A common interpretation is that the council was convened as the result of the disagreement within the [[Early Christianity|Early Christian]] community between those, such as the followers of James, who believed the church must observe the rules of traditional [[Judaism]]{{fn|1}}, and [[Paul of Tarsus]], who believed there was no such necessity (see also [[Supersessionism]]). However, the "rules of traditional Judaism", the [[Halakha]] of [[Rabbinic Judaism]], were still under development at this time, as the [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] article on [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=254&letter=J&search=Jesus Jesus] notes: "Jesus, however, does not appear to have taken into account the fact that the Halakah was at this period just becoming crystallized, and that much variation existed as to its definite form; the disputes of the [[Hillel the Elder|Bet Beit Hillel]] and [[Shammai|Bet Beit Shammai]] were occurring about the time of his maturity."
The central issue was [[History of male circumcision#Male Circumcision in the Greco-Roman World|circumcision]], as the author of ''Acts'' relates the initial confrontation in [[Antioch]], where Paul had been preaching:
