Acts 10:25-26

The context

Acts 10 narrates Cornelius's vision, Peter's vision of the sheet, and the meeting at Caesarea. Cornelius meets Peter and falls at his feet, and Peter's first act is to raise him. The scene is the hinge of the Gentile mission in Acts, and the refusal is part of its argument.

What it establishes

It establishes that the narrator explicitly rejects the veneration of the apostle, grounding the refusal in shared humanity. The gesture is corrected rather than accepted, and the missionary is placed among the hearers rather than above them.

What it does not establish

It does not address later devotional practice. The scene's point is the removal of the barrier between Jew and Gentile, and the refusal serves that argument. It is not a ruling on images, relics, or the honour given to saints, which are different questions.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Did Jesus really claim to be God, or did His followers just say that about Him? Might not Dan Brown have been on to something?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.