10.33

Acts 15:1–32—What to Do with Gentiles (Box 16.6)

Widespread conversion of gentiles forced the early Christian church to face several important questions. Robert Gundry lists these:¹

• Should gentile Christians be required to submit to circumcision and practice the Jewish way of life, as gentile proselytes to Judaism were required to do?
• To those gentile Christians unwilling to become wholly Jewish, should the church grant a second-class citizenship, as for gentile “God-fearers” in Judaism?
• What makes a person Christian: faith in Christ solely, or faith in Christ plus adherence to the principles and practices of Judaism?

1. See Robert H. Gundry, A Survey of the New Testament, 5th ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 388.