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.
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