Acts 15

Acts 15:1

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

[Acts 15]

SOME disciples¹ who came from Jerusalem to Antioch said to the Christians² there: “Unless³ 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 consult⁴ with Peter and the other apostles.

When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles and elders or priests⁵ assembled in council to consider the matter. After much discussion, Peter⁶ rose up and said:

“Men, brethren, you know that in former days⁷ God made choice among us, that the Gentiles⁸, 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 us⁹ and them¹⁰, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt you¹¹ God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But by the grace¹² of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, even as they.” When

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 told 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 days. About nine years previously. ⁸ The Gentiles. Cornelius and his companions. ⁹ Cf. 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 hidden 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. — XCV. THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM.

Peter had finished speaking, “all the multitude held their peace”$^(1)$ (Acts 15, 12).

Then James$^(2)$, bishop of Jerusalem, spoke to the same effect. It was then$^(3)$ 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$^(4)$ 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 discussions. 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.

$^(1)$ 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.

$^(2)$ 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.

$^(3)$ 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.

$^(4)$ 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.

— NCV. THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. 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.

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.

— XCVII. THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL.

Acts 15:33

THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL (A. D. 51-54)

[Acts 15, 33 to 18, 18]

SOME time after, Paul set out on his second apostolic journey, taking with him Silas instead of Barnabas, who with Mark sailed to Cyprus. Paul published the decree of the Council and preached with great zeal in Syria, Cilicia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Mysia, and nearly all Asia Minor. At last he came to Troas. There he doubted where he should go next; but God made it known to him in a vision. During the night he saw, as it were, a man of Macedonia¹, who said to him: “Pass over into Macedonia, and help us!”

Immediately Paul set out for Europe, with three companions, Silas, Luke², and Timothy³, and landed safely in Philippi, the capital of Macedonia. On the Sabbath-day Paul preached the Gospel of Christ. Among his hearers was a God-fearing woman named Lydia, a seller of purple. Opening her ears and her heart to the divine word, she received it with joy and was baptized with her whole family.

Very soon, however, a storm was raised against the apostle. As Paul and Silas were going, as usual, to the place of prayer, they were met by a certain girl who had a spirit of divination, and was, therefore, a source of great gain to her masters. She persisted in following the apostles, crying out: “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who show to you the way of salvation.” Paul, turning round, said to the spirit that possessed her: “I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to go out of

¹ Macedonia. The name then given to the present European Turkey.

² Luke was born of Greek parents in Antioch. He was a physician by education and profession. After his conversion to Christianity he accompanied St. Paul on his second great missionary journey, sharing the toils and labours, and even the captivity of the great apostle of the Gentiles. After St. Paul’s death, he preached the Gospel in Gaul, Dalmatia, and Egypt, and was martyred in Achaia.

³ Timothy, whose father was a Greek, and whose mother was a Jewess, had already been converted to the true faith A. D. 45, when St. Paul preached in Lystra (chapter XCII). When the apostle returned to Lystra on his second journey, Timothy, who was still quite a youth, attached himself to the apostle as his companion. St. Paul consecrated him and appointed him to be first bishop of Ephesus, and while still holding that see he was martyred in the reign of Domitian.

— XCVL. THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL.

her.” And the spirit left her. Then her masters, seeing that the hope of their gain was gone, seized Paul and Silas, and brought them into the market-place before the magistrates, saying: “These men, being Jews, disturb our city.”

Then the people rose against them, their garments were torn off, and the magistrates commanded them to be beaten with rods, and then to be thrown into prison. At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and praising God, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the walls of the prison were shaken to their foundations. Immediately the doors flew open, and the bonds of the prisoners were rent asunder.

The keeper of the prison, awaking in terror from his sleep, and seeing the doors open, drew his sword to kill himself, because he thought that the prisoners had fled. But Paul cried out to him: “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here!” Upon this the jailer, calling for a light, went in trembling, and fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out, and said to them: “Masters, what must I do that I may be saved?” They answered: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved!” That same hour he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized.

Next morning the magistrates sent orders to the jailer to release Paul and Silas, but when they learnt that the two apostles were Roman citizens, they came themselves to ask pardon for having ill-treated them.

After this, Paul and his companion visited many cities of Macedonia.

From there Paul went to Athens (Fig. 96, p. 792)$^(1)$, the most celebrated city of Greece. Seeing that city wholly given up to idolatry, his heart was stirred within him; he disputed publicly in the synagogues with the Jews, and in the market-place every day with all who were present.

There came to Paul certain philosophers, who conducted him to the Areopagus$^(2)$, saying: “May we know what this new doctrine

$^(1)$ Athens. The centre of pagan philosophy and art. “Here”, says St. Augustine “here in the home of the greatest poets, orators and philosophers, whose proud renown filled the world, and governed the schools, here did the apostle preach Christ crucified, who was to the Gentiles foolishness, and to the Jews a stumbling-block.”

$^(2)$ Areopagus. The great Athenian Court house on the hill of Mars where the assizes were held. The Acropolis lay on the hill opposite.

— XCVI. THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL.

is, which thou speakest of?” And Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said:

“Ye men of Athens, passing and seeing your idols, I found an altar¹ on which was written: ‘To the unknown God’. What, therefore, you worship without knowing it, this I preach to you—God who made the world and all things therein. He, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is He served with men’s hands, as if He needed anything, seeing it is He who giveth to all life and breath and all things. He hath made of one, all mankind to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, that they should seek God, if happily they may feel after Him and find Him, although He be not far

from every one of us: for in Him we live and move and be: as some also of your own poets said: ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Being, therefore², the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like gold and silver, or stone, the graving of art and device of man. And God, indeed, having winked at³ the

¹ An altar. This altar had been dedicated to “the unknown God”, because many among the pagans had a suspicion that over and above their own gods there was another God whom they did not know.

² Being, therefore. The purport of St. Paul’s words is this: Even pagan poets have proclaimed that mankind is sprung of a divine race, being near to God, and like to Him. If man be like unto God, then senseless and lifeless objects made by man cannot be like unto Him, for these are much lower than man himself, and it follows that the “devices of men” made of gold and silver and stone could not be gods, as was taught by the pagans.

³ Winked at. i. e. has tolerated the long continued ignorance of the true God.

— XVI. THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL.

times of ignorance, now declareth unto men that they should everywhere do penance¹. Because He hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in equity by the Man whom He hath appointed, giving faith to all by raising Him up from the dead.² St. Paul wished to teach them more about our Lord, but he was interrupted and could proceed no further.

The result was that only a few of them believed. Among these few was Dionysius the Areopagite², one of the most learned men of his time. After Paul had preached the Gospel at Athens, he went to Corinth.

There he preached first to the Jews, but they would not hear him, but rather blasphemed and contradicted all he said. Then Paul, filled with a holy indignation, spoke to them: “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From henceforth I will go to the Gentiles.” He then preached to the pagans of Corinth, many of whom were converted. Having remained in Corinth a year and six months, teaching and preaching, he returned to Antioch via Caesarea and Jerusalem.

COMMENTARY.

The necessity of revelation. Athens was the most cultured city of the ancient pagan world. All arts and sciences flourished there to a high degree, but in religious matters there reigned the grossest superstition and most senseless idolatry, the inhabitants paying divine honour to images made by themselves. This shows us that even those among the pagans of the old world who were most advanced in civilization had fallen very far short of the knowledge of the True God, and that, in spite of their progress in art and science, they would never have arrived at knowing God, had He not, in an extraordinary and supernatural way, revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. Without this supernatural revelation, the world would have sunk deeper and deeper into the abyss of superstition, impiety, and immorality.

Sorrow for the sins of others. “The spirit of Paul was stirred within him” when he saw that Athens was wholly given over to idolatry. His feeling of grief proceeded from his love both of God and of his

¹ Do penance. And he converted to Him, the Only True God. To move the Athenians to do penance, the apostle put before them the judgment of the world, which God will hold by “One Man”, i. e. Jesus Christ, whom He raised from the dead.

² Dionysius the Areopagite. Who later on was made bishop, and died a martyr’s death.

— XCVI. THE SECOND MISSION OF ST. PAUL.

neighbour (see the holy anger of Moses. Old Test. XXXVII). “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted!” At this moment there are many millions of heathens who do not know God. Let us pray for their conversion.

The causes of unbelief. Most of those who heard St. Paul’s words at Athens remained in their unbelief. They had neither the will to believe, nor any earnest desire to know the truth. They invited the apostle to speak, out of a mere spirit of curiosity (Acts 17, 21): but as soon as he entered on the great doctrines of the Resurrection and the Judgment, they refused to listen to him any more. Some of them, instead of examining his words, simply mocked at them, while the rest put him off with the excuse that they would hear him some other time. Frivolity, superficiality and religious indifference were then, as they are now, the principal causes of unbelief.

In his discourse to the Athenians St. Paul taught them 1. about God; 2. about men; 3. about Jesus Christ.

1. “God”, he said, “dwelleth not in temples”, in the sense that He can be shut in a temple. He is an infinite, immeasurable Spirit, to whom no limits of space can be allotted. He is “the Lord of heaven and earth”!

“He is not served with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing.” He is infinitely perfect of Himself, so that He needs nothing and depends on nothing.

“He is not far from every one of us”, being near to each person, “for in Him we live and move and be.” He is in us, and about us, and everywhere present.

He “hath made the world and all things therein”. He “giveth to all life and breath and all things”. Without Him we could not be, nor live, nor move; for our being, our life, and our movement depend entirely on Him, who is the First Cause of all things.

He is indulgent and patient, and did not at once punish the errors of the pagans, but invited them to do penance. He is, however, just, and will one day “judge the world in equity”.

2. St. Paul proclaims the origin, dignity, and end of man.

Man, he says, was created by God, and in such a way that all men were made from one, that is, from Adam, and that all men are, therefore, brethren.

Man is far above all other visible creatures. He is, so to speak, “the offspring of God”, having an immortal soul made to the image of God.

God is the end of man, for He created him “that he should seek Him”. Man, therefore, is made to know God, to love God, and to be happy for ever with God in heaven.

3. Of our Lord Jesus Christ St. Paul says that God “raised Him up from the dead”, and that thereby He hath “given faith to all”,

— XCVII. ST. PAUL’S THIRD MISSION.

because by that miracle He has furnished a solid ground of belief for all men; and that on a day fore-ordained and known to God, He will judge all men in equity.

APPLICATION. God is never far from you! He is always with you! Remember His holy Presence, especially when you are tempted to sin, and do not dare to do wrong in His sight. Remind yourself of His holy Presence during the day, and often make the ejaculation: “O my God, I love Thee with my whole heart!”