Controversy and debate are not something new in the church. As we hear in today’s first reading even in the earliest church there was “much debate.” Luke begins this chapter by presenting the reason for this debate:
“Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.’ Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.” (Acts 15:1-2).
Some Jewish-Christians from Jerusalem were insisting that the Gentiles in Antioch who had become “believers” (Christians) had to be circumcised. This issues which caused “no little dissension” was not just a question of holding on to a cherished Jewish law or tradition. It was a question of salvation: “Unless you are circumcised…you cannot be saved.”
The issue was one of identity and salvation. What was required to become a member of the People of God? The Catholic Church ultimately decided that while the Jewish people were and remain the People of God membership was now extended to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, even to Gentiles. This decision was announced by Peter in today’s first reading in a gathering often called the “Jerusalem Council”.
“God…bore witness by granting them [Gentiles] the Holy Spirit just as he did us. He made no distinction between us and them for by faith he purified their hearts…we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.”
We religious people seem to like to declare who is “in” and who is “out,” who is saved and who is condemned. What Peter teaches us is that we must leave these decisions to God. Jewish and Christians laws and traditions can be good and life giving but they can also become a heavy burden, hence Peter’s warning: “Why, then, are you putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?”
Image: “The Second Vatican Council opened in Rome on Oct. 11, 1962,” by manhhai is licensed under CC BY 2.0.