Katnut d'Katnut

The Jerusalem Council

In my last blog post I wrote about how my alternative reading and translation of the Greek of Galatians 1:15-16 gives a more humble and different understanding of Paul. The present translations into English make Paul sound very self-willed and almost arrogant in his claims to "preach" the Gospel. Paul does take pains to stress that he was called to God's grace and given his mission of proclamation to the Gentiles by a direct revelation of the Resurrected Messiah and not by any man- made group. However when read and translated slightly different, the present almost hostility in the text, in regard to the Jerusalem Church, is lessened and even removed.

The Greek word δοκοῦντες (thokountes) and its variants are found in Galatians 2:2,6 and 9.

I have discussed in other places the wonderful book by a orthodox Jewish scholar Judith Deutsch Kornblatt. Her book is titled "Doubly Chosen: Jewish Identity, the Soviet Intelligentsia, and the Russian Orthodox". 'Doubly chosen' is a term used by Russian Orthodox Christians of Jewish ancestry to demonstrate that they are firstly chosen by God through their birth into the Jewish people and secondly chosen by the Lord through the grace of baptism.