The Antioch Assumption: Did Jews and Gentiles Actually Worship Together in Antioch? Daniel K. Eng Daniel K. Eng (DMin, Talbot School of Theology) is a PhD candidate in New Testament at the University of Cambridge. He has previously served in pastoral ministry positions in California and Texas, and as adjunct in- structor of biblical studies at Biola University. His thesis research focuses on the theme of divine approval in the epistle of James. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2015 annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The author is indebted to Dr Benjamin Shin for his feedback on earlier drafts. ERT (2018) 42:3, 268-279 The church in Antioch is often identi- ied as an exemplary irst-century com- munity, in light of the city’s elevated status as a centre of ministry and the signiicant inception of the term Chris- tian there. Those who view the Antioch Christian community as paradigmatic for a local church today often claim that Antioch had a single assembly that contained both Jews and Gentiles gathering together. 1 Despite the popularity of the claim that the early Christians in Antioch made up one mixed assembly, this as- sumption cannot be substantiated from the text or from historical records. Af- 1 See, for example, Curtiss Paul DeYoung et al., United by Faith: The Multiracial Congrega- tion as an Answer to the Problem of Race (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 28, 35; Mark DeYmaz, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church: Mandate, Commitments, and Practices of a Diverse Congregation (San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 2007), 21–22; Ken Hemphill, The Anti- och Effect: Eight Characteristics of Highly Effec- tive Churches (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 21. However, this article’s intent is not to disparage the overall positive value of these books. ter reviewing the state of Jews in An- tioch, this article examines both the account in Acts and Paul’s confronta- tion of Peter at Antioch as described in Galatians. It addresses two questions. First, was the early Jesus-following community in Antioch made up of both Jews and Gentiles? Second, did believ- ers make up a single assembly or were they grouped into multiple communi- ties in Antioch? I. Jews in Antioch Jews in Antioch were a distinct entity with distinguishable sects. As further discussed below, they shared a com- mon identity distinct from other locals, but their internal diversity led to the existence of homogeneous subgroups of Jews. Jews held a unique identity in Anti- och. Jewish mercenaries had assisted Seleucus in his founding of Antioch and were thus honoured with citizen- ship and the same privileges that the native Macedonians and Greeks en- joyed. Jews still held these privileges during the time of Josephus, including