On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. Acts 21:18-21
The Church’s first major theological crisis was about Jewish/Gentile matters. This was dealt with in Acts 15 when the first Church Council convened to settle the matter. But the matter was not settled, at least not once-and-for-all, never-to-be-a-problem again! Here it comes again with a slightly new spin.
Originally, the question was whether Gentiles converting to Christianity needed to first become Jewish—requiring the circumcision of males. The final in answer Acts 15 was “No.” Gentiles do not need to become Jewish to be Christian, and they need not be circumcised.
But now, sometime later after God used Paul to lead many Gentiles to Christ and plant numerous Christian churches throughout Asia Minor and Greece, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were happy to hear of Gentile conversions to Christ, but…
The new spin on the Jewish/Gentile matter was an accusation that Paul was teaching Jews to forsake Jewish customs. Let’s consider this issue.
First, Paul was not teaching that. Second, the accusation that Paul was teaching that was based on hearsay. While it is not wrong to ask about the validity of hearsay, it is foolish to pass judgment based on hearsay. Even in a court of law, what a witness “heard” about a matter is not germane. Only what a witness has personally heard and/or seen is supposed to be admissible.
Let us all learn that what we heard about a matter may not be true. Better to ask the person—without accusation—to clarify the validity of what is being said by third parties.
More on the Jewish/Gentile matter next time…