Blog 001 - Paul's Confrontation with Peter

      Paul's confrontation with Peter is certainly one of the most heated parts of Christian history, and it has gone down in that history as a defining chunk of our faith. It happened when Paul noticed a problem in Peter's actions towards the Gentiles - a big problem that Paul makes very clear in the latter parts of Galatians that he find despicable. This far-reaching dilemma, which was a difficult issue at the time, can be put quite simply: Should Gentile believers be required to follow Jewish law, i.e. being circumcised and not being allowed to eat pork, or should they be able to express their faith through their own culture, as long as it kept within the bounds of Jesus' teachings? Peter was doubling back on his previous word by directing fellow Jews to eat separately from Gentiles, and Paul picked up on the larger issue. Calling Peter out in front of everyone, Paul explains very clearly that Gentiles and Jews are equals under Christ, and are, lucky for us non-Jew believers, not required to follow the Jewish code. This certainly has impact in the Church today, besides the obvious part; all believers in Christ are equal, and any ranking or sets of rules cast on any portion of the Church are against what the Bible - and Paul, for that matter - teaches. . . .

Looks like Peter and Paul made up, though. Just look at this medieval icon. . . .

Now that's brotherly love. . . .