About St. Paul Ministry in Antioch - Orontes
Ministry in Antioch on the Orontes
The news that St. Paul had allowed Gentiles into the church was
shocking for the Jewish circles of Judea and was met with violent
opposition. The latter claimed that the people who did not observe
the Jewish dietary obligations and who were not circumcised, could
not adhere to Christianity. Thus, in Antioch, a major controversy
arose, concerning Jewish purity laws governing food, sharing of
meals with Gentiles and circumcision.
One of the practices which separated the Gentile converts from the
Jewish Christians was sabbath, the day of prayer and rest during
which the latter withdrew from public life. However, Jewish groups
differed about regulations of sabbath and when Jesus healed the man
who was ill for thirty-eighth years at the pool of Bethesda Un 5:
1-1 8) he had made the latter carry his bed on the sabbath. A second
distinguishing mark was the food laws commanded for Jewish people.
Even if the very complicated prescriptions detailed in the book of
Leviticus may not have been generally practiced in the first-century
Jewish world, what was applicable segregated Jews from Gentiles.
The main reason why Jews were against sharing meals with Gentiles
was the fact that much of the meat which would have been available
to the latter at the market came from the sacrifices to pagan gods.
Consequently, an invitation to a Gentile dinner always carried the
potential danger of eating this meat and compromising, unknowingly,
with pagan sacrifice. Some Jewish groups to prevent this danger
provided their own food. although this problem had already found its
answer by the visions of the centurion Cornelius and St Peter which
ended up with Gentiles' receiving the Holy Spirit Just as the Jewish
Christians (Acts 10) it seems that some Jewish Christians had began
avoiding Gentile dinners.
In his letter to the Galatians St. Paul informs us that when they
met in Antioch he criticized St Peter for stopping sharing food with
the Gentiles: I said to Kephas in front of all, "If you, though a
Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you
compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" (Gal 2: 14). Obviously the
practice of St Peter would have resulted in two groups of Christians
who could not meet for the Eucharist. Another problem, as important
as the dietary laws, was more evident. At the time of St. Paul,
circumcision had been in practice in Africa and although biblical
tradition claims it to have been practiced since the patriarch
Abraham it may have been first introduced into the Semitic world of
Mesopotamia by Jews at the time of the Exodus.
It was originally indicated by a tattoo showing that the circumcised
person was a member of the tribe. The law of Moses required that all
male Jews had to be circumcised in infancy. The obligation had come
to be regarded as more important during the later history of the
Jewish nation when they lived under the rule of the Babylonians and
Persians who did not practice it, and gained a religious meaning.
The Jews claimed that all the converts to Christianity had also to
be circumcised. The Old Testament refers to the employment of
primitive flint knives for the operation. At that time it was also a
dangerous and painful operation especially for adults. It was
decided that St. Paul and St. Barnabas taking Titus with them should
go to Jerusalem, to discuss such matters with the elders and
Apostles there.
In Jerusalem after much discussion, it was decided that as long as
Gentiles did not eat meat sacrificed to the idols and blood-meat and
avoided marriage within forbidden degrees of affinity, there was
nothing to prevent them from becoming Christians. Thus the complex
obligations of the Jewish law had been reduced to a few
prohibitions. Although in the conclusion summarized by St James the
Just (Acts 15) there is no word about circumcision, and other
obligations such as the eating of pig or sabbath, one may conclude
that they were abrogated as well. Although it is known that with the
resolution of these matters pagans did not flee to baptism, their
cancellation would ultimately determine the charocter of the
doctrine and practices of Christianity and help its spread.
The Apostolic Council held in Jerusalem also decided that St. Paul
should continue to preach to the Gentiles and Sts James the Just,
Peter and St. John to the Jews (Gal 2:2-10). St. Paul's fluent Greek
may have been one of the reasons why he was chosen to preach to the
Gentiles and Hellenized Jews.
Following the meeting Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas
(also called Silvanus) were chosen to accompany the Apostles to
Antioch with a letter to the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia
stating that St. Barnabas and St. Paul had been chosen, together
with Judas and Silas, to take the message that they were required
only to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from meats of
strangled animals, also from blood in any flesh, and from unlawful
marriage.
Journeys of St. Paul
About St. Paul
Traveling in St. Pauls Time
City of St. Paul
Antioch on the Orontes
Seleucia Pieria
First Journey
Ministry in Antioch - Orontes
Second Journey
Third Journey
Arrest and Imprisonment
Journey to Rome
Story of Paul and Thecla
St. Paul's Letters