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This quotation is particularly interesting when it be remembered what a large place
Antioch had in the exercise of the Christian ministry.
Proselytes were present on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 10), and it is reasonable to
suppose that they were also present in every synagogue into which the Apostles went. As
the Acts period wore on, it is probable that they furnished a majority of the new converts.
The reference already made to the many women proselytes of the time is interesting in
the light of certain passages in the Acts.
"But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the
city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their
coasts" (13: 50).
It is known that the Pharisees exercised a great influenced over women. By their
pious professions they were able to "devour widows' houses" (Matt. 23: 14), and
exert pressure on female proselytes to stir up their husbands against the Apostles.
II Tim. 3: 16 may also have some bearing upon this practice:
"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden
with sins, led away with divers lusts."
When seen against such a background, the words of the Apostle Paul concerning
women take on a new light.
The zeal of the Pharisees to proselytize was still present in those of the party which
believed. When the Gentiles were added to the church, "certain of the sect of the
Pharisees which believed" (Acts 15: 5) misunderstood the position. They viewed the
coming in of the Gentiles as a making of proselytes, and this caused trouble, especially in
Antioch and the South Galatian churches. Such misunderstanding called forth the
council of Acts 15: and the Galatian epistle. The demand of these Pharisaic believers
with respect to the Gentile converts, "that it was needful to circumcise them, and to
command them to keep the Law of Moses" (Acts 15: 5) was negated by the Apostles,
and no greater burden than four necessary things imposed upon them (Acts 15: 28, 29).
Gal. 2: however, demonstrates how close the Christian world once came to giving way to
this Pharisaic tendency to proselytize, when even Peter and Barnabas were carried away,
compelling the Gentiles, by their own actions, to Judaize (verses 11-14). How much is
owed to the Apostle Paul from a human standpoint cannot be estimated, for he appears to
have been the only one at this time who stood against this intrusion of rights. He opposed
the circumcision of Titus, a Greek (verse 3), and withstood Peter to the face (verse 11).
This latter action on the part of the Apostle evidently influenced Peter greatly, for when
the council of Acts 15: was later held, he is found saying:
"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which
neither our fathers or we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they" (Acts 15: 10, 11).
(The evidence demonstrating that the letter to the Galatians was written before Acts 15:,
is presented in The Apostle of the Reconciliation by 100: H. Welch, pages 84-86).