A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/XCV. The Council of Jerusalem (about A. D. 50)

by Friedrich Justus Knecht

Chapter XCV.

THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM (about A. D. 50).

[Acts 15.]

SOME disciples^[1] who came from Jerusalem to Antioch said to the Christians^[2] there: “Unless^[3] you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas opposed this doctrine; but in order to settle the question, they went up to Jerusalem, to consult^[4] with Peter and the other apostles.

When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles and elders or priests ^[5] assembled in council to consider the matter. After much discussion, Peter^[6] rose up and said:

“Men, brethren, you know that in former days^[7] God made choice among us, that the Gentiles^[8], by my mouth, should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knoweth the hearts, gave them testimony, giving to them the Holy Ghost as well as to us, and made no difference between us ^[9] and them ^[10], purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt -you ^[11] God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But by the grace ^[12] of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, even as they.” When Peter had finished speaking, “ail the multitude held their peace”^[13] (Acts 15, 12).

Then James^[14], bishop of Jerusalem, spoke to the same effect. It was then^[15] decreed by the whole Council of Jerusalem that the Christians of Antioch, or elsewhere, were no longer bound to observe the law of Moses. This decree^[16] commenced with these remarkable words: “It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden upon you.”

COMMENTARY.

General Councils. The assembly at Jerusalem was the first General Council, and has been the pattern of all succeeding Councils. Let us, therefore, examine: 1. how this Council was held; 2. what was the subject or matter discussed by it; 3. what was the significance of the decision arrived at by it.

1. How was the Council of Jerusalem held?

St. Peter presided over it and conducted its discussion?. His discourse was listened to with respect, and all opposition was silenced by it. All present took part in the discussion, but the decision was made by the apostles and bishops.

Thus has it been at every General Council. The successor of St. Peter, the Pope, or some one delegated by him to represent him, has presided over it. During the discussion, learned priests take their part as well as bishops, but only the bishops, as successors of the apostles, have the right of voting in the final decision.

2. What was the subject, or matter discussed by the Council?

There was no question of setting up a new doctrine, but simply of explaining and defining that which God had revealed about the point in dispute.

Thus has it been with all General Councils. They have never set up new doctrines, but they have defined and explained the doctrines of divine revelation, in answer to the objections and denial of unbelievers and heretics, so that the members of the Church may be guarded against error and seduction.

3. What was the significance of the decision arrived at by the Council of Jerusalem?

The decision of the Council was not merely the result of a consultation of a number of wise and holy pastors, but it was a decision made under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The apostles were convinced that the Holy Ghost had conducted their discussion and decision, and preserved them from error. When, therefore, they announced their decision to the Christian Church, they did not say: “We have decided in such and such a way”, but: “It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us” so to decide.

The same applies in matters of doctrine to the decisions of every General Council which has been held, because it was to the Church in her office of teacher that our Lord promised to send the Spirit of Truth, to be with her and guide her unto all truth, and to direct her definitions of what it is that God has revealed on any point of doctrine.

The Infallibility of the Church is a great consolation for all the faithful. The Gentile Christians at Antioch “were filled with consolation” when they learnt the decision of the Council: for now all their doubts and fears were set at rest, and they knew exactly what God required of them. So also is it a great joy and consolation for us, living as we do in the midst of the errors and false doctrines of the age, to know that we have a guiding star by which we can steer our course, namely the infallible teaching of the Holy Church of God, which is, in the words of St. Paul (1 Tim. 3, 15), “the pillar and ground of the Truth”, being unerringly guided by the Holy Ghost. We live at rest, protected from all anxious doubts, for by believing in the Church we believe in the Spirit of Truth, and we know that our faith does not rest on human but on divine authority. By yielding our faith to the teaching of the Church we submit our finite reason and our erring spirits to the Supreme Reason and Spirit of God, who is the Eternal Truth.

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Application. I thank God every day for the gift of the holy Catholic faith! Have you been in the habit of doing so? O never neglect this in the future; for the safe possession of divine truth is the greatest of all blessings! And the greatest joy is that of being a Catholic.

1. Some disciples. Who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees.
2. The Christians. Who had been Gentiles.
3. Unless. You observe the law of Moses, generally, in all its regulations as to food, purifications &c.
4. To consult. The matter in dispute being a very important one, it was decided to submit it to the apostles as a body. It is easy for us to see the importance of the subject in question. If the opinion held by these Jewish Christians had been generally accepted, the admission of Gentiles into her fold would have been complicated to an extraordinary degree, and her growth would have been much fettered, and the Old Testament itself would have lost its real character as “a mere preparation and introduction" to Christianity. The matter was therefore a vital question for the welfare of the Church.
5. Priests. All those whom the apostles had ordained.
6. Peter. Peter had left Rome a short time before and returned to Jerusalem.
7. In former cays. About nine years previously.
8. The Gentiles. Cornelius and his companions.
9. Us. Who were circumcised Jews.
10. Them. The uncircumcised Gentiles.
11. Why tempt you. God has already decided the question through me both theoretically and practically. He has bidden the shadows that lay so heavily upon us, to depart from the new Israel. Why then do you tempt Him to alter His decree?
12. By the grace. And not by circumcision.
13. Held their peace. The Council received the decision of its head with a respectful silence; and even those who had formerly opposed the view he took, ventured on no answer.
14. James, This apostle, known as St. James the Less, was bishop of Jerusalem. As the kinsman of our Lord, he was held in high esteem in the Church. He spoke “to the same effect” as the prince of the apostles, although he himself was a close observer of the Jewish law.
15. Then. After Paul and Barnabas had related all the signs and wonders which God had wrought among the Gentiles by their means. They related these things to show that the uncircumcised Gentiles were acceptable to the Lord if only they believed in Him.
16. This decree. To give greater finality to the decision, it was written down and sent to the Christians at Antioch, “which when they read they rejoiced for the consolation” that no barriers, such as circumcision, were to be put in the way of their salvation. We see that even in the first Council, in which the apostles were assembled, the word and voice of Peter ended the doubt and dispute. But as the doctrine of Peter was infallible, so the teaching of his successors in Rome is also infallible.