Who moderated the Jerusalem Council?
James, the half-brother of Jesus, moderated the Jerusalem Council. He was not one of the Twelve, nor was he the James who had been beheaded earlier. Peter was not the moderator. After the Jewish believers held their peace, James answered and spoke to the assembly, saying, “Men and brethren, hearken to me.”
Les explains that after Peter defended Paul by recalling Cornelius, where God saved Gentiles, the multitude of Jews at Jerusalem quieted down and allowed them to return to Gentile ministry. Then, after they held their peace, James spoke. Les points out that this James is the moderator, not Peter. This is not James of the Twelve, who had been beheaded earlier; it is James, the half-brother of Jesus, who was not even one of the Twelve. James answered, “Men and brethren, hearken to me,” and said Simeon, or Peter, had declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name. Les identifies that people as the church, the body of Christ, called out of the Gentiles. He contrasts Peter’s preaching to Israel, where everyone had to respond, with Paul’s Gentile ministry, which is a saving of some, a sampling from the masses. James also notes the prophets agree, quoting Amos: “after this.”
And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
More Questions
Who was the moderator at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15?
At the Jerusalem conference it was James, not Peter, who answered and served as the moderator, though one would expect Peter to have that role.
What happened after Peter defended the salvation of the Gentiles at the Jerusalem Council?
After Peter recounted how God saved Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, the Jewish believers at Jerusalem quieted and allowed Paul and Barnabas to go back up to their Gentile ministry.