No son of a man may be forcibly circumcised.
- Yebamoth 48a
The Future of a Circumcised Christianity
Christian circumcision is meant to please neither Jews nor Muslims, but to please God and Jesus and to finally become a physical member of the House of Abraham. All Christians are composed of a mind, a body and a soul. While God creates all souls circumcised from the start, it is now time for all Christians to circumcise their proud minds and to circumcise their male children from now and unto eternity. This is the final law of the Hebrews. Christian Gentiles should never forget that their ancestors once considered the Jews to be a ‘barbaric’ tribe with ‘barbaric’ customs such as circumcision.
Jesus never Preached against Circumcision
I. The Theory: In spite of later compromises, Jesus wanted all of his male followers to be circumcised, including Gentiles.
II. The Gospels: For I say unto you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not one word or one letter will pass from the law, until everything has been fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18, Luke 16:17)
III. The Conclusion: Heaven and earth have not passed away, therefore circumcision is still required for all male Hebrews
_____________________________________________________________
Jesus Expected a Gradual, Incremental Increase in Circumcision
I. The Theory: Jesus never wanted to change the old law, but to have all men learn and obey them
II. The Gospels: Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy them, but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)
III. The Conclusion: According to the law and prophets, all Christian males must fulfill them by being circumcised.
_____________________________________________________
A Circumcised Christianity is a Fulfillment of the Gospels
I. The Theory: Circumcision is God's law which all male Christians should teach and obey to the reach the highest seats in Heaven.
II. The Gospels: Whoever breaks the least of the commandments, and teaches others to do so, will be the least in Heaven, but whoever obeys and teaches others to obey all of the law will be greatest in Heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
III. The Conclusion: Even if circumcision is the least of the commandments, all male Christians should still obey and teach it.
________________________________________________________--
Christian Grace would be Strengthened by Circumcision
I. The Theory: Christians must be as righteous as the most righteous of circumcised Jews to enter Heaven.
II. The Gospels: Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
III. The Conclusion: No Christian, no matter how righteous, can enter Heaven until they are circumcised.
By Christian tradition, the Gospels have always been considered the final authority when it comes to deciding the laws and customs of Christianity. It has never been illegal for Christians to circumcise their male children. In fact, there is ample historical evidence that, even before Christianity, Gentile believers in the God of Israel would have their male children circumcised. They were known as God-fearers. During the early centuries of Christianity, numerous Jewish-Christian families continued circumcising their male children while numerous Gentile Christians would also practice circumcision. It is only later that the Book of Acts, where circumcision was declared unnecessary, mainly through Paul’s influence, was included as an official part of the New Testament. All things being equal, the words of Jesus Christ carry for more weight and are more authoritative than the Book of Acts.
In short, the decisions reached by Peter, Paul, and others were in direct contradiction to the words of Christ and should not be considered the last standards of Christian tradition. The decision to allow the Gentiles to remain uncircumcised may well have been a hasty, perhaps even a temporary, measure in order to gain more Gentile adherents who would otherwise have been turned away because of their refusal to circumcise themselves. The Gospels carries far more authority than any other books of the New Testament. It is obvious that Jesus wanted all the old laws to continue as a basic part of his new religious movement. That is why the early Church fathers retained all of the Jewish Bible and called it the Old Testament. The Gospels message is quite clear, ‘Jesus came to fulfill the law. One of the oldest and most important of those laws is that of circumcision.’ With that in mind, it is now time for all Christians throughout to world to renew the covenant of Abraham by circumcising all their male children and to eventually make it a standard Christian practice. Unlike Judaism, Christian may utilize modern medical techniques to circumcise their foreskins. The Age of Hebrew Christianity has only just begun. Be not afraid of preaching the importance of male circumcision to all other Christians and even non-believers. From the beginning, circumcision was meant to be a Christian tradition. The Gospels have spoken and let no man claim that either Peter or Paul should take precedence over the words and commandments of Jesus Christ Himself.
_______________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: The Covenant of Abraham
II. Biblical Proof: This is my covenant, which you shall keep…Every man child among you shall be circumcised. (Genesis 17:10)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Though many Christians are not blood-related to Abraham, they are a part of his House and subject to the same law. Most, if not all, followers of Abraham practiced circumcision.
____________________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: The Gospels of Jesus Christ
II. Biblical Proof: It is easier for Heaven and earth to pass away, than one part of the law to become invalid. (Luke 16:17)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Circumcision is one of the oldest Hebrew laws and was commanded by God Himself. Regardless of past Christian tradition circumcision is still the law.
_______________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: St. Paul’s Obvious Approval
II. Biblical Proof: What value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. (Romans 3:1-2)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Although St. Paul appears to disapprove of circumcision in some passages, this is because he was fighting against those Christians who still believed it should be required. Paul himself was circumcised.
_________________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Be Like Christ - Christian
II. Biblical Proof: When eight days had passed for the circumcising of the child, His name was called Jesus. (Luke 2:21)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Jesus Christ was circumcised on the eighth day. To be like Christ is to be circumcised. To be a Christian mother is to be like Mary’s and to circumcise their sons.
___________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Be Like the Apostles
II. Biblical Proof: And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child…His mother answered…he shall be called John. (Luke 1:59-60)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: All of the Apostles and all the Disciples were circumcised. Jesus Christ Himself was circumcised along with His father, his brothers and all his ancestors and early followers.
______________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Honor the Christian Martyrs
II. Biblical Proof: They put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised. (I Maccabees 1:60)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: St. Peter, St. Jason, St. James, St. Stephen, St. Thomas, , St. John & many other Christian Martyrs were circumcised.
_____________________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Renew the Hebrew Tradition
II. Biblical Proof: Abraham took…every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. (Genesis 17:23)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: To truly become a member of the House of Abraham, to distinguish oneself from the Pagans, and in order to fulfill the laws of God as commanded by Jesus, all Christians should now circumcise all their male sons by the age of 18.
___________________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Remove all Pagan Customs
II. Biblical Proof: They…leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation. (I Maccabees 1:48)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Today, a growing number of Jewish and Christian mothers leave their sons uncircumcised. In the years to come, more and more Pagans will become hostile to Christianity and to the practice of circumcision. Oppose the Pagans.
I. Reason for Circumcision: To Convert the Jews & Muslims
II. Biblical Proof: Ishmael…was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised.- (Genesis 17:25), Abraham circumcised his son Isaac at eight days old, as God had commanded him. (Genesis 21:4)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: Devout Jews and Muslim will never convert to an uncircumcised Christianity.
______________________________________
I. Reason for Circumcision: In Tribute to the Early Saints
II. Biblical Proof: Mattathias and his allies…forcibly circumcised any uncircumcised boys whom they found in the territory of Israel…They save the law from the hands of the Gentiles. (I Maccabees 2:45)
III. Inevitable Conclusion: The first 5 Saints of Christianity, St. Judas, Jonathan, John, Simon, and Eleazar were all circumcised Jews who fought against the Greeks who butchered anyone that practiced or opposed the new law that banned circumcision.
In those days there appeared in Israel men who were breakers of the law, and they seduced many people…They covered over the mark of their circumcision and abandoned the holy covenant; they allied themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves into wrongdoing.
- I Maccabees 1:11-15
Women who had their babies circumcised were put to death, in keeping with the decree, with the babies hung from their necks; their families also and those who had circumcised them were killed.
- I Maccabees 1:60-61
The King sent messengers with letter to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, ordering them to follow customs foreign to the land…to leave their sons uncircumcised, and to let themselves be defiled with every kind of impurity and abomination.
- I Maccabees 1:44-48
May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Judas Maccabaeus.
No comments:
Post a Comment