This man is used by many as an example of a so-called “Gentile” non-Israelite being saved. The place of birth, or citizenship tells us nothing about race. But this man’s race can be determined by Scripture, even if he is not described as a “Jew” [or “Judean”]. In the AV of\u00a0Acts 10:28, Cornelius is described as being of another nation but, the Greek text uses the word\u00a0allophulos<\/i>\u00a0which is a compound of\u00a0allos<\/i>\u00a0[another of the same kind], and\u00a0phulos<\/i>\u00a0[a kindred tribe (phule<\/i>)].<\/p>\n
Cornelius was a devout man, we are told, and he feared [the] God, therefore he was one who could believe. According to Vine, devout means careful as to the presence and claims of God. So Cornelius knew the Old Testament claims of God upon Israel. We do not find devout being used of people other than Israelites. Also, he feared “God” [Acts 10:2] and he prayed to [the] God and was heard by [the] God. “God” here is\u00a0ho theos<\/i>, the term used to denote the one true God. So, Cornelius was not a Roman polytheist! He was an Israelite!<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
The evidence that Cornelius was not an Israelite is given by the people of Israel. “Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”<\/i>” (Acts 11:1-3). By declaring that Cornelius and his household were uncircumcised, the Jewish Christians were stating that Cornelius was not under the covenant of Moses. Paul talks of this in\u00a0Ephesians 2:11-12, “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.<\/i>” Being uncircumcised in the flesh was equivalent to be a Gentile.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Acts 10:28, Peter tells Cornelius, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation<\/i>.” You argued that the Greek word,\u00a0alophulos<\/i>\u00a0refers to people of the same nationality, but born in a foreign location. Quoting from\u00a0The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary<\/i>, “This word is formed from two Greek words:\u00a0allos<\/i>, ‘different, other,’ and\u00a0phule<\/i>, ‘a tribe, people, race, or nation.’ It means one of alien descent, a foreigner. It was used in this sense in classical Greek culture, as well as by the Jews. In the Septuagint, it is the word used for “Philistines’ in such passages as\u00a0I Samuel 13:3,\u00a0Psalm 108:9, and\u00a0Isaiah 2:6. In\u00a0Isaiah 61:5\u00a0it denotes ‘aliens.’ … In the New Testament\u00a0allophulos<\/i>\u00a0is found only in\u00a0Acts 10:28\u00a0to denote the Gentiles.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states, “when used in Hellenistic Greek in opposition to a Jew, it signifies a Gentile [A.V. one of another nation].”<\/p>\n
You stated that devout is only applied to Israelites. “But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region<\/i>” (Acts 13:50). Hence in Antioch of Pisidia there were women among the Gentiles who were described as being devout.<\/p>\n
The fact that Cornelius was devoted to God did not indicate he was an Israelite. See the chapter “Cornelius Was a Devout Man<\/a>” in the study “When Was Cornelius Saved?<\/a>” for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: This man is used by many as an example of a so-called “Gentile” non-Israelite being saved. The place of birth, or citizenship tells us nothing about race. But this man’s race can be determined by Scripture, even if he is not described as a “Jew” [or “Judean”]. In the AV of\u00a0Acts 10:28, Cornelius is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[212],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-cornelius"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-refusal-to-accept-that-salvation-came-to-cornelius-at-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":0},"title":"A refusal to accept that salvation came to Cornelius at baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Baptism is not necessary for salvation. Cornelius was saved before he was baptized. There are two reasons why we know Cornelius was saved before being baptized. 1. Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before being baptized; that he had the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:13\u00a0states that he abided in God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-cornelius-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":1},"title":"When Was Cornelius Saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 11:5-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes is it useful to examine the Scriptures in detail, to get more out of an account \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today we will be looking at the conversion of Cornelius, recorded in Acts 10 and recounted in Acts 11. It is also mentioned in Acts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-cornelius-be-righteous-if-all-of-mans-righteousness-are-filthy-rags-before-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":2},"title":"How could Cornelius be righteous if all of man’s righteousness are filthy rags before God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Mr. Jeffrey, I'm having trouble in my understanding on a matter. In the book of Isaiah it seems to insinuate that a man's righteousness is filthy rags before God, and Isaiah, a righteous prophet, felt unclean in the sight of Holy Yahweh; yet, the Bible also states we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-one-go-to-school-to-be-an-evangelist\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":3},"title":"Must one go to school to be an evangelist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, Must one go to school to become an evangelist? I ask because these guys coming from schools taught you just have to listen to them and that their take on the Scripture is final. I spoke on Ephesians 1:5 at a study that it doesn't teach about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-non-christians-worship-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":4},"title":"Can non-Christians worship God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should a Christian invite his neighbor (who is not a Christan) to \"come and worship with us\"? I believe I can and should invite him to come and attend with us, but a person who is not a Christian can not worship God as the Bible commands. A person\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52548,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-fear-god-how-can-you-trust-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":1324,"position":5},"title":"If you fear God, how can you trust Him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have conflicting thoughts about Cornelius (Acts 10).\u00a0 It says he feared God and was always praying to Him. If he feared God, how could Cornelius trust in God? Answer: I think you may be using the wrong definition of fear.\u00a0 Fearing God has always been a requirement for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}