Jerusalem Above

Written in AD 48 to Celtic people living in the Greco-Roman world, St. Paul rebuked the Galatians because they were his first mission and had been corrupted by Judaizers, followers of St. Peter. These Judaizers desired to make gentile believers be circumcised and keep the entire ritual law of Moses. This book aligns with Acts 11 and 15 in remarkable ways, illustrating the connection between the debate that arose here and the controversy that was resolved in the First Council of the Church. Ultimately, St. Paul won this argument, and his approach was approved at the Synod of Jerusalem, where the Apostles recognized his authority as a disciple of the Risen Christ. They acknowledged that Gentile believers could follow Christ without adhering to the ritual purity of the Law, which had served as an exclusionary criterion for the Jewish people to bring the Messiah into the world. Instead, believers were encouraged to uphold the essence of the Law that Christ brought: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and effort, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.