Sources: Acts 11:19–30, 13:1–3, 15:1–35; Galatians 2:11–14; Ignatius of Antioch, Letters (~107 AD).

Syrian Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey) is the second most important city in early Christian history after Jerusalem. It is where: (1) The name “Christian” originated (Acts 11:26 — christianous, possibly a nickname given by outsiders, “partisans of Christ”); (2) The first mixed Jewish-Gentile Christian community was established, forcing the first serious theological reckoning with Gentile inclusion and Torah observance; (3) Paul and Barnabas were commissioned for the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1–3) — the Antioch church, not Jerusalem, is the mother church of the Gentile mission; (4) The Antioch incident (Gal 2:11–14) — Paul publicly opposes Peter to his face when Peter withdraws from eating with Gentile Christians after “men from James” arrive. This confrontation is the clearest early evidence of deep division between the Jerusalem and Antioch approaches to Gentile inclusion. Ignatius of Antioch’s seven letters (~107 AD), written as he traveled to martyrdom in Rome, are the earliest post-New Testament evidence for: episcopal church structure (one bishop per city), the Eucharist as central act, and the word “catholic” applied to the universal church.