Sources: Acts 15; Galatians 2:1–10 (Paul’s account of the same or a related meeting).

The Jerusalem Council (~49 AD) is the first ecumenical council in Christian history and the most consequential theological decision of the first generation — determining that Gentile Christians do not need to be circumcised or observe the full Mosaic law to be saved. The question is existential: is Christianity a sect of Judaism (requiring full proselyte conversion) or a new covenant community with different entrance requirements? James, Peter, and Paul all speak; the outcome is the “Apostolic Decree” (Acts 15:28–29) — Gentiles must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, blood, the meat of strangled animals, and sexual immorality, but circumcision is not required. Paul’s account in Galatians 2 differs in emphasis: he presents the agreement as recognizing two parallel missions (Peter to the circumcised, Paul to the uncircumcised) with no further requirements — the “pillars” (James, Peter, John) “added nothing” to his gospel. The tension between Acts’ Apostolic Decree and Paul’s account of total freedom (and his later treatment of idol food in 1 Corinthians 8–10 as a matter of conscience) suggests the council’s settlement was less definitive than Acts presents. The decision opened Christianity to the Gentile world at the cost of its Jewish identity — the most consequential trade-off in religious history.