Galatians 2:9
Galatians 2:99And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
JWs cite as background for the "theocratic arrangement" — they read the Jerusalem meeting as a first-century precedent for a governing council that coordinates evangelism and disciplines doctrinal deviation. The pillars (James, Cephas, John) are framed as the prototype of the modern Governing Body; Paul's handshake with them becomes apostolic authorisation for the ongoing structure.
Paul names three men as pillars — and notes that they gave him the right hand of fellowship, not a charter of subordination. Paul is a peer, not a subordinate; his gospel needs no institutional ratification (). The passage matters for the apostolic-foundation argument in two ways. First, Paul has "pillar" language available (he uses it here) and deliberately chooses "foundation" at — architecture poured once, not renewed every generation. Second, the Jerusalem "pillars" did what the New Testament says governing bodies do: they identified an apostolic peer and handed on fellowship. No successor body is named, no perpetual office constituted, and no chain of ratification attested. The doorstep move: "Paul calls them pillars, not foundation. says foundation. Which is a building poured once, and which is a building refreshed every generation?"