BONUS 17 - The Law isn’t Law

Bonus Conversation — Following Season 2, Episode 7

We revisit A Confrontation at Antioch, A Vision in Caesarea, and A Council in Jerusalem—the moment the early Church learned to welcome the nations without losing its soul. We trace Peter’s encounter with Cornelius, the shock of the Spirit falling on Gentiles, and the pressure that led Peter to withdraw from shared tables. Then comes Paul’s bold stand—confronting Peter face-to-face to defend the Gospel from becoming a system of second-class believers.

From there, we unpack the Council of Jerusalem and its lasting impact on Christian life. Together we distinguish enduring moral law—rooted in the Ten Commandments—from time-bound ritual laws that once marked Israel’s identity. Rather than erasing Israel’s story, we follow its fulfillment in Christ, where the signs of the new covenant take center stage. A practical example—like Lenten dispensations on St. Patrick’s Day—shows how pastoral law serves charity without bending moral absolutes.

Along the way, we reflect on the gift of the Law, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and the beauty of “the Way,” where early believers found life in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. Listeners who love Scripture, church history, and the ongoing balance between tradition and mission will find clarity in themes that still echo today: continuity versus replacement, unity without uniformity, and holiness that breaks down walls rather than builds them higher.

If this conversation deepened your understanding, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show.

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Jordan Whiteko, Father Andrew Hamilton, Father Christopher Pujol, Vincent Reilly, Cliff Gorski, John Zylka, Sarah Hartner

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stakes
• 0:33 Antioch Before Jerusalem
• 1:44 Peter’s Vision And Gentile Baptisms
• 2:55 The Circumcision Debate
• 3:57 Peter’s Vacillation And Paul’s Rebuke
• 6:17 Moral Law Versus Ritual Law
• 6:39 Note: All timestamps are within 403 seconds

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

You're listening to the Catholic Act of the podcast. We discussed the act that Jesus performed that stunned his disciples. Great to be back, Jordan. You don't know it's by now, you're never gonna know. I'm Jordan Waco here with Father Hamilton and Father Poojal. So, you know, in my notes here, we there's mention of the Council of Jerusalem. What happened at that council? What role did St. Paul play in this event?

SPEAKER_01: 0:28

Can we go a little bit before the Council of Jerusalem before we get there? Don't jump ahead, Jordan. We should talk about at Antioch, which precedes a little bit, that like in the history, it's helpful for us. The the great two apostles, right? Of spreading like the message of God, really Peter and Paul. Peter, after that encounter with the men from Cornelius and seeing Cornelius in the spirit falling upon the Gentiles and them speaking in tongues, there's baptisms of the Gentiles. And there becomes arguments, especially from Jewish people, that they have to be circumcised. Okay, not just baptized, but they need to take on the sign of the old covenant, which is circumcision as well as baptism.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07

And the the realities of that they would be bound to the Jewish laws on top of following Christian commandments.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

In in Peter, he starts to vacillate a little bit. He was given that vision, he meets Cornelius and the Gentiles, he starts to believe that the Mosaic Law has passed away and given way to the new, not all of the parts of the Mosaic Law, right? As we said, that the Ten Commandments, the absolute laws are still there, but some of these other ritualistic laws don't have enforcement anymore. And so what is happening is Peter is starting to get there, but then a lot of the other ones that are called Judaizers or those that think that you have to follow the still the Mosaic prescriptions, they start to really pressure Peter. And so he starts to recede from his position and he stops actually like even eating with Gentiles or treating them as equal in the covenant to those that were Judah. But rather like a lower level of Jewish Christians. And this is where Paul and Barnabas have a lot of problems with that, specifically Paul. And he actually goes to Peter's face and he calls him out on it and says, You're being hypocritical. Like you've been given these things, you know this, and you're not right about what's going on here. It should be that the new law is the one has that it has been given way to. And so Paul calls him out, and that's what precedes then the great debate of the apostles coming together in Jerusalem to figure out what do we believe as the church to properly orient ourselves for the future. And certain laws are given for an amount of time and have a context to them. So one of the best explanations that I've seen from scripture scholars about the old Mosaic laws is why were there all these restrictions, especially around like odd things of what you can eat, what you can't, ritual purities, and so on. It really had a lot to do with singling out the identity of the Israelites. Because if we remember in the Old Testament, what was the constant thing that they were doing? Falling away from the covenant of worshiping the one true God and going to all the nations around them, becoming like the other nations, intermarrying, intermingling, and then they lose their identity as God's. Rather than being holy, which is to be set apart, set aside. And so a lot of those laws had relevance then, but the question became were they only relevant for that time, or are they eternal laws? Right? Because we can look back into the Old Testament and see the Ten Commandments as moral laws. Those are what we call absolute laws. They're not relative to a time or a period. It's always wrong and everywhere to steal from somebody. It's always wrong and everywhere to kill somebody or to murder somebody willingly, right? And in that way, then those hold forever. So whenever you talk about the law of Christ of love, well, love has to keep in mind those moral absolutes that are already laid down. You can't break three of the commandments and then say, well, I'm actually loving this person, even though I'm breaking these commandments, right? Committing adultery, but saying, like, why I love this person. Actually, no, you're harming them and you're breaking the law that God has laid out as the foundation for the greater law.

SPEAKER_02: 4:00

And as Catholics, one of the easy ways for us to think about this is think about our Lenten penances, right? So if you're in an Irish community and St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday, oftentimes the bishop will release the faithful from observing the abstinence and fast for meat on that Friday. And so the law should not be guiding us, but the law is no the law is is um the law is it's a guide guiding.

SPEAKER_01: 4:35

Yeah. The law is in law. But in a very privileged way, the Jewish people were privileged that they already had a law that helped them to understand who the Messiah was to be and to accept Christ. Whereas Gentiles didn't have that same tradition or that same understanding.

SPEAKER_02: 4:54

And Christ did come to the Jewish people first. You know, he was born to a Jewish mother, uh, a Jewish stepfather, guardian. So he did come and God revealed himself first to his promised people, just as he said he would. And then as that carried out, we see that God is embracing everyone and gathering all the ends of the earth to himself. And so a lot of it, as Father was talking about um replacement of the old with the new, a lot of people call it the substitution theory, the substitution idea that now what was old has been substituted for that which is new. And it doesn't mean that what was in the past was bad, but rather that it's completed and fulfilled.

SPEAKER_01: 5:36

And it's a continuity, it's not to be seen as a replacement theology, right? That basically the Jewish people are basically completely replaced by that, but rather that they should be brought into the one who is the way, the truth, and the world. It's an intersecting line that continues, is what you're saying. Like kind of like that. Yeah. And through the acceptance of the Messiah, right? Because that's what the Jewish people are waiting for, and the Messiah comes, and the Messiah needs to be accepted. And this is why Jesus very explicitly says, like, if you're to know the Father, you have to know me. It's only through me that you come to the Father. I am the way, the truth, and the life. This is why the early Christians in the church call themselves the way.

SPEAKER_02: 6:16

And really, the if you watch some of those interviews with some of the Jewish converts to Catholicism, they'll tell you that when they read the New Testament and thought about the prophets, they started seeing the completion of the prophecies. And that's what led them to then choose Christ uh as their savior and recognize him as who he is. Thanks for listening to the Catholic Accent Podcast. Don't forget to follow, like, and subscribe to our show.