people aren’t expecting to se Peter again. 

Well, Peter tells people to report his escape to James.  According to the footnotes, this James isn’t the surviving apostle James.  No, it’s the brother of Jesus – James Christ.  He’ll come up again in the epistles portion of the New Testament.  Why, he ever wrote one of the epistles.  And our first non-Christian report on the Christians – Josepheus’s history of the Jews, notes that James the brother of Jesus was the leader of the Christian movement in Jerusalem after his brother’s death.  (Note: Josepheus wasn’t just a historian, but essentially a contemporary.  He survived the big 66-70 AD rebellion and wrote his history after it.  He was at best a small boy when Christ died, but he certainly overlapped with the apostles).

Anyhow, the point is this – while we always think of the early church being Jesus and the apostles and then St. Paul – the leader of the main branch of the movement was James Christ in Jerusalem.  But his branch got snipped off by the big 66-70 uprising that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem.  (According to Josepheus, James was already dead by the time the Romans stormed the city).  We’ll see James keep appearing throughout, and sometimes he is referred to as the brother of Jesus.  And he always is a guy with juice.  The most important pre-Paul figures in the church were James Christ, Peter, and John.

Oh, Herod orders the execution of the 16 guards on duty when Peter escaped.  Bummer.  These are incidental casualties, ones caught in the crossfire; just like the babies murdered in the slaughter of innocents in the Gospel According to Matthew.  Well, the good news is that I doubt either incident happened, so let’s move on.

Herod dies.  And I do believe this is the last chapter in the book not to primarily focus on Saul/Paul. He comes up at the end, though.  We learn that he and Barnabas have finished a mission and returned to Jerusalem.  Then they go out again, taking “John who is called Mark.”  Man, that’s a confusing nickname.

CHAPTER 13

This chapter recounts some wanderings on behalf of Christ by Saul/Paul and his posse (Barnabas and John/Mark). 

Most notably, we finally change names on Saul.  He’s now called Paul.  I thought his name change was supposed to signify his religious conversion.  He’s become a new man so he gets a new name.  Nope.  It’s nothing like that.  Paul is just the gentile name for Saul.  Now that he’ll primarily being working the gentile beat, he’s known by their variation on his name.  He thus never really changes his name.  Huh.  I didn’t know that. 

Paul defeats a magician named Bar-Jesus in Cyprus.  He then gives a long sermon at a synagogue at Antioch, which most rehashes the Old Testament, but (naturally) culminates with the coming of Jesus Christ.  This makes a big impact and draws a sizable crowd – almost the whole city, we’re told.  But they’re not all happy.  The Jews were jealous and violently contradict Paul. 

In fact, they have Paul and Barnabas expelled from town.  I like the line that describes what Paul and Barnabas did next: “So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.”  I just love how that’s put.  Starting the sentence with “So” makes it all seem so matter of act.  “So I got out of bed after waking up.”  “So I belched after eating.”  These guys have just been kicked out of town – but, hey – no biggee.  They’ll survive.  I also like the phrase “shook the dusty from their feet.”  It’s not terribly original, but it just paints a picture in my mind of guys matter of factly responding to their setback by getting up and moving on.  They’re not going to let some hostility prevent them from spreading God’s word.  As we’ll see, Paul can take a licking and keep on ticking.

CHAPTER 14

Now in Iconium, Paul and Barnabas have the same problems as before.  They found some converts among the Jews and Greeks, but, “the disbelieving Jews stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.”  Things get pretty heated.  In fact, we’re told that an attempt was made to stone Paul and Barnabas, so they had to leave.  The passage isn’t really clear is there was a stoning – “When there was an attempt by both Gentiles and the Jews, together with their leaders, to attack and stone them” – so were rocks thrown or not?  I guess not, because later we get an actual attempted stoning, and it’s clear what happened.  Still, Paul and Barnabas all kinds of problems.  But hey – Jesus did say he came to bring not peace but the sword.

Next, they come to the Greek town of Lystra.  They have a different sort of problem here.  When the locals see them perform miracles and acts of heeling, they have their own classically Greek interpretation – they are Greek gods.  They call Barnabas “Zeus” and figure that Paul is Hermes.  OK, now that’s funny for two reasons.  First, I get a kick of these guys missing the point and declaring the messengers to be gods – and part of the wrong god system at that!  Also, it’s funny that Paul doesn’t get top billing.  The Bible explains he’s called Hermes because he’s the mouthpiece.  I guess they figure Barnabas is The Man behind The Man. 

Well, Paul and Barnabas try to set everyone straight, but run into new problems instead.  Some Jews from Antioch come up and rile everyone up against the Christian missionaries.  It was the people of Antioch, you might recall, that wanted Paul and Barnabas stoned.  Well, they finally get their stoning.  Paul is stoned and dragged out of town, believed to be dead.  But he wasn’t dead.  I don’t know if he was unconscious or just playing possum, but once he’s dumped outside town (for the wild animals to eat up, I guess), he gets up.  He and Barnabas leave for Derbe.

Well, the chapter ends with the boys retracing their steps, going back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch to bolster the spirits of the Christians in each town.  Huh.  So despite their horrible treatment, they had set their seeds.  (It’s just like the parables of Christ – start with a small seed, but plant in rich soil and watch it grown into a mighty plant.  That’s exactly what Paul is doing. He is the Johnny Appleseed of the early Christian church).  However hated Paul and Barnabas were when they left towns, things had apparently cooled down enough to allow them to return in peace.  It sounds like they’re mostly looking after the Christians already there instead of preaching and trying to convert the masses.  Yeah, that’ll help.  They’d be less in people’s faces, and keeping a lower profile. 

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