This  apparently  was  the  view  of  James,  and  tacitly
adopted  by  the  leaders  of  the  church  in  the  conference
over  Titus.  It  seemed  a  harmonizing  compromise
which  ought  to  suit  everybody;  as  a  matter  of  fact  it
suited  neither  of  the  parties  and,  like  most  com-
promises, gave  rise  to  further  troubles.  Still,  Paul  did
not  oppose  it,  because  it  gave  him  a  free  hand  in  the
Gentile  work ;  and  ''  they  that  were  of  circumcision  "
(11:2)  acquiesced  in  it,  so  long  as  they  thought  the
Gentile  work  would  amount  to  little  and  would  be
kept  far  away.  Certainly  it  was  an  illogical  posi-
tion:— either  Christianity  is  a  new  religion  whose  fol-
lowers are  free  from  any  Jewish  obligations;  or  else
it  is  only  one  form  of  Judaism,  in  which  case  the  Law
in  some  form  is  binding  upon  all  its  adherents.  Later
on,  as  we  shall  see,  the  latter  alternative  prevailed,  and
the  I^aw  in  a  spiritualized  form  was  generally  felt  to
be  binding;  but  this  solution  of  the  problem  was  not
at  present  in  the  mind  of  any.
2.    Peter  at  Antioch.
