Category:Incident at Antioch (event)

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The Incident at Antioch refers to an episode in the lives of Paul and Peter and of the early Church, as narrated in Galatians (2:11-21).

• People : Peter -- James -- Paul -- Barnabas -- Church of Jerusalem

• Sources : Acts of Apostles -- Galatians

< Life of Paul  : Paul's Early Life -- Paul Persecuting the Church -- Conversion of Paul -- Paul's First Missionary Journey -- Council of Jerusalem -- Incident at Antioch -- Paul's Second Missionary Journey -- Paul's Third Missionary Journey -- Paul's Last Visit to Jerusalem -- Paul in Caesarea -- Paul's Journey to Rome -- Paul in Rome -- Martyrdom of Paul -- Relics of Paul >

Overview

The apparent unanimity reached at the so-called Council of Jerusalem did not solve all the problems related to the presence of Gentiles in the Church. Provided that baptized Gentiles were not required to be circumcised or to keep the law of Moses, the controversy exploded on the relation between Jews and Gentiles within the community especially during communal meals. Should they sit into separate tables or might they join the same table--Jews and Gentiles, males and females, freepeople and slaves?

The Incident at Antioch shows that Paul and James had opposite views. James opposed the sharing of tables among Jews and Gentiles, while Paul favored it. Peter was caught in between. At the beginning he conformed with the practice of the Church of Antioch but after "certain people came from James" he "drew back." Barnabas also followed his example. Paul reacted vehemently, confronting Peter and accusing him (and Barnabas) of "hypocrisy." For Paul there is no distinction between Jewish and Gentile members, because they were equally sinners and were equally justified by the grace of God through Jesus. Concerning justification, Jews cannot claim any superiority, unless they deny the grace of God. "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing." (2:21).

Incident at Antioch, in ancient sources

Galatians

Gal 2:11-16 (NRSV) -- 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 13 And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

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