What did the Pharisees in Acts 15:5 say was required for Gentile believers?
The Pharisees who believed said Gentile believers had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. They insisted circumcision was needful for the Gentiles at Antioch and that they must obey Moses' Law, making Judaism and its requirements necessary for salvation, which Paul firmly rejected.
In Acts 15, the Jerusalem controversy centered on whether Gentiles could be saved apart from Judaism, without circumcision, and without being commanded to keep the Law. Les explains that certain Pharisees who believed, part of the Jewish congregation at Jerusalem, rose up and said it was needful to circumcise the Gentile believers at Antioch and to keep the Law of Moses. Paul said there was no way that would be part of his message. A great confrontation and argument followed. Later, Peter came to Paul's defense, remembering about fourteen years earlier at the house of Cornelius that God would save a Gentile without ascribing to Judaism, without repentance and water baptism; they were saved even before Peter got that far.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
More Questions
What did the believing Pharisees require of the Gentile believers in Acts 15?
The believing Pharisees at the Jerusalem council said it was necessary to circumcise the Gentile believers at Antioch and command them to keep the law of Moses.