Acts 15: Paul rejected James' and Peter's compromise

 

Acts 15, NIV emphasis in blue and green, [CJB], my comments in yellow

[I read the Bible to consider the perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy. It’s partially expressed by Hebrew scholars 3000 years ago in Genesis 1:26-28:  Female& male-human-being may and can, independent of other entities, choose to constrain political chaos on earth. In other words, on earth, humankind has the power to pursue the good. Jesus affirmed this idea in Matthew 19:3-8, in Matthew 5:48, and in other dialogue. I think the next Bible canon should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Messiah vs Christ conflict. The broader view could accelerate collaborative pursuit of human being (verb) and lessen baby killing.]

15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch [actually a trip to the north] and were teaching the believers [Imposing beliefs on people who do not accept the power to them that is cited in Genesis 1:26-28. A god facing death cannot be persuaded. This reality holds true in every generation.]: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” [“Saved” refers to association with G-d, referring to Synagogue opinion, rather than salvation of the soul, according to Church opinion.] ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with [the Judeans]. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up [south] to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church [the congregation] sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders [the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders], to whom they reported everything God had done through them [No one can express mystery, so listeners don’t accept what is said.].

⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees [P’rushim, strict Torah advocates] stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses [the Torah of Moshe].”

⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” [Peter professes Jesus rather than Christ. It seems Peter was a Messianic Jew rather than a Christian Jew.]

¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

¹⁶ “‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’ [Amos 9:11-12]’—
¹⁸     things known from long ago.

¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. [“Christ” expresses body and blood sacrifice and thereby lessens Jesus. It seems James compromised the requirement of circumcision.] ²¹ For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah]. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit [Ruach HaKodesh] and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. [It seems the meeting accepted James’ and Peter’s leadership and compromise.] You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church [group] together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. [The Gentiles seemed to accept exclusion from the circumcision requirement.] ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.  ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

³⁶ Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

[Summary:  Apparently, political activists Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem, where James and Peter, representing Israel, worked out a compromise: Gentiles may and can observe a limited Torah, specifically excepting circumcision, yet requiring 4 practices: no food sacrificed to idols, no blood, no strangled meat, and no sexual immorality. I don't know much about the consumption of food issues, yet sexual immorality seems evident. It entails adult actions that abuse ova and children.
 
Perhaps the James-Paul negotiation in Jerusalem some 1900 years ago is the origin of "Judeo-Christianity". Now, all private believers may and can know to publicly pursue “that the rest of mankind may seek [the good]” (Verse 17). But Pauline Christianity does not seem to embrace the compromise.
 
Christianity seems to accommodate antinomianism in broad application: spiritual, civil, civic, and especially sexual. Also, that Judeo-Christian believers accommodate killing children for the sake of temporal adult satisfactions may and can be reformed by the civic people.
 
I prefer to accept the mystery of theGod as the good, Israel’s hope for a Messiah, and Christianity's hope for favor in the afterdeath (that indefinite time after body, mind, and person stop functioning), yet pursue Jesus’ civic influence to the good on earth. We observe Jesus' influence in choices to the good versus consequences of dissidence and rebellion. This generation collaborates to colonize a planet: there seems no excuse for rejecting Jesus' civic peace (not to limit Jesus' urge to perfection).]