第29章 犹太人与外邦人
§1
第29章 犹太人与外邦人
§2
Chapter 29. - Jew and Gentile.
§3
在保罗被砸伤的第二天，两位使徒就离开路司得。遵照基督的指示：“有人在这城里逼迫你们，就逃到那城里去”(太10:23)，他们动身前往特庇去。在那里他们的工作大蒙上帝赐福，许多人接受了真理。于是保罗和巴拿巴又回去访问安提阿、以哥念和路司得，就是他们曾遭到这么严厉的反对和逼迫的工作园地。在这些地方已经有许多人相信了真理，使徒觉得自己有责任加强和鼓励那些遭到辱骂和恶毒反对的弟兄。他们决心巩固自己所开创的工作，使之不致归于徒然。{3SP 368.1}[1]
§4
The next day after the stoning of Paul, the apostles left the city, according to the direction of Christ: When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. They departed for Derbe, where their labors were blessed by leading many souls to embrace the truth. But both Paul and Barnabas returned again to visit Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the fields of labor where they had met such opposition and persecution. In all those places were many souls that believed the truth; and the apostles felt it their duty to strengthen and encourage their brethren who were exposed to reproach and bitter opposition. They were determined to securely bind off the work which they had done, that it might not ravel out. {3SP 368.1}[1]
§5
这些地方已经组织起教会，在每一个教会任命了长老，并建立起适当的秩序。保罗和巴拿巴在安提阿工作了一段时期。许多外邦人接受了基督的信仰。但有几个犹太人从犹太来提出了割礼的问题，使外邦信徒大为惊惶。他们强调说；一个人若要得救，就必须受割礼，并遵守全部仪文的律法。{3SP 368.2}[2]
§6
Churches were duly organized in the places before mentioned, elders appointed in each church, and the proper order and system established there. Paul and Barnabas labored in Antioch some time; and many Gentiles there embraced the doctrine of Christ. But certain Jews from Judea raised a general consternation among the believing Gentiles by agitating the question of circumcision. They asserted, with great assurance, that none could be saved without being circumcised, and keeping the entire ceremonial law. {3SP 368.2}[2]
§7
这是一个很严重的问题，大大影响了教会。保罗和巴拿巴立即起来应付，并反对向外邦人提出这个问题。在这件事上他们遭到安提阿信主的犹太人的反对，因为这些人赞同那些新近来自犹太地的犹太人的立场。受割礼的问题在教会中引起了不少辩论和纷争。最后安提阿教会唯恐继续辩论会引起分裂，就决定派保罗和巴拿巴同着教会中的负责人一起往耶路撒冷去，把这个问题提交使徒和长老。他们在那里可以见到从各地教会派来的代表和那些前来参赴最近节期的人。在此期间，众人要停止一切的辩论，直到教会的负责人做出最后的决定。这个决定到时要为各地的教会所接受。{3SP 369.1}[3]
§8
This was an important question, and one which affected the church in a very great degree. Paul and Barnabas met it with promptness, and opposed introducing the subject to the Gentiles. They were opposed in this by the believing Jews of Antioch, who favored the position of those from Judea. The matter resulted in much discussion and want of harmony in the church, until finally the church at Antioch, apprehending that a division among them would occur from any further discussion of the question, decided to send Paul and Barnabas, together with some responsible men of Antioch, to Jerusalem, and lay the matter before the apostles and elders. There they were to meet delegates from the different churches, and those who had come to attend the approaching annual festivals. Meanwhile all controversy was to cease, until a final decision should be made by the responsible men of the church. This decision was then to be universally accepted by the various churches throughout the country. {3SP 369.1}[3]
§9
使徒们在前往耶路撒冷时，访问了沿途城市中的弟兄，并述说了他们从事上帝工作以及外邦人悔改的经验来鼓励他们。到了耶路撒冷以后，安提阿来的代表就在各教会的代表大会上述说了他们传道工作的成果，并说明了几个悔改信主的法利赛人所造成的混乱，因为他们声称外邦人若要得救，就必须受割礼，并遵守摩西的律法。{3SP 369.2}[4]
§10
The apostles, in making their way to Jerusalem, called upon the brethren of the cities through which they passed, and encouraged them by relating their experience in the work of God, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith. Upon arriving at Jerusalem, the delegates from Antioch related before the assembly of the churches the success that had attended the ministry with them, and the confusion that had resulted from the fact that certain converted Pharisees declared that the Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. {3SP 369.2}[4]
§11
一般说来，犹太人没有随着上帝开辟道路的速度前进。由于使徒在外邦人中工作的效果，外邦信徒的数目将要远远超过犹太信徒。所以犹太人唯恐外邦人若不需要遵守犹太律法的禁令和仪式为他们接受基督教的一个条件，则那素来使犹太人与其他民族不同的特点终必从那些接受福音真理的人中消失了。{3SP 370.1}[5]
§12
The Jews were not generally prepared to move as fast as the providence of God opened the way. It was evident to them from the result of the apostles labors among the Gentiles that the converts among the latter people would far exceed the Jewish converts; and that if the restrictions and ceremonies of the Jewish law were not made obligatory upon their accepting the faith of Christ, the national peculiarities of the Jews, which kept them distinct from all other people, would finally disappear from among those who embraced the gospel truths. {3SP 370.1}[5]
§13
犹太人过去一向以上帝所命定给他们遵守的礼节而自豪。他们觉得上帝既然清楚地指明希伯来人敬拜的方式，祂决不至于再吩咐人改变其中的任何一个条款。他们一定要将犹太人的律法和仪式并入基督教中去。他们的悟性太迟钝了，以致不能看出因基督之死而废掉之体制的目的，不能辨识一切牺牲的祭祀无非是预表上帝儿子的死，而且在祂死时，预表已经遇见实体，所以祂死后，上帝所规定犹太教的仪式和祭祀就不再有效了。{3SP 370.2}[6]
§14
The Jews had prided themselves upon their divinely appointed services; and they concluded that as God once specified the Hebrew manner of worship, it was impossible that he should ever authorize a change in any of its specifications. They decided that Christianity must connect itself with the Jewish laws and ceremonies. They were slow to discern to the end of that which had been abolished by the death of Christ, and to perceive that all their sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type had met its antitype, rendering valueless the divinely appointed ceremonies and sacrifices of the Jewish religion. {3SP 370.2}[6]
§15
保罗过去素以自己法利赛式的严格作风自傲，但自从基督在大马士革的路上向他显现之后，他就明白了救主的使命和他自己引领外邦人悔改的工作，他也看出活泼的信心和死板的形式主义之间的区别。保罗仍然自称是亚伯拉罕的子孙，并在灵意和字句方面忠实遵守十诫，就像未悔改信奉基督教之前一样。但他知道预表性的仪式不久终必完全止息，因为它所预表的事都已实现，并且福音正将其荣耀的光照在犹太人的宗教上，赋予古老的礼仪以新的意义。{3SP 370.3}[7]
§16
Paul had prided himself upon his Pharisaical strictness; but after the revelation of Christ to him on the road to Damascus, the mission of the Saviour, and his own work in the conversion of the Gentiles, were plain to his mind; and he fully comprehended the difference between a living faith and a dead formalism. Paul still claimed to be one of the children of Abraham, and kept the ten commandments in letter and in spirit as faithfully as he had ever done before his conversion to Christianity. But he knew that the typical ceremonies must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass, and the light of the gospel was shedding its glory upon the Jewish religion, giving a new significance to its ancient rites. {3SP 370.3}[7]
§17
割礼的问题在会议上引起热烈的讨论。悔改信主的外邦人住在拜偶像的人中间。无知和迷信的人把祭牲和供品献给无知觉的偶像。异邦假神的祭司们常拿祭品作为商品出卖，所以犹太人害怕悔改信主的外邦人购买祭过偶像之物，因而使基督教的名誉受到影响，并多少助长拜偶像的风俗。{3SP 371.1}[8]
§18
The question of circumcision was warmly discussed in the assembly. The Gentile converts lived in a community of idolaters. Sacrifices and offerings were made to senseless idols by these ignorant and superstitious people. The priests of these gods carried on an extensive merchandise with the offerings brought to them; and the Jews feared that the Gentile converts would bring Christianity into disrepute by purchasing those things which had been offered to idols, and thereby sanctioning, in some measure, an idolatrous worship. {3SP 371.1}[8]
§19
再者，外邦人习惯食用勒死的牲畜的肉，而犹太人则曾蒙上帝指示，当宰杀牲畜为食物时，必须将血放尽，不然的话肉就要视为不健康。上帝向犹太人颁布这些禁令，目的是要保持他们的健康和力量。所以犹太人以吃血为一件犯罪的行为。他们认为血乃是生命，而且流血乃是犯罪的结果，且是上帝儿子的一个庄严象征。{3SP 371.2}[9]
§20
Also the Gentiles were accustomed to eat the flesh of animals that had been strangled; while the Jews had been divinely instructed with regard to the food they should use. They were particular, in killing beasts, that the blood should flow from the body, else it was not regarded as healthful meat. God had given these injunctions to the Jews for the purpose of preserving their health and strength. The Jews considered it sinful to use blood as an article of diet. They considered that the blood was the life; that the shedding of blood was in consequence of sin, and was a sacred emblem of the Son of God. {3SP 371.2}[9]
§21
相反地，外邦人常把献祭之牺牲的血留起来喝或作食物用。犹太人则不能改变上帝所特别指示又长期为他们所遵守的规则。双方的风俗既如此悬殊，如果犹太人和外邦人同桌吃饭的话，犹太人就必因外邦人的风俗习惯而大为震惊，受到触犯了。 {3SP 371.3}[10]
§22
The Gentiles, on the contrary, practiced catching the blood which flowed from the victim of sacrifice, and drinking it, or using it in the preparation of their food. The Jews could not change the customs which they had so long observed, and which they had adopted under the special direction of God. Therefore, as things then stood, if Jew and Gentile came to eat at the same table, the former would be shocked and outraged by the habits and manners of the latter. {3SP 371.3}[10]
§23
外邦人，尤其是希腊人，是非常荒淫的。许多人在接受基督教的时候，把真理与他们不圣洁的性情搀杂起来，继续行淫猥的事。犹太籍的基督徒，不能容忍希腊人根本不当作邪恶的淫行。所以犹太人认为必须吩咐外邦信徒行割礼并遵守仪文的律法，作为他们真诚献身的试验。他们相信这样就可以避免那些单凭冲动，心中没有真正悔改的人加入教会，以致圣工因他们的淫乱无度而受到羞辱。{3SP 372.1}[11]
§24
The Gentiles, and especially the Greeks, were extremely licentious; and many, in accepting Christianity, had united the truth to their unsanctified natures, and continued to practice fornication. The Jewish Christians could not tolerate such immorality, which was not even regarded as criminal by the Greeks. The Jews, therefore, held it highly proper that circumcision, and the observance of the ceremonial law, should be brought to the Gentile converts as a test of their sincerity and devotion. This they believed would prevent the accession to the church of those who were carried away by mere feeling, or who adopted the faith without a true conversion of heart, and who might afterward disgrace the cause by immorality and excesses. {3SP 372.1}[11]
§25
会议所必须决定的问题似乎是他们所无法克服的困难。如何解决，将影响到基督教会兴旺，甚至关系到她的生存。但实际上圣灵已解决了这个问题。上帝赐给使徒的恩典，智慧和圣洁的判断力，帮助他们解决这个棘手的问题。{3SP 372.2}[12]
§26
The questions thus brought under the consideration of the council seemed to present insurmountable difficulties, viewed in whatever light. But the Holy Ghost had, in reality, already settled this problem, upon the decision of which depended the prosperity, and even the existence, of the Christian church. Grace, wisdom, and sanctified judgment were given to the apostles to decide the vexed question. {3SP 372.2}[12]
§27
彼得说，圣灵已经解决了这个问题；因为圣灵已经以相同的能力降在未受割礼的外邦人和受过割礼的犹太人身上。彼得述说自己的异象：上帝在异象中给他看一块大布，里面装有各样四足的走兽，上帝吩咐他宰了吃。当他坚持说自己从来没有吃过凡俗而不洁净的物时，主就回答他说：“上帝所洁净的，你不可当作俗物”(徒10:15)。{3SP 372.3}[13]
§28
Peter reasoned that the Holy Ghost had decided the matter by descending with equal power upon the uncircumcised Gentiles and the circumcised Jews. He recounted his vision, in which God had presented before him a sheet filled with all manner of four-footed beasts, and had bidden him kill and eat; that when he had refused, affirming that he had never eaten that which was common or unclean, God had said, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. {3SP 372.3}[13]
§29
彼得讲了这些话的明显意义。这意义是在他应邀将基督的信仰传给外邦百夫长的时候，当即明白过来的。这个信息显明上帝是不偏待人的。而且凡敬畏祂、行义的人都必为祂所悦纳。彼得提到当他向外邦人宣讲真理的时候，他惊奇地看到圣灵降在他的听众身上，其中有外邦人，也有犹太人，那反射在受过割礼的犹太人脸上的光辉和荣耀也照在未受割礼的外邦人脸上。这是上帝的警告，叫彼得不可看一班人不如另一班人，因为耶稣基督的血能洁净一切的污秽。{3SP 373.1}[14]
§30
He related the plain interpretation of these words, which was given to him almost immediately in his summons to go to the Gentile centurion, and instruct him in the faith of Christ. This message showed that God was not respecter of persons, but accepted and acknowledged those who feared him, and worked righteousness. Peter told of his astonishment, when, in speaking the words of truth to the Gentiles, he witnessed the Holy Spirit take possession of his hearers, both Jews and Gentiles. The same light and glory that was reflected upon the circumcised Jews, shone also upon the countenances of the uncircumcised Gentiles. This was the warning of God that he should not regard the one as inferior to the other; for the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse from all uncleanness. {3SP 373.1}[14]
§31
彼得以前曾同样与他的弟兄辩论有关哥尼流和他亲友悔改的事。那时他曾述说圣灵如何降在外邦人身上，并宣称，“上帝既然给他们恩赐，像在我们信主耶稣基督的时候给了我们一样；我是谁，能拦阻上帝呢”(徒11:17)？这时，他又以同样的热忱和能力说道：“知道人心的上帝也为他们作了见证，赐圣灵给他们，正如给我们一样，又藉着信洁净了他们的心，并不分他们我们。现在为什么试探上帝，把我们祖宗和我们所不能负的轭，放在门徒的颈项上呢”（徒15:8-10）？{3SP 373.2}[15]
§32
Peter had reasoned once before, in like manner, with his brethren, concerning the conversion of Cornelius and his friends, and his fellowship with them. On that occasion he had related how the Holy Ghost fell on them, and had said, Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could resist God? Now, with equal fervor and force, he said, God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? {3SP 373.2}[15]
§33
这“轭”并不是十诫的律法，像一些反对这律法的约束性要求的人所说的。彼得在这里所讲的乃是基督在十字架上所废掉的仪文律法，彼得的话使会众愿意耐心听取保罗和巴拿巴述说他们为外邦人工作的经验。“众人都默默无声，听巴拿巴和保罗述说上帝藉着他们在外邦人中所行的神迹奇事”（徒15:12）{3SP 374.1}[16]
§34
This yoke was not the law of the ten commandments, as those who oppose the binding claim of the law assert; but Peter referred to the law of ceremonies, which was made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ. This address of Peter brought the assembly to a point where they could listen with reason to Paul and Barnabas, who related their experience in working among the Gentiles. Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. {3SP 374.1}[16]
§35
雅各也果断地发表他的意见，说明上帝的旨意乃是要将祂所赐给犹太人的特权，也赐给外邦人。圣灵的美意是不要将仪文律法的轭，强加在外邦信徒身上。使徒和长老们经过仔细的研究以后，对这个问题有了相同的看法。他们的看法和圣灵的意思是一致的。那时雅各主持会议，他最后的决定乃是：“所以据我的意见，不可难为那归服上帝的外邦人”（徒15:19）。{3SP 374.2}[17]
§36
James bore his testimony with decision--that God designed to bring in the Gentiles to enjoy all the privileges of the Jews. The Holy Ghost saw good not to impose the ceremonial law on the Gentile converts; and the apostles and elders, after careful investigation of the subject, saw the matter in the same light, and their mind was as the mind of the Spirit of God. James presided at the council, and his final decision was, Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God. {3SP 374.2}[17]
§37
这就结束了那一次的讨论。我们也可以看出这一件事足以反驳罗马天主教会所主张的教义，说彼得是教会之首。历代以来，教皇都自命为彼得的继承者，其实他们这种自封的名分是毫无圣经根据的。彼得的一生中，没有什么事足以证实这些自封的特权。如果这些自命为继承彼得的人真能效法彼得的榜样，就不会占据高位，而会甘心和弟兄保持平等的关系。{3SP 374.3}[18]
§38
This ended the discussion. In this instance we have a refutation of the doctrine held by the Roman Catholic Church--that Peter was the head of the church. Those who, as popes, have claimed to be his successors, have no foundation for their pretensions. Nothing in the life of Peter gives sanction to those pretended claims. If the professed successors of Peter had imitated his example, they would have taken no authoritative position, but one on an equality with that of their brethren. {3SP 374.3}[18]
§39
在这一次会议上，雅各似乎是被推选就有关事务做出决定的人。他所发表的意见，说明仪文律法，特别是割礼，不应勉强外邦人遵守，也不应劝告他们遵守。雅各设法把一件事实印刻在他的弟兄心中，就是外邦人从拜偶像归服上帝，已经在信仰上有了很大的改变，所以必须慎重考虑，不可拿一些不甚重要而足以引起烦扰和疑惑的问题难为他们，免得他们灰心丧志，转离基督。{3SP 375.1}[19]
§40
James, in this instance, seems to have been chosen to decide the matter which was brought before the council. It was his sentence that the ceremonial law, and especially the ordinance of circumcision, be not in any wise urged upon the Gentiles, or even recommended to them. James sought to impress the fact upon his brethren that the Gentiles, in turning to God from idolatry, made a great change in their faith; and that much caution should be used not to trouble their minds with perplexing and doubtful questions, lest they be discouraged in following Christ. {3SP 375.1}[19]
§41
但是外邦人也不可做那些与他们犹太弟兄的见解在实质上相抵触，并会引起他们偏见的事。于是使徒和长老们同意写信给外邦信徒，教导他们不可吃祭偶像之物，不可淫乱，也不可吃勒死的牲畜和血。他们恳切劝勉外邦人要遵守上帝的诫命，并度圣洁的生活。也声明，那些主张外邦人必须受割礼的人并不是使徒所委派的。{3SP 375.2}[20]
§42
The Gentiles, however, were to take no course which should materially conflict with the views of their Jewish brethren, or which would create prejudice in their minds against them. The apostles and elders therefore agreed to instruct the Gentiles by letter to abstain from meats offered to idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood. They were required to keep the commandments, and to lead holy lives. The Gentiles were assured that the men who had urged circumcision upon them were not authorized to do so by the apostles. {3SP 375.2}[20]
§43
他们又推荐保罗和巴拿巴，说他们是为主不顾性命的。又派犹大和西拉与使徒一同回去亲口向外邦信徒说明会议的决定：“圣灵和我们定意不将别的重担放在你们身上，惟有几件事是不可少的，就是禁戒祭偶像的物和血，并勒死的牲畜和奸淫。这几件你们若能自己禁戒不犯就好了”（徒15:28,29）。这四位上帝的仆人所带到安提阿的书信和消息，止息了一切的争论，因为这是地上最高权威的意见。{3SP 375.3}[21]
§44
Paul and Barnabas were recommended to them as men who had hazarded their lives for the Lord. Judas and Silas were sent with these apostles to declare to the Gentiles, by word of mouth, the decision of the council: For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burdens than these necessary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. The four servants of God were sent to Antioch with the epistle and message, which put an end to all controversy; for it was the voice of the highest authority upon earth. {3SP 375.3}[21]
§45
犹太和外邦各教会的创立者们参加了这一次决定事务的会议。耶路撒冷的长老，安提阿和几个最有力量的教会都有代表出席。参加会议的人并没有认为自己的意见是绝对正确的。他们所采取的行动是根据受光照之判断力的指示并符合上帝旨意所建立之教会的尊严。他们都看出上帝已经藉着倾降圣灵在外邦人身上这件事，亲自答复了这个问题，他们的本分乃是随从圣灵的引导。{3SP 376.1}[22]
§46
The council which decided this case was composed of the founders of the Jewish and Gentile Christian churches. Elders from Jerusalem, and deputies from Antioch, were present; and the most influential churches were represented. The council did not claim infallibility in their deliberations, but moved from the dictates of enlightened judgment, and with the dignity of a church established by the divine will. They saw that God himself had decided this question by favoring the Gentiles with the Holy Ghost; and it was left for them to follow the guidance of the Spirit. {3SP 376.1}[22]
§47
他们没有叫全体信徒对这个问题进行表决。使徒和长老，就是教会内有感化力和判断力的人，拟定并发表了那一次的宣言，这宣言就为各地基督教会所普遍接受了。但这次的决定并不是全体信徒都满意的。有一派假弟兄竟擅自行动，他们呼冤叫屈，吹毛求疵，企图另作计划，破坏上帝所指定传基督道理之人的工作。教会从开始就必须应付这种障碍，并且要一直应付，直到末时。{3SP 376.2}[23]
§48
The entire body of Christians were not called to vote upon the question. The apostles and elders--men of influence and judgment--framed and issued the decree, which was thereupon generally accepted by the Christian churches. All were not pleased, however, with this decision; there was a faction of false brethren who assumed to engage in a work on their own responsibility. They indulged in murmuring and fault-finding, proposing new plans, and seeking to pull down the work of the experienced men whom God had ordained to teach the doctrine of Christ. The church has had such obstacles to meet from the first, and will ever have them to the close of time. {3SP 376.2}[23]
§49
耶路撒冷是犹太人的首都，是排外和偏执精神最严重的地方。犹太的基督徒既然住在圣殿的附近，心中自然就会时常向往犹太国作为选民的特权。及至他们看到基督教会偏离了犹太教的仪式和遗传，并看到犹太风俗所赋有特别的神圣性质在新信仰的影响之下，不久要被人所遗忘，许多犹太人就恼恨保罗，以他为造成这种改变的祸首。连门徒也不都是甘心领受会议决定的。其中有一些是热心维护仪文律法的，所以他们以嫉妒的眼光看待保罗，认为他对遵守犹太律法的义务不够坚持原则。{3SP 376.3}[24]
§50
Jerusalem was the metropolis of the Jews, and there were found the greatest exclusiveness and bigotry. The Jewish Christians who lived in sight of the temple would naturally allow their minds to revert to the peculiar privileges of the Jews as a nation. As they saw Christianity departing from the ceremonies and traditions of Judaism, and perceived that the peculiar sacredness with which the Jewish customs had been invested would soon be lost sight of in the light of the new faith, many grew indignant against Paul, as one who had, in a great measure, caused this change. Even the disciples were not all prepared to willingly accept the decision of the council. Some were zealous for the ceremonial law, and regarded Paul with jealousy, because they thought his principles were lax in regard to the obligation of the Jewish law. {3SP 376.3}[24]
§51
后来当彼得到安提阿访问的时候，他遵循了上天所赐的亮光和会议的决定行事。他竟能胜过自己的偏见，甚至与外邦信徒同桌吃饭。但及至一些热心维护仪文律法的犹太人从耶路撒冷来时，他却很明显地改变了自己对待从异教归服基督的外邦信徒的态度，给外邦信徒留下最不良的印象。不少人也学彼得的样，甚至巴拿巴也受使徒的不智之举所影响。教会面临分裂的危险。但保罗既看到彼得这种两面派做法对于教会的影响，就公开责备他如此掩饰自己的真意。{3SP 377.1}[25]
§52
When Peter, at a later date, visited Antioch, he acted in accordance with the light given him from Heaven, and the decision of the council. He overcame his natural prejudice so far as to sit at table with the Gentile converts. But when certain Jews who were most zealous for the ceremonial law came from Jerusalem, he changed his deportment toward the converts from paganism in so marked a degree that it left a most painful impression upon their minds. Quite a number followed Peters example. Even Barnabas was influenced by the injudicious course of the apostle; and a division was threatened in the church. But Paul, who saw the wrong done the church through the double part acted by Peter, openly rebuked him for thus disguising his true sentiments. {3SP 377.1}[25]
§53
彼得看明了自己的错误，就立即尽他能力所及弥补所造成的损失。那从起初就看到末后的上帝让彼得露出品格上的这个弱点，为的是使他看出自己并没有什么可以夸口的地方。上帝也看到将来必有人受欺骗，甚至将上帝所独有的大权归给彼得和他的继承人。所以这个有关彼得弱点的记录，要留着作为他也能犯错误的凭据。同时证明他决不比其他使徒高出一等。{3SP 377.2}[26]
§54
Peter saw the error into which he had fallen, and immediately set about repairing it as far as possible. God, who knoweth the end from the beginning, permitted Peter to exhibit this weakness of character, in order that he might see that there was nothing in himself whereof he might boast. God also saw that, in time to come, some would be so deluded as to claim for Peter and his pretended successors, exalted prerogatives which belong only to God; and this history of the apostles weakness was to remain as a proof of his human fallibility, and of the fact that he stood in no way above the level of the other apostles. {3SP 377.2}[26]