Did Paul teach Jewish Jesus-believers to forsake Moses' law?

[tonychanyt]

A decade after the Jerusalem Council, Paul returned to Jerusalem in Ac 21:

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.

Paul was on good terms with the Jerusalem Christians even though some of them were Judaizers or belonged to the circumcision group.

18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

James was the biological brother of Jesus.

19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God.

Paul's ministry focused on the Gentiles.

And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed.

James' ministry focused on Jews. They told Paul about the Jewish believers/Christians.

They are all zealous for the law,

These Jewish Jesus-believers followed the law under the guidance of James.

21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

Did Paul teach Jewish Jesus-believers to forsake Moses' law?

No.

22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

four Jewish Jesus-believers

24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

Did Paul forsake Moses' law?

No.

25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

The Jerusalem Council decided that Gentile believers were not required to be circumcised.

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

Paul followed the law in Jerusalem.

The nascent church was a time of transition, emerging from traditional Judaism. Jesus, Peter, James, and Paul did not reject or forsake Moses' law. Initially, Jewish Jesus-believers followed the law and Gentile Jesus-believers were forbidden to eat blood. Some years later, Rome destroyed the Jerusalem Temple.

Paul maintained a nuanced position that respected Jewish believers' continued observance while defending Gentile believers' freedom from these requirements. The text demonstrates the early church's careful navigation of Jewish and Gentile practices during this transitional period before the Temple's destruction.

 

[KevinT]

Paul followed the law in Jerusalem.

The nascent church was a time of transition, emerging from traditional Judaism. Jesus, Peter, James, and Paul did not reject or forsake Moses' law. Initially, Jewish Jesus-believers followed the law and Gentile Jesus-believers were forbidden to eat blood. Some years later, Rome destroyed the Jerusalem Temple.

Paul maintained a nuanced position that respected Jewish believers' continued observance while defending Gentile believers' freedom from these requirements. The text demonstrates the early church's careful navigation of Jewish and Gentile practices during this transitional period before the Temple's destruction.

I had heard about NT Wright for many years, and knew that he was part of a "New Perspectives on Paul" philosophy-- but until recently had not read him. Several weeks ago, however, I finished his biography of Paul (Paul, by NT Wright), and it was very helpful and exposed me to new concepts.

Before I read this book, I thought that Paul was teaching the "way to be saved", the formula by which we personally become right with God. Like a cartoon wherein Peter is guarding the gates of heaven up in the clouds, and which ends with the door being opened because one's name was on the right list. But Wright points out that the story of the entire bible has never been about "going to heaven," and is instead about the Kingdom of God being established on this earth, and that in the end, it is God Himself that is wanting to come and live with His people. At His ascension, Jesus promised to come back to Earth, and in Revelation, we see the holy city coming down to our planet and God making His residence to be here with mankind.

So the nature of the Good News (the Gospel), is that Jesus is now king, death has been overcome, and that we should all now work for the advancement of God's (Christ's) kingdom here on earth. Our job on earth is to be image-bearers of God, shining light into the darkness of evil around us. We are to be the salt of the earth, the light on a hill that is not hidden. The great commission by Christ was to go into the world and teach all nations.

My frustration with Paul in the past has been that I was trying to read him like a mathematical textbook. And one place I would see one apparent formula and in another NT book, a different formula. For example, in Galatians he would rail against circumcision and then later circumcise his traveling companion. But I have realized now that what Paul was doing was getting as many people as he could to join the Kingdom of God. Like a circus barker working to get everyone inside the tent, Paul was determined that nothing would hinder a new believer from becoming part of God's family. And in the language of Paul, once one was part of God's family, one was "saved." The jailer who was baptized after the midnight earthquake was "saved" along with his family. This wasn't a statement about him appearing before a divine Judge at the 2nd coming, but rather that he was now on God's side and on the winning team.

Joining God's family is but the beginning of an eternal journey of learning more and more about God's love and amazing ways. Like enrolling in university with limitless courses to teach one better ways of living. So the actions of a senior student will be different from the freshman. And it would be wrong to expect a newcomer to understand everything on day #1. Did Paul's jailer understand all about being an effective servant of God that night? No. But he had taken that important first step on the journey.

So Paul is all about getting people started on God's path, and not necessarily a statement of where that path will lead.

Another example: At the council of Jerusalem, they advised Gentiles to avoid food offered to idols. Later Paul taught that idols were really nothing when one understood that there was only one true God. Does the "formula of of salvation" include "do not eat food sacrificed to idols" or not? The apparent contradiction is solved if one understands that different things are important to different people in different situations.

Best wishes
KT

 

[tonychanyt]

Does the "formula of of salvation" include "do not eat food sacrificed to idols" or not? The apparent contradiction is solved if one understands that different things are important to different people in different situations.

Right. Paul kept a clear conscience before God at all times. He was logically consistent as long as we read his writing with nuance and not overgeneralizing