nies, while converted
heathens were forbidden to observe the rites of heathendom, was in
order to show that there is a difference between these rites. For
heathenish ceremonial was rejected as absolutely unlawful, and as
prohibited by God for all time; whereas the legal ceremonial ceased
as being fulfilled through Christ's Passion, being instituted by God
as a figure of Christ.

Reply Obj. 2: According to Jerome, Peter withdrew himself from the
Gentiles by pretense, in order to avoid giving scandal to the Jews,
of whom he was the Apostle. Hence he did not sin at all in acting
thus. On the other hand, Paul in like manner made a pretense of
blaming him, in order to avoid scandalizing the Gentiles, whose
Apostle he was. But Augustine disapproves of this solution: because
in the canonical Scripture (viz. Gal. 2:11), wherein we must not hold
anything to be false, Paul says that Peter "was to be blamed."
Consequently it is true that Peter was at fault: and Paul blamed him
in very truth and not with pretense. Peter, however, did not sin, by
observing the legal ceremonial for the time being; because this was
lawful for him who was a converted Jew. But he did sin by excessive
minuteness in the observance of the legal rites lest he should
scandalize the Jews, the result being that he gave scandal to the
Gentiles.

Reply Obj. 3: Some have held that this prohibition of the apostles is
not to be taken literally, but spiritually: namely, that the
prohibition of blood signifies the prohibition of murder; the
prohibition of things strangled, that of violence and rapine; the
prohibition of things offered to idols, that of idolatry; while
fornication is forbidden as being evil in itself: which opinion they
gathered from certain glosses, which expound these prohibitions in a
mystical sense. Since, however, murder and rapine were held to be
unlawful even by the Gentiles, there would have been no need to give
this special commandment to those who were converted to Christ from
heathendom. Hence others maintain that those foods were forbidden
literally, not to prevent the observance of legal ceremonies, but in
order to prevent gluttony. Thus Jerome says on Ezech. 44:31 ("The
priest shall not eat of anything that is dead"): "He condemns those
priests who from gluttony did not keep these precepts."

But since certain foods are more delicate than these and more
conducive to gluttony, there seems no reason why these should have
been forbidde