"He changed dietary laws, circumcision, and just about everything that made Judaism Judaism externally, symbolically and historically"
Isn't that funny. All along I thought it was Peter and James at the church meeting in Jerusalem who came up with the idea to write to the Gentiles that things were going to be different. Seems that meeting was one of the evidences used here to prove Peter's primacy since he had so much to do leading that discussion. I guess you use it when it is convenient and disavow it when it contradicts your position.
There you go, reading that book again.
I guess they all realized that things were not going so well in Israel and that the Church was not going to make it there, so I suppose the Gentiles became the "next best thing" right after those despised, mixed Samaritans.
But I thought it was Paul who reprimanded Peter for not wanting to eat with the Gentiles. So, it seems to me that Paul had it right from the start -- go to the Gentiles or die! It was Paul who argued with the rest of the Church leaders about circumcision and other Jewish practices.