Archetype 38: Opposition
But when Cephas [better known as Peter] came to Antioch, I [Paul] opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas [Paul] before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
—Galatians 2:11–14
The Reading
The year is sometime around 50 CE. Many in the early church believed that Gentiles could not be Christ followers because Jesus was Jewish. Paul believed that Christ called to all people. From Paul’s perspective, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27–28). Paul thought that Peter, the other major pillar of the early church, understood and agreed with his arguments; until recently, Peter was gladly associating with Gentile converts. But suddenly Peter is succumbing to pressure from hard-line Jewish fundamentalists and having nothing to do with non-Jewish Christ followers. Even worse, Peter is convincing others, including Paul’s trusted confidant Barnabas, to do likewise. Peter is simply trying to protect the church by not inflaming the widespread anti-Gentile sentiment. But Paul is having none of this. Paul is furious with what he sees as Peter’s hypocrisy.
The Hexagram
This hexagram consists of the images of Fire over Lake. Fire reaches upward, while Lake drains downward. The two forces are thus in opposition.
The Archetype
There is a time...
- To recognize that opposition and disagreements among the community make it difficult to work together to achieve common goals.
- To refrain from acting out of hurt Ego, which only makes matters worse.
- To focus on making only small advances in areas in which agreement is possible.
- To categorize the divergences and thereby create the seeds of future order.
- To hold true to one’s own individuality and not be lulled into pointless bickering.
Now is that time.
Moving Lines
Other interpretations of Archetype 38:
- Tom Christensen's interpretation [click here]
- Cafe Au Soul's interpretation [click here]
- LiSe's interpretation [click here]
- Richard Wilhelm's interpretation [click here]
Internal Links:
- Return to the Hexagram Index Table [click here].
- Return to Consulting the Christian I Ching [click here].
- Purchase a printed copy of Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching [click here].
- Learn about our Online Christian I Ching Workshop [click here].
- Find out about personal consultations [click here].
Reproduced with permission from Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching copyright (c) 2015 Roger Sessions.