Peter the Pharisee, Why He Distances himself from the Gentiles in Galatians 2
Peter the Pharisee, Why he Distanced himself from Gentiles in Galatians 2
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PETER THE PHARISEE????
(information from Ron Moseley's "Yeshua, A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church)
My "Understanding Paul" photo album, has more information as well.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=439749&id=773710036&ref=pb
Why did Peter suddenly cease to eat at the homes of Gentiles when friends of James showed up?
Could it be that Peter was afraid of losing his membership in Pharisee party? Yes, Peter was a Pharisee! But not all of them were bad, as Yahshua commended many of them such as Nicodemus.
Galatians 2:11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing(X) the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
Justified by Faith.
15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not(AC) Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that(AD) a person is not justified[a] by works of the law(AE) but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,(AF) because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Peter was a Pharisee, a "ne eman" in particular, the lowest level and most common type of Pharisee. The term means "Trustworthy" and is equuvolent to Church membership today.. Actually over a million people were Pharisees at the time, women and slaves included. The school of Hillel admitted gentiles as Proselytes as long as they WERE CIRCUMCISED, made an offering, tithed, and went through the Mikveh (ritual baptism). They also had to agree to NOT EAT AT THE HOME OF GENTILES after their conversion (making them disown their families).
The School of Shammai admitted no Gentiles, circumcised or not, and generally referred to them as dogs, considering uncircumcision to be equal with leprosy.
For Jews, being a Pharisee was a little easier because
they were already circumcised, but they still had to tithe, make an offering, go through the Mikveh, and NOT EAT AT THE HOME OF A GENTILE.
Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
This included G-d Fearers and explains Peter's dilemna in Acts 10 and 11 concerning eating in the home of a G-d Fearer such as Cornelius.
This also explains Peter's hypocrisy in eating at the home of Gentiles when other Pharisees such as James as his followers came.
Acts 10:45
And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
Peter would have been kicked out of the Pharisees immediately without any way back. This also explains the reaction of James and others to Peter's vision. G-d was contradicting the teaching of both Hillel and Shammai. Even the very free-thinking Hillel would not allow uncircumcised Gentiles (such as G-d Fearers) to be accepted into Israel-a process called being "Born Again." It referred to being cirumcised, accepted as a Pharisee through Baptism, being Bar-Mitzah'ed and becoming a Rabbi.
Peter probably remained a Pharisee btw.
Galatians 2:7
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised
Peter was only a lower level Pharisee however. There were 4 levels, Peter was in the first order. The second order was more stringent as was the third and required one to wash hands with a certain prayer before eating and follow other traditions of the Pharisees.. In the 4th order members had to undergo a very strict period of probation in which they were constantly followed and questioned and observed 4th level pharisees, and had to be confirmed by 3 of them.
It was a custom amongst the Jews that Jews could not eat with Gentiles. They picked this up in Egypt when the Egyptians refused to eat with Hebrews (remember Joseph and his brothers?) Then later on the Jews applied this to look down on the Gentiles whom they called "Dogs". Hence Paul asking Peter why he forced Gentiles to adopt Jewish customs, such as forcing all of the Gentiles to not invite him over for dinner while James's pharisee friends were there.
=
PETER THE PHARISEE????
(information from Ron Moseley's "Yeshua, A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church)
My "Understanding Paul" photo album, has more information as well.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=439749&id=773710036&ref=pb
Why did Peter suddenly cease to eat at the homes of Gentiles when friends of James showed up?
Could it be that Peter was afraid of losing his membership in Pharisee party? Yes, Peter was a Pharisee! But not all of them were bad, as Yahshua commended many of them such as Nicodemus.
Galatians 2:11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing(X) the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
Justified by Faith.
15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not(AC) Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that(AD) a person is not justified[a] by works of the law(AE) but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,(AF) because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Peter was a Pharisee, a "ne eman" in particular, the lowest level and most common type of Pharisee. The term means "Trustworthy" and is equuvolent to Church membership today.. Actually over a million people were Pharisees at the time, women and slaves included. The school of Hillel admitted gentiles as Proselytes as long as they WERE CIRCUMCISED, made an offering, tithed, and went through the Mikveh (ritual baptism). They also had to agree to NOT EAT AT THE HOME OF GENTILES after their conversion (making them disown their families).
The School of Shammai admitted no Gentiles, circumcised or not, and generally referred to them as dogs, considering uncircumcision to be equal with leprosy.
For Jews, being a Pharisee was a little easier because
they were already circumcised, but they still had to tithe, make an offering, go through the Mikveh, and NOT EAT AT THE HOME OF A GENTILE.
Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
This included G-d Fearers and explains Peter's dilemna in Acts 10 and 11 concerning eating in the home of a G-d Fearer such as Cornelius.
This also explains Peter's hypocrisy in eating at the home of Gentiles when other Pharisees such as James as his followers came.
Acts 10:45
And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
Peter would have been kicked out of the Pharisees immediately without any way back. This also explains the reaction of James and others to Peter's vision. G-d was contradicting the teaching of both Hillel and Shammai. Even the very free-thinking Hillel would not allow uncircumcised Gentiles (such as G-d Fearers) to be accepted into Israel-a process called being "Born Again." It referred to being cirumcised, accepted as a Pharisee through Baptism, being Bar-Mitzah'ed and becoming a Rabbi.
Peter probably remained a Pharisee btw.
Galatians 2:7
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised
Peter was only a lower level Pharisee however. There were 4 levels, Peter was in the first order. The second order was more stringent as was the third and required one to wash hands with a certain prayer before eating and follow other traditions of the Pharisees.. In the 4th order members had to undergo a very strict period of probation in which they were constantly followed and questioned and observed 4th level pharisees, and had to be confirmed by 3 of them.
It was a custom amongst the Jews that Jews could not eat with Gentiles. They picked this up in Egypt when the Egyptians refused to eat with Hebrews (remember Joseph and his brothers?) Then later on the Jews applied this to look down on the Gentiles whom they called "Dogs". Hence Paul asking Peter why he forced Gentiles to adopt Jewish customs, such as forcing all of the Gentiles to not invite him over for dinner while James's pharisee friends were there.