Paul's Opponents Series

Paul's Opponents

6/4/2022

Did the Apostle Paul have enemies? He sure did! I never thought about it before, but I think he had many opponents (enemies) because His preaching must have ruffled many feathers. I love him because I love the books of the Bible he wrote and the stand he took for Jesus Christ. This brief article reveals who his opponents were by posing a few questions about this mysterious man. I will leave it at that!

In the letter, he wrote to the Galatians, who were Paul's likely opponents? Who is Paul arguing against in Galatians?

Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law during the Apostolic Age.

His opponents called upon all males to circumcise themselves (5:2-12; 6:12-17). This means that they were either Jewish Christians or Judaizing Christians

Who Were Paul's Opponents Who Inspired Paul to Write to the Galatians. One Theory of Where Galatians Fits

Many scholars agree that Galatians was written after Paul's first missionary journey to the churches in South Galatia. If that is so, then the situation goes like this: Paul makes that first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14 through the cities of Iconium, Lystra, Derby, and, of course, to Syrian Antioch itself. The geography and the naming of different regions are pretty tricky. This is like when in Scotland, we talk about the borders or the lowlands or whatever, and these do not exactly fit with the different County names and regional jurisdictions in the same way.

After that, Paul is back home in Antioch, enjoying fellowship with Jews and Gentiles in Antioch. And then, Peter comes and joins in and does not worry because, after all, Peter has had his experience in Acts 10 and 11 in the house of Cornelius. Peter is quite happy to share fellowship with the Gentiles. Then some people came from Jerusalem, supposedly sent by James. Then, Peter gets cold feet and withdraws.

Then, according to this reading, Paul hears that similar people have gone to the churches in South Galatia and have said, 'No, actually, you are getting it all wrong. Paul has only given you half of the message. Yes. He has told you about Jesus, and that is wonderful. You have experienced this spiritual awakening. However, they need to become part of the true family, the family of Abraham, the ancient people of God. Furthermore, of course, you need to get circumcised'.

That, I believe, is the historical situation. This is then before the Jerusalem conference of Acts 15. Perhaps Paul, even on his way to Jerusalem to hammer this one out in public with the other Apostles, dashes off the letter to the Galatians to say, 'Do not do it. Do not go there. That is a false trail. You will give up everything you have gained if you go that way.

Why did Barnabas leave Paul?

Barnabas and Paul separate over the role Mark should play when they decide to return to where they had preached the gospel (Acts 15:36). Barnabas wanted to take Mark on the journey, but Paul was convinced this was not a good idea because Mark had abandoned them during their first journey.

The incident at Antioch was an Apostolic Age dispute between the Apostle Paul and Peter, which occurred in the city of Antioch around the middle of the first century. The primary source for the incident is Paul's Epistle to the Galatians 2:11–14. Since the 19th century figure, Ferdinand Christian Baur, biblical scholars have found evidence of conflict among the leaders of early Christianity; for example, James D. G. Dunn proposes that Peter was a "bridge-man" between the opposing views of Paul and James, brother of Jesus. The outcome of the incident remains uncertain, resulting in several Christian views on the Old Covenant.

Gentile Christians and the Torah

Artistic depiction of Paul the Apostle (Vincenzo Gemito, 1917).

Paul was responsible for bringing Christianity to Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and Antioch. Bible scholars agree that "Paul saw Jesus' resurrection as ushering in the eschatological[1] time foretold by biblical prophets in which the pagan 'Gentile' nations would turn from their idols and embrace the one true God of Israel (Zechariah 8:20-23), and Paul saw himself as specially called by God to declare God's eschatological[1] acceptance of the Gentiles and summon them to turn to God." According to certain Bible Scholars, the primary concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role and salvation by faith is not the individual conscience of human sinners and their doubts about being chosen by God or not. However, the main concern is the problem of the inclusion of Gentile (Greek) Torah-observers into God's covenant. As Gentiles began to convert from Paganism to early Christianity, a dispute arose among Jewish Christian leaders as to whether or not Gentile Christians needed to observe all the doctrines of the Law of Moses.