Scott
Puritan Board Graduate
"This issue is specificaaly about how to include the Gentiles into the "way"....So there were no local congregations at this time."
It is not correct to say that there were no local congregations at the time. There were very clearly local congregations at the time. Let's expand the Acts 16 passage to include vs. 5: "As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers."
Verse 5 expressly says that the "churches" (plural) were strengthened. This is referring to local congregations. Further, the various congregational epistles were written to the various "churches" in the area (eg. to the church at Corinth). Galatians is addressed as: "Paul, an apostle"“sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead"“ 2and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia. . ." Note that it was addressed to the "churches" (plural) in the region. Revelation as letters to the seven "churches" (plural) (see Rev. 1-3). Many other examples.
So, the Jerusalem Council was expressly convened to decide the issue plaguing several congregations, as is clear from Acts 16. So, independency is precluded.
Scott
It is not correct to say that there were no local congregations at the time. There were very clearly local congregations at the time. Let's expand the Acts 16 passage to include vs. 5: "As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers."
Verse 5 expressly says that the "churches" (plural) were strengthened. This is referring to local congregations. Further, the various congregational epistles were written to the various "churches" in the area (eg. to the church at Corinth). Galatians is addressed as: "Paul, an apostle"“sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead"“ 2and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia. . ." Note that it was addressed to the "churches" (plural) in the region. Revelation as letters to the seven "churches" (plural) (see Rev. 1-3). Many other examples.
So, the Jerusalem Council was expressly convened to decide the issue plaguing several congregations, as is clear from Acts 16. So, independency is precluded.
Scott