After further study it seems possible, likely even, that I was wrong about where Paul was when he set out to take the trip I wrote about in "Faith v. Works." No one really knows for sure, but it is possible that he started out from around Antioch. Google says that is 714 km (444 miles) from Jerusalem. Google maps said it could be done in 6 days 2 hrs. But that means he would have walked nearly 120 km per day. I don’t think that is at all realistic (I just checked and Google maps doesn’t allow for breaks or sleeping when they calculate days walking! So that would explain that!) According to Quora.com the average adult walks 5 km/hour. At that rate if he walked 8 hours per day then it may have taken him about 18 days to walk from Antioch to Jerusalem. Since he was not a coddled westerner, he may have done it faster. Of course he likely also took a couple of Sabbath days off to rest, so that brings it back up to 20 days. Bottom line it was a significant investment of time and energy!
He may have also taken a second trip later for the same reason. He really wanted to make sure that the Believers, both Jew and Gentile, understood the Gospel! This second trip was recorded in Acts 15. (Bible scholars disagree on whether it was the same trip or another one. But most that I read seem to think it a second trip.)
In the Acts 15 account Peter also made a strong case that salvation, for both Jews and Gentiles, is by grace alone through faith in Jesus—not by following the law!
"God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them [that's us Gentiles] by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Acts 15:8-11 (NIV)As I wrestled with trying to understand the Scriptural accounts and commentaries about the timing of Paul's trips and activities, on one hand I felt condemned that I may have been way off on something I posted (how long it took him and where he started from, etc.) I also felt frustrated that there wasn't more information to go on. And why do all the scholars manage to have so many different opinions. (and why don't they see it the way I do? ;-). It occurred to me that the important things are what got recorded. The timing of his trips are not nearly as important as the reason why he took them or what was accomplished by them!
He took them to preserve the purity of the Gospel message and to protect the freedom of the believers. That is clear! And all the scholars seem to agree on it! Thank you Lord!
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