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Old 09-21-2009, 12:10 AM   #1
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Default I'm suspicious of the Council of Jerusalem

Didn't Jesus preach salvation to Gentiles from the beginning of his ministry?

Quote:
Matthew 4:12-17
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;
13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
15 "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES--
16 "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
If Jesus was saving Gentiles from the beginning of his ministry, surely he was explaining their relation to the Law?

If so, surely his apostles knew the answer to that question before he died too?

How then could the issue of Gentiles and the necessity for circumcision be so uncertain and debated that it required a meeting of Christianity's finest minds, years after Jesus died, to resolve it?

Lastly, if the Book of Acts is correct in reporting this circumcision stuff as truly disputed, don't we have the right to expect that it also would have been a very important question that Jesus' Gentile converts would have consulted him on during his life?

How exactly did that question remain unanswered all those years?

My assessment is that circumcision for Gentiles was never an issue of contention, it was clearly required in Exodus 12, Jesus never said different, and the story in Acts 15 was nothing but Pauline propaganda, Paul's attempt to make himself look more aligned with the original gospel than he really was.

And with his audience of prospective Gentile-converts living so far away from Jerusalem, who would dare abandon their families and daily obligations to take the time-consuming, costly and dangerous trip to Jerusalem merely to verify the allegations of Paul?

Your thoughts?
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Old 09-21-2009, 12:25 AM   #2
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As the event never occured, what you are referring to is a 2nd century dispute between rival christian groups, neither of which had much to do with Jerusalem, in any real sense.
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Old 09-21-2009, 11:02 AM   #3
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"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Where do we file our claims for fraud?
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Old 09-21-2009, 11:48 AM   #4
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How Jesus Became Christian: The Early Christians And The Transformation Of A Jewish Teacher Into The Son Of God

"... Acts invented the Jeruselem Conference to legitamize Pauls' distinctive teachings and practices."


[mod note = see this Amazon link (or via: amazon.co.uk) for US readers ]
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Old 09-21-2009, 04:01 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by sharrock View Post
How Jesus Became Christian: The Early Christians And The Transformation Of A Jewish Teacher Into The Son Of God

"... Acts invented the Jeruselem Conference to legitamize Pauls' distinctive teachings and practices."


[mod note = see this Amazon link (or via: amazon.co.uk) for US readers ]
cool, I didn't even know about this book.

However, although mention of his name seems to guarantee an unprofitable discussion with apologists, I believe it was F.C. Bauer who first formulated the problem of Paul. In Barrie's video, he admits that this book is popular, not scholarly.
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Old 09-22-2009, 12:14 AM   #6
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Matt 10:5-6 (NIV)

Quote:
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
Matt 15:24

Quote:
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
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Old 09-22-2009, 12:27 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by driver8 View Post
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Where do we file our claims for fraud?
I thought those words were originally spoken by a brothel madam, expert in manual labor.


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