Burning one Wrote:as for Acts 15, i'm of a different persuasion, obviously. <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s --> i don't think it was releasing them from the burdens of the Torah, but opening up the essentials in order to fellowship. remember how the P'reeyshe' brought the whole thing up (v. 1 & 5) with demanding they must be circumcised or else they aren't even saved? i think the Peshitta does well to show that the apostles were speaking directly against that particular false doctrine by their ruling, when Peter makes the clever word-play with P'rash in verse 9. that sect had lain upon the peoples a burden that the Father never gave - since people had always been allowed to worship Him w/o the demanding of circumcision. i personally believe the best route of explanation lay in that context, and not an abrogation of the entire Instruction. of course, that is just my opinion - worth all of two shekels - hopefully!
Right... rather than dictating a blacklisting of commands for the new believers, it was a whitelist for commands permitting entry into the eidta. The baptism requirement, at the least, for entry as members of some Christian sects today is comparable to the situation of Acts 15. It was Elohim's perfect Torah being corrupted into a religious formula: To be one of us you have to do a, b, and c. Acts 15 abolishes the hoops that 'converts' were required to jumping through. It puts in place a few tips to hold back the blatant pagan customs of the new believers so as not to offend the Jews of the eidta.
