Grace and Obligations - Week 4

Acts 15:19-35

Note: The study related to these questions may be found at Catholic Exchange. Please go to their site for the complete material concerning this study. Below are my thoughts on the questions presented for the given study (Please see disclaimer at bottom).

A Letter is Sent

1. James suggests that the Council write a letter to the Gentiles which will reinforce Peter's declaration but which will add some specific guidelines for Gentile behavior. What do you think prompts James to make this kind of suggestion?
(a) James, being the Bishop of Jerusalem, was probably trying to appease those of the Pharisee group who had joined the Church. This was apparantly done in the hopes of keeping the faithful united. However, as today, this was not a universal proclamation for the Church. This was instead a discipline placed upon a specific episcopate. Father William Most offers the following insight:

"It is important to notice that the letter went just to the churches of Syria and Cilicia. Today if the Vatican writes to one or two episcopal conferences, the letter applies only to those areas, not elsewhere. Similarly, the letter of the council of Apostles did not apply elsewhere. Hence we have the answer to a difficulty some think insuperable -- they note that Paul did not hesitate in 1 Corinthians 8-10 to permit the Corinthians to eat meat sacrificed to idols, as long as they watched out for scandal. Then the objectors wonder how Paul could disregard the letter of the council. The answer is what we have just indicated -- requests to observe three items of the Mosaic law did not apply outside of Syria and Cilicia. We know from Acts 16:4 that Paul did preach in accord with the letter when he was in the area to which it applied." (Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, Rev. William G. Most)

2. Read I Cor. 8 and Romans 14-15:6. How does Paul's teaching in these passages illuminate the ruling suggested by James?
(a) From I Corinthians:

1: Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." "Knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. 2: If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3: But if one loves God, one is known by him. 4: Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one." 5: For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth -- as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords" -- 6: yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 7: However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8: Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9: Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10: For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11: And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12: Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13: Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. (I Cor. 8, RSV)

From Romans:

Chapter 14 1: As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. 2: One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. 3: Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. 4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand. 5: One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6: He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7: None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9: For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10: Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11: for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." 12: So each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13: Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14: I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. 15: If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16: So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. 17: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; 18: he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19: Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20: Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; 21: it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble. 22: The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. 23: But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Chapter 15 1: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; 2: let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. 3: For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me." 4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5: May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6: that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 14-15:6, RSV)

James made this ruling in the hopes of promoting peace and harmony among those who observe the Mosaic Law and those who do not.

3. We have seen Paul adamantly insist that the gospel cannot be altered in any way. If, as Peter announced, salvation is a gift of God's grace received through faith, which does not require Gentiles to become Jews, why did the Council make any requirements at all of the Gentiles? How can grace (God's unmerited favor) and necessary (vs. 28) behavior (obligations) be compatible?
(a) Peter's proclamation was a dogma defined for the Universal Church. However, for the sake of unity, James prescribed the Mosaic directives, and the Church imposed this disipline on those episcopates listed in the letter.

4. Notice that in vs. 23, the letter was addressed to the Gentiles not only in Antioch, where the problem had developed, but also in Syria and Cilicia. What does this tell us about how the apostles and elders understood the nature of the Council's decision?
(a) As presented earlier in the quotation by Fr. Most, this was a directive for the regional episcopates. As such, the apostles understood that this directive would be binding for those to whom the letter was addressed, while the dogmatic proclamation of Peter would be binding for the entire Church.

5. See that the letter refers to some persons who had gone around teaching Christians in various places, although the apostles and elders had given them no instructions (vs. 24). What does this tell us about the credentials teachers in the infant Church needed to have?
(a) The credentials of the teachers in the infant Church had to have been commissioned to teach by the Apostles and Presbyters. This is still true today in order to minimize heretical teachings.

6. Look at vs. 28. In using the phrase, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us when they wrote their letter, what did the apostles and elders reveal to be their own understanding of how the Council of Jerusalem had worked?
(a) The Apostles and Presbyters understood that it was the Holy Spirit who was guiding them and their decisions.

7. Are all the guidelines in their letter still in force today?
(a) No, these guidelines are no longer in force for the reasons stated above.

8. Why do you suppose they appointed Judas and Silas to accompany the letter? Why couldn't Paul and Barnabas have delivered it themselves? Read also 2 Peter 3:15-18 before answering this question.
(a) From the Second Epistle of Peter:

And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Pet 3:15-18, RSV)

Judas and Silas accompanied the letter in order to explain it to the brethren. (b) Paul's explanations may have been beyond the understanding of most of the brethren.

9. What specific ministry did Judas and Silas have?
(a) Judas and Silas accompanied the letter in order to explain it to the brethren. They were to tell the brethren "the same things by word of mouth". Judas and Silas were also prophets and "exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them".

10. Sometimes non-Catholic Christians criticize the Church for practices they consider to be unbiblical. Answer the following criticisms from what you ve learned in this lesson:

a. Why do you have rules that you have to keep in your Church? How can you have those days of obligation ? We are saved by faith alone, not by keeping a bunch of rules.

(a) It is true that we are saved by faith, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that "we are saved by faith alone". In fact, the opposite case is made in James:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (Jam 2:14-24, RSV)

b. Why do you have to have an imprimatur on books that teach Christian truth? Why aren't you free to read any book you want to?

(a) We are free to read any book we want. However, an imprimatur is a qualification placed on a book by a Bishop that the contents will not be contrary to the Faith.

c. The Bible is clear enough for me to be able to understand it. Why do you need the Church to tell you what the Bible says? Just read it for yourself.

(a) This was not the belief in the early Church and should not be the belief now. Without proper guidance, personal interpretation can lead to division and possibly heresy. We need look no further than our Protestant brothers and sisters and the continual division among their sects. If each of these were being "guided by the Holy Spirit", then why is their division. Remember Christ's final prayer for His disciples:

"As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me." (John 17:18-23, RSV)

Also, recall that the reason that Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem was to consult with the Apostles so that a solution could be reached. Another scriptural passage to keep in mind is the following:

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Can'dace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless some one guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:26-31, RSV)

d. If the Church is infallible and doesn't make any mistakes, why did it used to be a sin to eat meat on Friday but now it isn't?

(a) Eating meat on Friday is not a dogmatic proclamtion of the Church. It is merely a displine imposed on the flock. This discipline was not for the purpose of saying that meat is bad, but instead to remind us each Friday by this simple fast of the sacrifice made by Christ. Recall Jesus' own words to the disciples of John the Baptist:

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." (Matt 9:14-15, RSV)

e. Diversity in churches is good. We shouldn't all have to do and believe the same thing.

(a) Diversity, where unity in faith is maintained, can indeed be a good thing. However, diversity that leads to dissension, which can then lead to apostasy, is not. Also, the Word of God is not a relative truth but an absolute Truth.

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

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Alfredo Nevarez
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