Acts 15: When Judaizers demanded Gentile converts be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, the Apostles said no. Peter called the Law a yoke; James refused it; the Holy Ghost and the council agreed. Scripture, Chrysostom and Aquinas explain why the ceremonial Law had to end.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Cold Open
0:05 – INTRODUCTION
1:55 – PART 1: The Crisis at Antioch
4:21 – PART 2: The Church Gathers in Council
5:06 – PART 3: Peter’s Testimony — The Yoke Refused
8:40 – PART 4: Paul and Barnabas Bear Witness
9:08 – PART 5: James’s Judgment and the Prophetic Warrant
11:21 – PART 6: “It Seemed Good to the Holy Ghost” — The Decree to Antioch
13:40 – PART 7: The Scholastic Synthesis — Aquinas on the End of the Ceremonial Law
17:54 – CONCLUSION: Against the Modern Errors
📖 SOURCES FOR THIS VIDEO
Scripture
Acts 15:1-33 — Douay-Rheims (primary text throughout; the Council of Jerusalem)
Acts 10:13, 10:15 — Douay-Rheims (Peter’s vision and the household of Cornelius)
Church Fathers
St. John Chrysostom — Homily 32 on the Acts of the Apostles (direct quotes on the Pharisee-believers’ effrontery and on faith alone; preached at Constantinople, c. A.D. 400)
St. John Chrysostom — Homily 33 on the Acts of the Apostles (direct quotes on the Law as “burden” and “he unbinds it by taking only these”)
Scholastic
St. Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica I-II, Question 103, Articles 2-4 (Article 2 on the ceremonies’ lack of power to justify even before Christ; Article 4’s direct treatment of the Acts 15 apostolic decree, the “dead but not deadly” transitional period following St. Augustine, and the Timothy/Titus distinction; also preserves a citation of St. Augustine, Contra Faustum XIX.16)
Magisterial
Council of Florence — Cantate Domino / Bull of Union with the Copts (4 February 1442), Denzinger 712-713 (on the cessation of the Mosaic ceremonial law and the temporary character of the Acts 15:29 dietary prohibitions)
Traditional Commentary
Douay-Rheims Bible — Challoner annotation on Acts 15:29 (on the temporary character of the blood/strangled-meat provisions specifically)
📚 Full Adversus Judaeos Library: 👉 https://christtheking.info/catholic-r…
⚠️ DISCLAIMER: This video presents historical theological sources for educational purposes. The teaching documented is theological/doctrinal opposition, not racial hatred. Individual Jews can convert and be saved. Violence against Jews is condemned.
