The 'Apostolic Decree' commonly describes the letter reputedly composed by James and the Jerusalem apostles in c. AD 49 and sent to Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. The meeting that gave rise to this document (described in Acts 15.1-22) discussed the question of whether circumcision should be required of Gentiles wishing to convert to the (Jewish) Jesus movement. Luke's record of this 'decree' (Acts 15:23-29) emphasises that the requirements laid on these Gentile converts did not include circumcision.

Paul, in Galatians 2.1-10, appears to refer to the same meeting. Crucially, however, Paul omits mention of any 'decree'. This is surprising if Luke's account is accurate, since an appeal to the apostles' authoritative ruling should have silenced Paul's critics; those demanding the circumcision of Gentile converts. Scholars have generally explained this anomoly by suggesting that, although a Jerusalem meeting took place, no 'decree' was ever issued. Rather, Luke came across some rules for Gentile admission without circumcision, devised elsewhere, and imported them into his account of the Jerusalem meeting to give them added authority.

Another option, not previously considered, is that the Jerusalem meeting did produce a decree but that its contents were sufficiently ambiguous to support both pro- and anti-circumcision interpretations. This would explain Luke's reading of events as well as Paul's unwillingness to quote a document whose contents might have been turned to opposite effect.

The Didache's base layer contains precisely the kind of ambiguity required.
Didache 6.2-3 'If you are able to bear the whole yoke of the Lord [=Torah], you will be perfect (teleios), but if you cannot, do what you can. Concerning food, bear what you can, but abstain strictly from food offered to idols, for it is worship of dead gods.' This is the final instruction in the sequence leading up to the baptism of Gentile converts. Once baptised they are entitled to participate in the Eucharist (cf. Did. 9.5). Significantly, there is no explicit requirement to be circumcised. At the end of the text, however, Didache 16.2 reveals that this was only intended as a temporary concession, not a long-term solution.
Didache 16.2 'You shall assemble frequently, seeking what your souls need, for the whole time of your faith will be of no profit to you unless you are perfected (teleiothete) at the final hour.' The concept of 'perfection' refers to full Torah observance (as understood by the particular community) and would have included circumcision.

Faced with a 'decree' containing these two statements it is credible that Luke offered a selective account favouring an anti-circumcision interpretation. At the same time it is understandable that Paul chose to argue from first principles (Galatians 2.11ff) rather than appeal to a document that saw Gentiles as second class members until they accepted circumcision and became Torah-observant Jews.

25.10.04