Image Details

GUIDO RENI, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

THE ANTIOCH INCIDENT. The Roman Syrian city of Antioch was the setting for one of the defining moments of early Christianity. In the biblical episode captured in this early 17th-century painting by Italian artist Guido Reni, Paul harshly reproaches his fellow apostle Peter for insisting that new converts be required to adhere strictly to Jewish law (Galatians 2:11–19). When a subsequent church council removed any such requirements, Christianity in Syria and elsewhere in the Roman world exploded. Before the coming of Islam in the seventh century, Christians made up 80 percent of Roman Syria’s diverse population.