Peter and Paul Conflict

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

circumcison knifeWho wrote this? St. Paul. The first pope had erred how?

By acting in a hypocritical manner. Apparently because he feared conflict—over a matter in which conflict could not be avoided.

St. Peter knew by divine revelation that under the New Covenant all foods were “clean.” The Lord had given St. Peter a vision, while the Apostle made his way to the pagan home of…? The centurion Cornelius.

But that doesn’t mean that the problem was simple. God had given the Law of Moses to His Chosen People. Not all of that Law admitted of revision. The Ten Commandments still remained in effect, of course. And circumcision had distinguished God’s people for almost two millennia. Also, in pagan homes, worshiping false gods usually involved eating foods offered to them. Christians had to take care to avoid even the appearance of co-operating with pagan worship.

To try to deal with these difficult matters, they convened the Council of…? Jerusalem.

Much to the relief of the adult pagan men who wanted to enter Christ’s Church, the Council decided that they could retain their foreskins.

That said, the Apostles decided that the prohibitions in Leviticus 18 remained in effect. No homosexuality, and no marriage within the family (including in-laws).

Moral: Sometimes finding our way together as God’s People gets difficult. But the Lord does help us.

One thought on “Peter and Paul Conflict

  1. The simple things help the most. Like the Rosary. Like reading about the Saints and the apparitiions of Mary and the great miracles. Especially like those of the past century … the present teaching would like to have us forget the ‘supernatural’ What a terrible error!! “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard … what God has ready for those who love Him.” Corinthians 2:9-10

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