Part 3-Social Behavior that Preaches an Unorthodox Gospel
What Peter vs. Paul Teaches Us About the Public Rebuke of Christian Leaders
Earlier this week, I began a series examining the conflict between the apostles Peter and Paul about table fellowship with Gentiles and what it might teach us about the public rebuke of Christian leaders. Read the first installment of the series here and follow along from there.
Yesterday, in part 2, we examined the early church’s grappling with issues of Gentile inclusion. Today, I’ll shortly and sweetly set the scene of the apostles’ conflict.
THE SITUATION
Galatians 2:11-20 describes Peter’s visit to Antioch sometime after the Jerusalem Council. Here, Paul writes that “before certain men came from James, [Peter] used to eat with the Gentiles.” (v. 12). Peter had, most likely, been accepting invitations to eat in Gentile homes and enjoying table fellowship, which was rooted in the “sacred obligation of hospitality to the stranger” and an “expression of acceptance” of the other.1 When the “men from James” arrive, Peter “began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group” (v. 12). These men were probably conservative Jews, “tracking Paul’s travels” to ensure that Gentiles in Jesus-centered communities followed the laws of Judaism.2
We may, at best, imagine Peter was trying to be hospitable3 to these men who would not have been comfortable eating with Gentiles. Nevertheless, his behavior was in conflict with the Jerusalem Council’s decision. Peter’s withdrawal from table fellowship with Gentiles disrupted and called into question the reality that Jews and Gentiles are made one together in Christ. And, because of his apostolic influence and reputation, other Jews—“even Barnabas”—followed Peter’s example (v.13). Paul identifies Peter as the instigator of widespread hypocrisy and behavior that is not in “line with the truth of the gospel” (v.13-14).
Come back tomorrow for a deep dive on Paul’s rebuke of Peter. Follow on Substack, or click the “Subscribe now” button below to have the series delivered to your email inbox.
Thanks for reading. I’m a book-obsessed pastor, seminarian, podcaster, and author. For essays and podcasts that come straight to your inbox, subscribe to this Dear Exiles newsletter in the subscription box above. Fun fact: I’m also the author of Dear Boy:, An Epistolary Memoir and the host of the Your Pastor Reads Books podcast.
James D.G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians, ed. Henry Chadwick (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), 117.
Timothy G. Gombis, Paul: A Guide for the Perplexed, (London New York: T & T Clark, 2010), 25.
K.H. Jobes, “Peter,” ed. Scot McKnight, Lynn H. Cohick, and Nijay K. Gupta, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters: A Compendium of Contemporary Scholarship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023), accessed February 23, 2025, ProQuest Ebook Central,