Conclusion Whether intentionally or not, the Jerusalem Council introduced a practice into the Church that would have far-reaching ramifications for early Christian converts. No church can successfully endorse two different sets of commandments for its members. In the case of the Jerusalem conference, one opinion was clearly expressed while the other was most likely assumed. Members naturally begin to view one set of commandments as higher than the other. This is exactly what happened in early Christianity when Jewish Christians were encouraged to obey certain kosher commandments, while Gentile Christians were not required to keep them. As a result of this decision, some of the late New Testament epistles began to address serious internal conflict and disharmony. Nearly all of the later New Testament epistles deal with doctrinal corruption. These issues are not unique to Ephesians and Colossians, but in these two epistles internal apostasy is beginning to develop. By the time the Apostle John wrote 1–3 John, internal apostasy was already in full force, although the issues of conflict had changed dramatically in many situations. Certainly the early Church was led by inspired priesthood leaders, men who knew the Lord and represented His will on earth. But culture often meets doctrinal inspiration at an awkward crossroad, where some use tradition to demand changes in doctrine. Ephesians shows an Apostle at the end of his life trying to maintain the purity of the gospel that he had worked so hard to promote and preach. [1] Paul’s epistle to Ephesus may have been written during his imprisonment at Caesarea Maritima as described at the end of Acts. For a discussion of that possibility, see Thomas A. Wayment, From Persecutor to Apostle: A Biography of Paul (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 165–72. Anderson dates the epistle to the same time (circa AD 61) but places Paul in Rome when he wrote (see Richard Lloyd Anderson, Understanding Paul [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983], 259). [2] Marion D. Hanks, “Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, May 1975, 12. [3] See Robert J. Matthews, “The Jerusalem Council,” in The Apostle Paul: His Life and His Testimony: The Twenty-Third Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 96–109. Acts clearly teaches that Peter delivered a clear decision on the issue of Gentile circumcision (Acts 15:6–11), but James then offered his opinion afterward. This may reflect James’s local authority in Jerusalem, where the problem was being discussed. [4] The commandment to abstain from eating blood is found numerous times in the Old Testament. See Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; and Deuteronomy 12:23. The direction to not eat things that have been strangled follows the prohibition against eating blood. Animals that have been strangled do not comply with kosher food requirements. [5] The phrase is missing from P (circa AD 200), Sinaiticus (fourth century), and Vaticanus (fourth century). The phrase is inserted by a later corrector in Sinaiticus and Vaticanus and is also the original reading of Codex Bezae (sixth century). [6] Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1973), 2:494. McConkie attributes the statement to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976), 149. Although the Prophet does not directly state the Saints at Ephesus had their calling and election made sure, he clearly implies that such was the case. [7] E. J. Goodspeed, The Meaning of Ephesians (Chicago, 1933), 15, cited in Ernest Best, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998), xi. [8] Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854–86), 12:69. [9] For a summary of scholarship on this issue, see Best, Ephesians, 174–80. [10] Dallin H. Oaks, “Alternate Voices,” Ensign, May 1989, 29. [11] Howard W. Hunter, “Being a Righteous Husband and Father,” Ensign, November 1994, 49.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 13:11:12 +0000
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