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             Today, on the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, each of the apostles gets a separate collect.  The first collect reminds us of Christ’s exhortation to Peter to feed his flock (John 21:15-17), the second, of Paul’s calling to preach the gospel throughout the world. 
            Peter and Paul are the only two apostles about whom much of anything is known historically, and what we do know tells us that they did not get along.  Peter had been a follower of Jesus during his earthly ministry; Paul declares that he no longer regards the earthly Christ (2 Corinthians 5:16); his calling is rooted in the risen Lord whom he encountered on the Damascus road. 
            These differing perspectives came into open conflict in Antioch, where the Christian community consisted of both Jews and non-Jews.  Judaism’s observance of kosher made table-fellowship with Gentiles impossible, as it still does today.  The question at Antioch was whether Christian Jews were bound by this prohibition.
            The Christian community in Jerusalem was presided over by James.  Although he was the brother of the Lord, James had not been a disciple of Jesus during his earthly life and therefore had never experienced the practice of table-fellowhip with non-observant Jews which Peter had known.  Accordingly, in the Jerusalem church table-fellowship with Gentiles was strictly forbidden. 
            In Antioch Peter’s approach to this problem was pragmatic.  He seems to have regarded the Jewish law as adaptable to particular circumstances.  He had no personal scruples about eating with Gentiles, but he respected the weak conscience of those who took a different position, just as Paul himself would do in similar circumstances (1 Corinthians 8:9-13).
            So when certain men came to Antioch from James, i.e. from the Jerusalem community, Peter drew back from sharing meals with the Gentile members of the church (Galatians 2:12), in order not to give scandal to the visitors.  Paul uncharitably assumes that Peter had acted out of fear of the circumcision party, and he denounces his action. 
            But Peter was not brought around to Paul’s point of view, and the consequence of this altercation was that Paul left Antioch for good.  The episode seem to have led to worsening relations between Paul and the Jerusalem community, which did not come to his aid when he was arrested upon his third and final visit to the holy city (Acts 21:33).
            Yet in spite of all this, Paul acknowledges that he had been the last  apostle to see the risen Lord, whereas Peter had been the first (1 Corinthians 15:5.8).  Even more importantly, Paul declares that he and Peter preached the same gospel which the Corinthians had received (v. 11). 
            Next month our bishops will be meeting in Lambeth to try to preserve the unity of the Anglican Communion.  Let us pray that, like Peter and Paul, they will place the faith and tradition which we all share above the differences which divide us. 

June 29, 2008

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