The Wandering Heretic

The decision of James at the Jerusalem council has been the subject of some controversy; not the decision itself but the rational behind the decision. Unless someone is willing to admit that the four restrictions of Gentile behavior were arbitrary, James had to have some underlying understanding of the Scriptures that prompted that focus.
This [...]

The decision of James at the Jerusalem Council almost demands a search for the underlying logic. On its own, the four stipulations given to the Gentiles appear almost random. They were to avoid “things” sacrificed to idols, blood, food that was strangled, and “sexual perversion.” As I noted previously, this is [...]

In my last post, I discussed Tim Hegg’s proposed underlying logic behind James decision at the Jerusalem Council. Hegg’s rather extensive and valuable contribution to this topic is contained in his essay, Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council. In that document, Hegg proposes that the four restrictions given on Gentile behavior all had [...]

The decision of James at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:19-21 and codified in a letter to the Gentile churches in Acts 15:28-29 almost begs for an underlying rational. On its own, it does not serve as a comprehensive ethic, for it restricts Gentiles only from 1) things offered to images, 2) blood, 3) [...]

In my last post, I noted the quandary that was created by God’s desire to “bring in the Gentiles.” The Apostles were taken aback by just how committed God was to that goal. In essence, they suddenly had a large group of Gentiles who were attaching themselves to Israel through the Jewish Messiah, [...]

N.T. Wright has often said that an ordination question he asks seminarians concerns just what three chapters of the Bible they would keep if they were about to be stranded on a desert island. Then he notes, they already have Matthew 28, John 3, and Romans 8. I used to be at a [...]

Acts Chapter 15 is the watershed passage in Scripture when one wants to consider the relationship between Jew and Gentile in the new Messianic communities. It also has bearing as to the nature of the Torah to both groups as members of the same body. However, there are some foundational assumptions behind the [...]

As Gentiles we have been engrafted into Israel, and as such are part of the people of Israel. That has been my focus in many of my last posts. Now I think I need to tell you why this has become so important to me. For you see, unlike other nations, Israel was [...]

Unlike most Orthodox Jews, Michael Wychogrod takes the writings of Paul seriously. Even in cases where he disagrees with Paul’s conclusions, he interacts with the writings and gives a historian’s—and specifically a Jewish historian’s—perspective. For the most part, at least in his landmark book, Abraham’s Promise, he appears to agree more than disagree [...]

I have determined that the use of the prayer scarf or head covering on the part of women remains a New Testament stipulation. In my last post, I discussed the example of Rabekah and her use of the veil only in the presence of her husband to be. As such, the use of [...]