The Jerusalem "apostolic decree" in Acts 15:1-35 (original) (raw)

The strict historical reading of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:1-35 is a problematic in scholarship. This raises the question of the purpose of the Jerusalem "Apostolic Decree" in Luke's narrative of the Jerusalem Council. This study argues that Luke's purpose of the Decree in Acts (15:20, 29; [also found in 21:25]) is not for a pure historical evolution of the Christian mission from Jerusalem to the Gentile world, but refers to a theological and social etiology, founded on divine choice, the Mosaic law, and the prophets, that Luke promulgates as four prohibitions, which have practical values for Luke's community in creating the conditions necessary for enabling the table-fellowship between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. The thesis of my study states that the Jerusalem "Apostolic Decree" (Acts 15:20, 29; [also found in 21:25]) in Acts 15:1-35 is Luke's theological, literary, and narrative utilization of some stipulations in the Mosaic Law (Lev 17-19) and echoed in the Prophets (Amos 9:11-12), represented as founded on divine choice and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose was to describe the practical actions taken in service of the social values of his mixed community, to endorse and/or legitimate the table-fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and to present a story of the early disciples of Christ as standing in continuity with the story of Israel and as fulfilling God's promise to Israel. My analysis combines some historical-critical methodologies, which include textual, narrative, literary, theological and compositional approaches, with Luke's rhetorical devices, intertextuality and scriptural fulfilment. Using these methods to describe the social situation of Luke's community, the thesis examines the origin, meaning, purpose and function of the Decree (15:20, 29) in Acts 15:1-35. This study also highlights the theological, ecclesiological and contemporary implications of the Decree. This thesis concludes that the Jerusalem "Apostolic Decree" in Acts 15:1-35 is Luke's narrative for endorsing the fellowship of his mixed community. The Decree originated from the Mosaic law and may have been adopted from some Pauline community's lived experience to describe the social workings of Luke's mixed group in their table-fellowship as a multi-ethnic community, who see themselves as a people of God in fulfilment and continuity with the divine story of Israel. The Council in Acts 15:1-35 is the narrative climax that not only solves the problem of Jewish-Gentile communal existence using many arguments, but articulates the conditions from the law and prophets that also apply to the Gentile and Jewish Christians apart from faith in the good news of Christ, thereby endorsing the fellowship of the mixed Lukan community. From the comparison of Galatians 2 and Acts 15, this study concludes that Acts 15:1-35 is Luke's compositional way of modifying Paul's position on the Gentiles in Galatians 2. Luke brings together the figures of Peter and Paul to be in unity with one another. For implications, Luke's composition offers the narrative language of communion for future councils in the history of the church. Also, the Decree implies the necessity for integration, inclusion and mutual concession in managing identity and diversity in our world today.