James Clauses
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In New Testament science, the ritual and ethical demands addressed to Gentile Christians , which are handed down in Luke's Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 15 : 22-29 EU ), are called James clauses or apostolic decree . The unity of the Church of Jewish and Gentile Christians should be made possible or restored through these basic requirements . The term "James Clauses" goes back to James , who may have been one of the initiators of the decree.
prehistory
The agreement became necessary because, through the spread of Christianity, pagans - i.e. non-Jews - also acknowledged Jesus and were accepted into the congregations. In the eschatological expectations of the 1st century AD, the expectation that the Gentiles would be converted to the God of Israel played a major role. However, there was no agreement on how Jews and Gentiles should live together: Should the Gentiles fulfill all the commandments that also applied to Jews, allow themselves to be circumcised and thus convert to Judaism, so to speak, or would they accept the promises of the Old Testament be granted even without these measures? In the run-up to the Council of Apostles, this very question was heatedly discussed. The second variant has prevailed there: the law-free pagan mission.
This represented a great challenge for life in the congregations, since, for example, fellowship with people who did not adhere to the food commandments meant cultic contamination for law-abiding Jews. The fellowship of Jewish and Gentile Christians and thus also the unity of the church was endangered.
content
In order to avert this danger, the Gentile Christians should meet minimum ritual requirements. According to the Acts of the Apostles, these were sent by letter to the church in Antioch ( Acts 15 : 22-29 EU ), where the problem had become acute. In detail, it concerns the following requirements:
- avoiding the consumption of meat sacrificed to idols,
- avoidance of fornication ,
- avoiding the consumption of what is suffocated (i.e. animals that have not been killed by bleeding),
- the avoidance of consuming blood .
This compilation may represent a reference to certain commandments of the Torah, the so-called "alien law". These basic rules given in the book of Leviticus ( Lev 17.8–16 EU ) prescribe a minimum of ritual purity for non-Jews living in the land of Israel. This compromise was intended to prevent Jews who have been in contact with strangers from ritually contaminating themselves. This in turn would give the possibility that Jewish and Gentile Christians could live together in one congregation and thus the unity of the church would be preserved.
Another text to which the apostles' decree could refer is the Noah covenant ( Gen 9: 1–17 EU ). Noah is considered to be the one from whom (from a biblical perspective) all people descend and who was not yet subject to the obligation of circumcision. The Gentile Christians, who would be compared to Noah, are called upon, like Noah, to abstain from consuming blood above all.
The historical location of the James Clauses
Luke passed on the James Clauses as part of his presentation from the Apostles' Council. However, since Paul states in his letter to the Galatians that he did not receive any conditions for his mission to the Gentiles at the apostolic council ( Gal 2 : 1–10 EU ), this assignment is controversial.
There are various ways of explaining the differences between the two descriptions. On the one hand, it should be mentioned that both texts were written at a different time - depending on the dating of the Acts of the Apostles, about 14 years or more than 40 years. Paul was an eyewitness to the events at the apostolic council (around 48 AD). Luke's Acts of the Apostles, on the other hand, is dated by some researchers to AD 62 at the latest, and by others to the years between AD 80 and 90, and describes the history of the first Christians more from a retrospective perspective. In addition, both authors pursue their own theological concept. It can therefore be assumed that the reports have subjective moments. This is particularly clear from the fact that the Acts of the Apostles rather places Peter and James at the center of the action, while Paul himself and his preaching are the focus in the portrayal of Paul.
Nevertheless, many consider it hard to imagine that Paul would write in his letter that the Jerusalem apostles Peter , James and John would not have imposed anything on him if there had been such a decree, possibly even in writing, at the council; he expressly assures that he is telling the truth ( Gal 1.20 EU ). Such an obvious contradiction to the decisions of the council would have undermined his reasoning. It is also difficult to assume that Paul approved such a decision.
For these reasons, current research is considering whether Luke in his report wrongly assigns the apostolic decree to the apostolic council. This is justified on the one hand by the temporal distance from which Lukas developed his view of history, on the other hand with his interest in harmonizing the conflicts of this time. As a result, the James Clauses would be the result of later conflicts that followed the consistent recognition of the lawless pagan mission as recognized at the Council. Such a conflict is reflected, for example, in the so-called Antiochian incident .
literature
- Rudolf Pesch : The Acts of the Apostles. Volume 2: Acts 13–28 (Evangelical-Catholic Commentary 5/1), 2nd, through. Ed., Zurich / Neukirchen-Vluyn 2003 (1st edition 1986; 2nd, complete edition 1995). ISBN 978-3-545-23112-2 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Rudolf Pesch: EKK . S. 81 .