activity of the Spirit was prioritized over (or outranked) the authority of
tradition and text.
However, what has not been adequately explored in this model presented
by Thomas is the role of experience informing the reading of Scripture and
the hermeneutical process used in their theological deliberation. While the
end point of the deliberation of the Council of Jerusalem was the continuing
work of the Spirit among gentiles, the initiator or catalyst for their delibera-
tion was the experience, particularly the experience of Paul and Barnabas, in
witnessing the conversion of gentiles. This raised disputes and differences of
theology as certain believers from Judea were teaching that the new gentile
believers were required to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses: to
continue and preserve the traditions of Judaism (15:1–2). The subsequent
dispute across the diverse ethnic and geographic communities arising from
the experience of Paul and Barnabas prompted the meeting of the Council of
Jerusalem, which was called to resolve and provide theological clarity on the
issues. Central to the description of the meeting was the testimony of Paul
and Barnabas (15:12).
The experience of Paul and Barnabas summarized at the Council of
Jerusalem is described at various points in the Lukan narrative, including
an earlier experience in 14:1: “Now at Iconium they entered together into
the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both
Jews and Greeks believed.” As witnesses to the freedom and grace of the
gentile believers, Paul and Barnabas opposed these restrictions on gentiles
required by the teaching of their opponents from Judea. However, these
opposing opinions regarding the role of the law, and specifi cally the sym-
bol of circumcision, for new gentile believers created a confl ict within the
local community that was both unresolvable at the local level and broader
in signifi cance for the wider Christian community. As a result, Paul and
Barnabas (among others) were appointed to travel to Jerusalem to bring
the matter before the apostles and elders (15:2). As they travelled, Paul
and Barnabas shared their experience with the various local groups they
encountered along the way, including the community in Jerusalem (15:4).
What is clear in the descriptions of Luke in Acts 14 and 15 is that the
experience of Paul and Barnabas included not only the work of the Spirit
in the conversion of both the Jews and Greeks, but also a clear engage-
ment with the philosophy of both Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) and Jewish
communities, that is, engagement with the traditions and contemporary
approaches to communication appropriate to the context. For Paul and
Barnabas, to speak in such a way for listeners of differing cultural origins
WHEN THE SPIRIT TRUMPS TRADITION: A PENTECOSTAL READING OF ISAIAH... 145