The Petrine Fact, Part 4: Peter, Paul, and James

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NOTE: This series is a work in progress. See Part 1 updates including bibliography in progress. As I add sources and update past posts I will continue to expand the bibliography.

“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days” (Gal 1:18).

“But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned” (Gal 2:11).

Icon of Saints Peter and Paul (the happy meeting)

The great apostles Peter and Paul stand face to face in these two moments, one congenial, one painful — fixed points in a sea of questions surrounding Paul’s narrative in the first two chapters of Galatians. In between Paul mentions one other meeting at Jerusalem, involving James the brother of Jesus as well as Peter and Paul (Gal 2:1-10), probably overlapping with Luke’s account in Acts 15 of the council at Jerusalem.

Paul’s narrative first. Galatians 1–2 offers a highly polemical account in which Paul sharply defends his apostolic ministry against the allegations of detractors, who are Judaizers or circumcision partisans, insisting on observance of Torah for all Christians, Jew or Gentile.

St. James the Just

Paul’s defense suggests that his full apostleship had been impugned; he was apparently dismissively regarded by some as a sort of junior apostle, a mere disciple of the great apostles of Jerusalem — a claim that for some may have been supported by reports of Paul’s visits to the holy city. Rumors of confrontation like the one Paul describes may have further led to the impression that Paul’s stance on the Law was not the last word on the subject; and Paul’s silence regarding the outcome of his public denunciation of Peter leaves us wondering just how things panned out, and how quickly the rift was healed.

The matter is further complicated by evidence from the Acts of the Apostles, which, as we have previously seen, credits Peter himself with opening the door to acceptance of Gentile believers, without requiring circumcision or observance of Torah. Peter defends this teaching against Judaizing tendencies, not only in Acts 11, but in Acts 15, in the Jerusalem council, where he and Paul are of one mind on the subject. Peter’s searing rhetorical question about “mak[ing] trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear” (Acts 15:10) is as eloquent a statement of Paul’s thesis as anything Paul writes in Galatians.

In fact, based on the witness of Acts, we may say that in Galatians 2:11ff Paul confronts Peter with Peter’s own gospel message, the message that Peter himself received by revelation and first taught in the church. This, of course, only intensifies the sting of Paul’s charge of “hypocrisy” or “insincerity” — a charge that Paul gives full weight in that damning phrase “stood condemned.”

Yet how are we to account for the contrast between Paul’s lacerating invective in Galatians against the circumcision party — “I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Gal 5:12) — and the report in Acts 16:3 that Paul himself, shortly after the Jerusalem council in the previous chapter, had Timothy circumcised for the sake of Jewish observers? Is this the same Paul who uncompromisingly declared “if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you” (Gal 5:2), and made much of Titus’s non-circumcision (Gal 2:3)?

Or what are we to make of Paul’s genuflection to Jewish Torah sensibilities at the behest of presbyters in Jerusalem, where he offers sacrifices to purify Jewish Christians according to the Law (Acts 21:17ff)? (Luke tells us that these presbyters are in the company of James the brother of Jesus, just as in Galatians 2 it is “men from James” who occasioned Peter’s scandalous and divisive behavior in Antioch. Yet in Acts 15 James concurs with Peter and Paul.)

Are we to infer that Paul himself “stood condemned” on the same charges he leveled at Peter in Galatians 2? Whatever answer we make, in asking the question we do not, of course, question the fundamental truth that Paul proclaims. The Gospel does not stand or fall with the behavior of those who proclaim it, and no one is beyond reproach, not even Paul, not even Peter. If, as we have seen, Jesus’ prayer in Luke 22 for Peter to strengthen his brethren proved efficacious, Galatians 2 is a sobering indication that even after Pentecost Peter could still stumble.

There is much we could wish to know about the events Paul narrates in Galatians 1–2. What was Peter’s response to Paul’s challenge? What transpired between them after this? What would an account of the events from Peter’s or Barnabas’s perspective look like? Why was Peter in Antioch in the first place? Where did he go next? Where does the second visit to Jerusalem in Paul’s account (Gal 2:1-10) fit into Luke’s chronology in Acts? Does this visit coincide with the Jerusalem council of Acts 15? Or is it an earlier visit, or a later one?

Whatever we may say about any of these questions, one thing is clear: In Galatians 2:11ff Paul indicts Peter with respect to his behavior, not his teaching or belief.

Paul himself leaves no doubt that Peter was personally quite willing to extend table-fellowship to non-Judaized Gentile believers. In fact, that was Peter’s modus operandi when he first arrived in Antioch (2:12). Paul even goes so far as to say that Peter lived “like a Gentile, not like a Jew” (2:14). It was not until the “men from James” arrived that Peter “drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party” (Gal 2:12). The charge is not false teaching, but “hypocrisy” or “insincerity,” indicating a discrepancy between belief and action.

The very fact that Paul singles out Peter, both verbally in Antioch and literarily in Galatians 2, is revealing. Peter wasn’t the only one acting “insincerely”; “the rest of the Jews” (i.e., Jewish Christians) did the same. Nor does Paul say that Peter was the first to do so, or that the others were only following his lead. He does blame the others collectively for Barnabas’ defection, but beyond that only says “with him [Peter] the rest of the Jews acted insincerely” (not that they acted insincerely because of Peter).

Nevertheless, Paul directs his attack solely at Peter, not at the rest. All were “insincere,” but it is only Peter that Paul says “stood condemned.” More than that, Paul makes much — it wouldn’t be too strong to say he boasts — to the Galatians of his confrontation with Peter. This cannot be solely because of the importance the Galatians attach to Peter; Paul himself recognizes Peter’s preeminence, in the very fact that he holds Peter personally responsible for the shameful behavior of the rest.

That’s a rather backhanded compliment; but there is also the more straightforward acknowledgment of Peter’s preeminence in the previous chapter: one that is all the more significant in view of Paul’s polemical purpose, and his specific grievance against Peter in chapter 2. Three years after his conversion, Paul says, he “went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas.” He even notes that he saw “none of the other apostles” — except, he adds, James the Lord’s brother, but to see Peter (not James) was the specific purpose of the visit.

This is a notable acknowledgment. Paul didn’t have to say that it was to visit Peter that he went to Jerusalem; he didn’t have to mention a purpose at all. He could have simply said that he went to Jerusalem and spent fifteen days with Peter (and James), or that he went to Jerusalem to visit with any of the apostles that happened to be there. But no: When he went to Jerusalem, it was not merely to visit with some of those who knew Jesus in his earthly ministry, but to meet with Peter specifically. Why he went to see Peter specifically, Paul doesn’t say. Apparently there was no need. Peter was the obvious person Paul would have wanted to see.

Then comes the Jerusalem visit of Galatians 2:1-10. For what it’s worth, I agree with the majority of commentators in viewing this passage as parallel with Luke’s account of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. In both passages, Paul, Barnabas, and one or more others travel from Syria to Jerusalem in response to a challenge from Judaizers over circumcision. The apostles (Peter and James are mentioned in both passages) welcome them, hear what they have to say, and affirm that Gentiles are to be received without circumcision or the yoke of Torah. Afterward, Paul and Barnabas proceed to Antioch, where a rift occurs between them. Whatever difficulties arise in reading the two accounts in parallel are less problematic than supposing that all these things happened twice, so that, e.g., Paul, having already traveled from Syria to Jerusalem in response to a challenge about circumcision to consult with Peter and James, then did so again in response to a second challenge. (Additional difficulties arise from efforts to fit Galatians 2:1-10 anywhere else in Luke’s chronology.)

In any case, on the visit Paul describes, he acknowledges laying his message before the apostles — i.e., “James, Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars” — “lest somehow,” he says, “I should be running or had run in vain.”

He is quick to add that “those who were of repute added nothing to me” and “gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles.” Nevertheless, Paul considers that “partnership” to be an important mark of his not “running in vain.” Given how sharply Paul has defended his full equality to the other apostles, this is a notable acknowledgement that Paul’s ministry, while not subordinate to the Twelve, must be in solidarity with the Twelve, here represented by Peter, John and James.

Peter, Peter, Peter. Peter figures prominently in all three episodes Paul relates to the Galatians; he is not always alone, but he is always there. Paul’s case depends on Peter; depends on Peter being the leader that he is. The whole force of the third episode is that it is Peter that Paul opposes to his face. No one is beyond reproach; no one is above the gospel.

In the middle episode, we find Peter among a triumvirate of apostles, similar to Jesus’ inner circle, but with a different James: The brother of John has been slain, and the brother of Jesus (the same James from whom the Judaizers came in 2:12) is now a prominent leader among the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 12:17, 21:17-24). How prominent is he? And what is Peter’s place in this triumvirate?

The early Fathers regarded James as the first bishop of Jerusalem. Less traditionally, some modern commentators have seen the sequence of Paul’s mention of “James, Cephas and John” a subtle indication that Peter has been supplanted as the Jerusalem church’s most prominent leader. There is, though, another reason for Paul to mention James first: James’ apparent connection to the Judaizing controversy that is Paul’s primary concern. If Judaizers in Galatia have pitted anyone against Paul, James is the most likely candidate. Therefore, Paul’s acceptance by James, and James’ agreement with the non-circumcision of Gentiles (e.g., Titus), is crucial to Paul’s point.

Likewise, in Luke’s account of the Jerusalem council, James has been seen by some as having the decisive voice, since he is the last to speak, and his “judgment” provides the final shape of the council’s decision. Yet once again James’ association with the Judaizing controversy makes it natural that his agreement would mark the denouement of the discussion. James has the last word, not because he has the ultimate say, but because he represents the party that needs to be convinced.

Regardless of James’ role, Peter clearly plays a decisive part in the proceedings — and he does so by appealing in strikingly strong terms to his own God-given role in opening the door to receiving the Gentiles:

And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.” (Acts 15:7)

This is almost astonishingly frank. Not only does Peter say that it was God’s will that the Gentiles should be received — not only does he say that he himself was God’s instrument — he states emphatically that God chose him from among all the apostles and elders to make his will known on this point. Out of all of you, Peter says, God chose me to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. A stronger affirmation of Peter’s right to speak with greater authority than anyone else can scarcely be imagined.

Note, incidentally, that the word “gospel,” used only twice in Acts, appears here for the first time (the other instance is 20:24). Note, too, Peter’s reference to God speaking “by my mouth,” language that Peter elsewhere applies in Acts to David and the prophets (Acts 1:16, 3:18-21, 4:25), but here applies to himself — the only New Testament figure in Acts so described.

Before Peter’s speech, Luke states there was “much debate,” but Peter’s speech silences the assembly, allowing Paul and Barnabas give supporting testimony (15:7,12). Finally, when James offers his “judgment” (the Greek word apparently has the sense of “opinion” rather than “verdict”), he expressly recalls Simon’s words, adding that the prophets agree, and appending some pastoral concerns for the sensibilities of his Jewish constituency.

It is thus explicitly Peter’s teaching — the teaching for which Peter insists he himself was divinely chosen out of all the apostles and elders — that the Jerusalem council maintains.

In spite of his forceful language, Peter takes the lead, as he usually does, in a simple, direct, natural manner. He has, presumably, well internalized Jesus’ teaching about leadership and servanthood. The council comes to its inevitable conclusion in a consultative fashion; there is no one leader imposing anything on anyone, or any need for such imposition. In fact, Luke goes on to say, “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.” The decision to send men to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas was not handed down by James, Peter, John or all three; the elders and the whole church all had a voice. On the central issue, though, Peter’s voice, Peter’s teaching, Peter’s authority is decisive.

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