“Both Acts 15 and Galatians 2:1-10 detail a meeting in Jerusalem. Although they are not identical, the overwhelming similarities between the two accounts suggest that both passages are indeed descriptions of the same event.”
The last statement of Paul being asked by James, Cephas, and John “to remember the poor” (Gal. 2:10) might be key to understanding that the event he is describing is similar to the event of the “Jerusalem Council” in Acts 15. The eastern provinces of the Roman Empire experienced severe starvation (Acts 11:27-30). The famished Christians in Jerusalem needed help from the Gentile Christians in the western provinces, however accepting them as equal partners in the Gospel would have been a necessary step if they wished to seek their support. As one researcher pointed, the dilemma of the Jerusalem congregation may have been a critical component leading to the council’s decision in Acts 15 (Reicke, 2001, p. 21). When Paul was exhorted to think of the less fortunate (Gal. 2:10) it may have been a part to the agreement. Accepting one another as brothers comes with it the obligation to share in each other’s sorrows and to tolerate one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). …show more content…
In Acts 15, it appears as if he was sent by the church, however in reality God had already appointed Paul and Barnabas for his work in the previous chapters. As one scholar noted, in Galatians 2, Paul mentions, his trip to Jerusalem occurs as a result of a direct revelation from the Holy Ghost. Although this statement does not seem to point any similarity in Act 15 (Since He was sent by the church), Act 13:2-3 offers a helpful comparable. It states that the church of Antioch had already received the prophetic word for Paul while worshipping (Hays, 2000, P. 223). Which mean, he receives the order from God
The last statement of Paul being asked by James, Cephas, and John “to remember the poor” (Gal. 2:10) might be key to understanding that the event he is describing is similar to the event of the “Jerusalem Council” in Acts 15. The eastern provinces of the Roman Empire experienced severe starvation (Acts 11:27-30). The famished Christians in Jerusalem needed help from the Gentile Christians in the western provinces, however accepting them as equal partners in the Gospel would have been a necessary step if they wished to seek their support. As one researcher pointed, the dilemma of the Jerusalem congregation may have been a critical component leading to the council’s decision in Acts 15 (Reicke, 2001, p. 21). When Paul was exhorted to think of the less fortunate (Gal. 2:10) it may have been a part to the agreement. Accepting one another as brothers comes with it the obligation to share in each other’s sorrows and to tolerate one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). …show more content…
In Acts 15, it appears as if he was sent by the church, however in reality God had already appointed Paul and Barnabas for his work in the previous chapters. As one scholar noted, in Galatians 2, Paul mentions, his trip to Jerusalem occurs as a result of a direct revelation from the Holy Ghost. Although this statement does not seem to point any similarity in Act 15 (Since He was sent by the church), Act 13:2-3 offers a helpful comparable. It states that the church of Antioch had already received the prophetic word for Paul while worshipping (Hays, 2000, P. 223). Which mean, he receives the order from God