Council of Jerusalem

Uncommon card · No. 178100

The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council is a council described in chapter 15 of the Acts of the Apostles, held in Jerusalem c. AD 48–50. Scholars increasingly affirm the Jerusalem Council and its rulings as a historical event. According to Acts, the council addressed whether Gentile converts were required to be circumcised and observe Mosaic Law. The council decided that Gentiles were not required to be circumcised or keep the law of Moses, while instructing them to abstain from food associated with idols, from blood and meat from strangled animals, and from porneia, often translated as fornication or sexual immorality. These instructions are commonly known as the Apostolic Decree. The purpose, scope, and origin of the decree are debated. The decree itself "has been obsolete for centuries in the West", according to the 19th-century German Catholic bishop Karl Josef von Hefele. Accounts of the council are found in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15, in both the Alexandrian and Western...

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