Bible Dictionaries
Council of Jerusalem

Holman Bible Dictionary

The name given to the meeting described in Acts 15:6-22 . The purpose of the council was to determine the terms on which Gentile converts to Christianity would be received into the church. The occasion of the meeting was a significant turning of Gentiles to Christ as a result of missionary activity by Barnabas and Paul. Some maintained that all Gentile converts must submit to circumcision and observe the whole of the Mosaic law. Paul and Barnabas, however, contended that imposing such requirements on Gentiles was unreasonable. The solution proposed by the Jerusalem council was that Gentile believers would not be required first to become Jewish proselytes, but that they would be asked to refrain from idolatry, from sexual misconduct, and from eating blood. See Acts; Paul .