In this article I have been using Marcus Borg’s book on the New Testament (NT) as a foundation. In his book he presents the NT in the chronological order in which the writing were composed. The first sevenbooks of the NT were Paul’s letters to various churches, the first letter being to the Thessalonians and the second his letter to the     Galatians.

The Christians in Galatia were primarily Gentiles, most and perhaps nearly all of them “God-lovers” who had been attracted to Judaism. Borg contends that this is apparent from the central issue addressed by his letter. The main question that arose was: Did male Gentile converts need to be circumcised? Did they also need to follow Jewish laws, including food laws? Paul, who himself was originally a Rabbi, answered with an unequivocal NO. He offered full participation in the Jesus Way without circumcision and adherence to Jewish traditions and laws. This, of course, put him at odds with the other Apostles who believed that the Jesus Way was really ‘reformed Judaism’. He clearly saw that Jesus’ teachings    were decidedly different than those of  Judaism.

After Paul left Galatia, other teachers came to Galatia and asserted that all male converts to the Jesus Way had to be circumcised and follow Jewish laws. They believed that for Gentiles to become children of Abraham, they had to enter into God’s covenant with Abraham which, of course, included circumcision and laws. These teachers were also professed followers of Jesus.

This was the first major conflict that is recorded in early Christianity. Was the Jesus Way just a reformed expression of Judaism or what it a “new” way of understanding God and worshiping Him.

A resolution of this issue is found in ACTS, which narrat5es the spread of the Jesus Way. Scholars have concluded that ACTS is really the second volume of Luke’s Gospel and was probably composed during the period from 160-180 CE. It documents the spread of the Jesus movement. It actually records a meeting of early Christian leaders, mainly Peter, Paul, Barnabas and James, in Jerusalem in 50 CE. Paul reports that the leaders of the Jesus Way ratified his mission and his approach to bringing new members into the Jesus movement.

A more complex issue that needed to be resolved was the eating of kosher food. In homogeneous communities that was not an issue. Communities of Jewish converts simply continued eating kosher food. In mixed communities. Peter himself settles this issue by declaring that maintaining the kosher regulations was not an issue.