Paul 2.5

It did not take long for word of my letter to the Galatians to get out. For one, I shared the copy of the letter I kept with me to the church in Manaen's house. Before long it was all over town. Divisions in the city between believers deepened as lines were drawn.

Peter had by this time returned to Jerusalem, but in less than a month word had reached there as well. The "Judaizers" of Jerusalem--those who were insisting Gentiles get circumcised--were now incensed and began to press James and Peter to clamp down on me and the Gentile church.

When the first echo of the letter came back from Galatia, the furor moved to the next level. The Gentile churches had heeded Paul's words and had rejected the false teaching of the missionaries from Antioch. Lois of Lystra, in whose home the believers of that city met, had refused even to allow the teachers to speak in her house.

These pressures led James to call a meeting in Jerusalem to take place in a month's time. Leaders from the churches of Judea and beyond would assemble to hear the apostles' thoughts on the issue of Jew in relation to Gentile, particularly whether it was necessary for them to be circumcised in order to be saved. With boldness I began to prepare for the coming journey.