The timing of Acts 15 in relation to Galatians 2
How Paul’s visit to Jerusalem as described in Acts 15 fits with his description of a visit to Jerusalem in Galatians 2 is the matter of much excitement among commentators. “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.” Is this the same trip as the one in Acts 15? To what other period of time are the 14 years reckoned? How is this resolved?
The short answers are “yes” this is the same incident, or “no” these are not the same incidents. In some detail, we find from these comments of others:
“Yes.”
“With the time of it: that it was not till fourteen years after
the former (mentioned chap. 1.18), or, as others choose to understand it, from
his conversion, or from the death of Christ…If the journey here spoken of was
the same with that recorded Acts 15. (as many think), then we have a plain
reason why Barnabas went along with him; for he was chosen by the Christians at
Antioch to be his companion and associate in the affair he went about.”
“Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem,....That
is, either after it pleased God to call him by his grace, and reveal his Son in
him; or rather after he had been at Jerusalem to see Peter, with whom he stayed
fifteen days, and then went into Syria and Cilicia; so that it was seventeen
years after his conversion that he took this journey to Jerusalem he here speaks
of; and he seems to refer to the time when he and Barnabas went from the church
at Antioch to the apostles and elders about the question, whether circumcision
was necessary to salvation, Acts 15:1 which entirely agrees with the account
the apostle here gives of this journey…”
“Fourteen years after.—From what date is this fourteen years
to be reckoned? The phrase ‘I went up again’ seems to be decisive in favour of
reckoning it from the visit to Jerusalem just mentioned. We should therefore
have to add the three years of Galatians 1:18, in order to reach the date of
the Apostle’s conversion…In the meantime, it may be assumed that there appear
to be sufficient reasons for identifying the visit to Jerusalem here described
with that recorded in Acts 15…”
“Paul’s visit to Jerusalem [was] fourteen years after the incidents
related in the closing part of the preceding chapter…What this ‘revelation’ was
may be seen by a close study of Acts, 15th chapter.”[1]
Conclusion of “yes” proponents: The alleged differences between what Luke writes in Acts 15 and what Paul writes in Galatians 1-2 are not differences in fact, but different emphases explained by their purposes in writing.
“No.”
“Calvin, however, and others identify the visit of this verse
with that of Acts 11:30.”
“...the Jerusalem conference of Gal. 2:1-10, the Antioch
controversy of Gal. 2:11-14, and even the writing of the letter to the Galatians
itself (to the churches whose foundation is recorded in Acts 13:48-14:23)
antedated the council of Acts 15.”[2]
“Various factors point to an identification of the meeting
mentioned in passing in Acts 11:30 and 12:25 with that recorded in Galatians 2...Notice
that the incident in Antioch according to Paul in Galatians 2 is in fact over table
fellowship, not circumcision. this comports with the earlier discussions
recorded in Acts 10-11, but less well with the later discussions in Acts 15 where
the circumcision issue is settled and a different kind of food and fellowship
is discussed, namely, food and fellowship in pagan temples.”[3]
“…the evidence I have provided seems to show that Paul’s Jerusalem
visits in Acts 9:26-30 and 11:30/12:25 can be identified respectively with his
visits in Gal 1:18-24 and 2:1-10. Luke records three more visits of Paul to
Jerusalem: (1) Acts 15, the council visit; (2) 18:22, where Paul visits the
church after his second missionary journey; and (3) 21:17, where Paul brings an
offering to the church after his third missionary journey and is arrested and
imprisoned in Caesarea. None of these three correspond to the visits in
Galatians.”[4]
Comparing
and contrasting Acts 15 and Galatians 2
Acts
15 Galatians 2
Third
visit (Acts 9:26; 11:30,12:25) | No third
visit mentioned
Problem,
reason for going (15:2) | Problem
after arrival (2:3-5)
Sent by church (15:2-3) | By revelation (2:2; cf. Acts
11:27-29)
Public discussion (15:6ff) | Private meeting (2:2)
Circumcision and salvation (15:1,5) | Table fellowship (2:11-13)
Focus on James’s resolution (15:19) | James’s resolution unmentioned
Paul a minor participant (15:12) | Paul a primary participant (2:1-9)
“I went up again” in 2:1 seems to be a reference back to a prior visit to Jerusalem mentioned in Galatians 1:18.[5] Without a presupposition in favor of Acts 15, the comparison of 2:1 and 1:18 would normally and simply be taken as the next (therefore, second) visit Paul makes to Jerusalem. The second visit of Paul to Jerusalem, according to the book of Acts, occurs as recorded in Acts 11:29-30, 12:25. The events of Galatians 2:11-21 strike an odd chord if they track with Acts 15 or follow after the conclusion of the consultation (cf. Acts 16:4). The influence of the Judaizers in Galatians is much more understandable if occurring before the decision of the church in Acts 15 rather than after it. In Galatians 2, Paul calls the opposers “false brethren.” In Acts 15, Luke calls the opposers “Pharisees which believed.” Also, Galatians 2:10 “remember the poor” is also more consonant with the purpose of the Acts 11 visit than the Acts 15 visit. This further better explains why Paul does not refer the Galatians to the decision of the consultation in Jerusalem – it had not taken place at the time he was writing to the Galatians.
At this time in the historical record in the book of Acts, Paul visits Jerusalem three times – the first visit is mentioned in Acts 9:26ff, the second is to bring famine relief from Antioch to Jerusalem and Judæa (Acts 11:27-30), and the third is for counsel with the Jerusalem Church on the matter of circumcision and the law of Moses (Acts 15).
[2] The Book of Acts, F. F. Bruce, page 283.
[3] Acts of the Apostles, Witherington, page 93. Witherington gives an extended comparison in “The Galatian Chronological Data,” in the “Introduction,” pp. 88ff, as well as in the comments on Acts 15, pp. 439ff.
[4] “Paul in Jerusalem,” Joe Morgado, Jr., JETS, page 68. https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/37/37-1/JETS_37-1_055-068_Morgado.pdf
[5] επειτα (“Then after,” “Afterwards,” “Then…after”) is used three times relating a timeline in Paul’s story – Galatians 1:18, 1:21, and 2:1. These are his first visit to Jerusalem, his departure from Jerusalem to the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and his second visit to Jerusalem, with Barnabas and Titus.
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