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Every light opens another layer.
Begin with Jesus. Select any connected record to recenter the constellation, reveal another layer, and inspect the evidence behind every line. Every verse in the Bible is a door into the graph.
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Accessible trail
Every visible record, in words.
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- Event
The council at Jerusalem
When some taught that Gentile believers must be circumcised to be saved, the church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem. After debate Peter recalled Cornelius, Paul and Barnabas reported what God had done among the Gentiles, and James cited Amos to conclude that the Gentiles should not be burdened beyond a few essentials. A letter carried the decision back to Antioch.
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Acts 15:16-17
Open this Scripture reference and the relationships connected to it.
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The church at Antioch
Believers scattered by the persecution after Stephen preached to Greeks in Antioch and many turned to the Lord. Jerusalem sent Barnabas, who brought Saul from Tarsus, and the two taught there for a year. In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians, and from Antioch the church later set apart Barnabas and Saul for their mission.
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Barnabas
Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus named Joseph, whom the apostles called Son of Encouragement. He sold a field for the church, vouched for the newly converted Saul in Jerusalem, was sent to Antioch, brought Saul there to teach, and traveled with him on the first missionary journey.
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James, brother of Jesus
James was a brother of Jesus who did not believe during the ministry, saw the risen Jesus according to Paul, and became a leading figure of the church in Jerusalem. He gave the decisive judgment at the Jerusalem council and is traditionally identified as the author of the letter of James.
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Paul
Paul, first known as Saul of Tarsus, was a Pharisee who persecuted the church until the risen Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. He became the apostle to the Gentiles, planted churches across the Roman world, and wrote the letters that make up much of the New Testament.
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Peter
Peter, originally Simon, was a fisherman from Galilee whom Jesus called to follow Him and renamed Peter. He confessed Jesus as the Christ, denied Him during the trial, was restored after the resurrection, and preached the first sermon at Pentecost.
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Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the city David made his capital and where Solomon built the temple. In the Gospels it is where Jesus taught in the temple, shared the Last Supper, was tried, crucified, and rose, and where the church was born at Pentecost.
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Covenant
A covenant is a binding relationship God establishes with people by promise. Scripture traces covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel at Sinai, and David, and the prophets foretell a new covenant that Jesus inaugurates with His blood at the Last Supper.
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The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God present and active among His people. He hovers over creation, fills prophets and craftsmen in the Old Testament, descends on Jesus at His baptism, is promised by Jesus as the Advocate, and comes on the church at Pentecost, giving power to witness, new birth, gifts, and fruit.
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Connections around Amos 9:11-12
The council at Jerusalem explicitly fulfills Amos 9:11-12
Explicit fulfillmentHigh confidenceJames says the words of the prophets agree with what God has done among the Gentiles and quotes Amos as the proof.
Evidence:Other responsible views
- Hebrew and Greek wording: See the quotation record: the Greek text James cites speaks of the nations seeking the Lord.
Acts 15:16-17 quotes Amos 9:11-12
Direct quotationHigh confidenceJames cites Amos to show that the prophets agree with God taking a people from the Gentiles.
Evidence:Other responsible views
- Hebrew and Greek wording: Acts follows the Greek Old Testament, where the nations seek the Lord; the Hebrew reads that Israel will possess the remnant of Edom. Both speak of the nations coming under God's name, and James's point rests on that shared sense.