Summer Featured Course
July-August 2024
“St. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, AD 50-52.”
In the early days of the Church no one imagined that Jesus had anything to with the Gentile world: Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. When Peter was called to Caesarea Maritima and witnessed the Roman centurion Cornelius and his family being anointed by the Holy Spirit, he was astounded! At the same time in Syrian Antioch, after Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey in AD 46-48, Gentiles began flooding into the church there, as well.
This caused the Apostles to hold a Council in Jerusalem in AD 50 to address the issue of Gentiles in the Church. Are they welcome? If so, must they first convert to Judaism? If not, must they obey the Mosaic Law, nonetheless? Must the men be circumcised? After much debate, the Council decided that Gentiles were welcome in the Church and they need not observe the Mosaic Law, nor did men need to be circumcised. That opened the floodgates to the Church.
With that decision made, Paul returned to Antioch, selected Silas as his missionary partner, and headed out on his second missionary journey, AD 50-52, specifically to announce the decision of the Jerusalem Council regarding Gentiles. He planned to retrace his first missionary journey in reverse order, delivering the message and becoming the “Apostle to the Gentiles.”
But there were many in the early Church who adamantly disagreed with the Council’s decision, and they trailed Paul, preaching “another Gospel.” When Paul reached Corinth he received word from the churches in Galatia and those in Thessalonica asking for clarification. Paul writes his epistle to the Galatians and those to Thessalonica to counter the “Judaizers.”
Material and Schedule
Week 1:
Assignment
Read:
Acts 10:1-48; 15:1-41.
Watch:
Lesson #2, “On the Road to Corinth,” in St Paul's Early Epistles.
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Lesson #9, “An Introduction to Galatians,” in St. Paul’s Pastoral Letters course.
Members Click here for Access to the Lesson