PREPARATIONS

On his arrival in Jerusalem Paul proceeded to make his arrangements for the fulfilment of an object, which in his eyes had been for some time past of the highest importance. This was the fulfilment of the obligation, undertaken on the occasion of his visit to Jerusalem during the famine of a.d. 48, that his Gentile converts should “remember the poor.” He had himself supported with enthusiasm the original collection made by the converts of Antioch, and had been anxious to continue the practice. Although he might have pleaded that the subsequent attitude of Peter and the reopening of the controversy on circumcision had invalidated the original agreement, yet he had not in fact done so, and the obligation to undertake the collection remained as a debt of honour which he was bound to fulfil. In the eyes of the Hebrew Christians it was a definite obligation, by which the Gentiles would prove their solidarity with the original hearers of the preaching of the Master.

None the less the fulfilment of the obligation was not in all respects an easy matter. Jewish converts of the Dispersion would see nothing strange in contributing to the Church which was the centre of Christendom, as they had previously contributed to the Temple. Its members were the witnesses to the Resurrection of the Lord, and it was from them that the faith had spread to the world.