5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Nobody is saying anyone must be circumcised. But it is encouraged and usually forced upon children in christian churches through baptism. Your verse does not say what you think it does. See my reply above.
I don’t know why you think 20% of a population being mutilated indicates that it isn’t being encouraged. And no, Islam requires it, Christianity encourages it. Just because some people are smart enough to know they shouldn’t mutilate their children doesn’t mean it isn’t being encouraged. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801794/
In South America and Europe, it’s less than 20%, which is as low as that map goes. The only really high Chistian area where it’s also common is Africa.
It’s true that there’s overlap between places with Christianity and places where circumcision is encouraged, but you’re making it sound like it’s encouraged as part of Christianity, which it’s not. Or that Christian nations in general tend to be more in favor of circumcision, which they do not. Otherwise why would you end up with all those extremely Christian countries like Mexico having very little circumcision?
2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.
Because not everyone knows this stuff: this is text from one of the Epistles (Latin for “letters”) which are attributed to Paul of Tarsus also known as Saint Paul the Apostle. Apostle means one of the chief disciples of Jesus Christ. The Epistles provide instruction to early Christians on how to organize their churches.
The bible says a lot of things that Christian churches do not teach. Quoting anything in the old testament you might as well just say that Christianity teaches that you shouldn’t have long hair or ear piercings, which is clearly not true. That verse also does not say what you think it does. It says that you should watch out for people who say you “must” be circumcised to be saved. I’ve never heard anyone say that anywhere. That doesn’t mean it’s not encouraged in the church. That doesn’t mean it’s not taught. That doesn’t mean it’s not done as part of baptism (as it has been at literally every christian church I’ve seen). But yeah, of course no one is going around saying you won’t be saved unless you do so. That doesn’t make it “NOT a Christian thing”.
A major point of the quote I provided is that Christians are not bound by such strictures on dress, diet, mold remediation, etc., set forth in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, or elsewhere in Hebrew Scripture (which the early Christian church adapted with some changes to be the Old Testament).
I myself have been to a lot of baptisms, and there’s never been a circumcision involved. It’s not on me to prove a negative though…where’s your evidence?
You’re ignoring what I’m saying. I never said that Christians were bound by anything. In fact I explicitly said otherwise.
The circumcision is never at the church, it’s always after at a hospital if the person is not already circumcised. If you never knew that I’m sorry but it’s what happens. And I’m not really going to bother with providing you evidence. You’re clearly not going to believe whatever I post as you clearly don’t read what I write anyway. You can just go look up rates of circumcision in America. Have a nice day.
The fact that many men, religious and otherwise, happen to be circumcised in a country where many Christians live does not make it part of the religion.
Why would I believe your unsupported claims that are contrary to lots of evidence, my studies, and my own lived experience?
I hope you learn one day that making generalizations about groups of people based on your own vague notions is neither good nor kind.
I hope you learn one day that making generalizations about groups of people based on your own vague notions is neither good nor kind.
that’s literally what you’re doing. Your evidence is a quote from the bible that is both the opposite of what it says in multiple other locations in the bible, but also the opposite of actual teachings in actual churches. You’re making generalizations about the group based on just a few short sentences rather than looking at the entire religion as a whole.
It’s specifically NOT a Christian thing, although many Christians are circumcised for non-religious reasons.
that is most definitely incorrect. I don’t know where you heard that, but it’s just absolutely wrong.
I heard it in Acts 15:5-11
Nobody is saying anyone must be circumcised. But it is encouraged and usually forced upon children in christian churches through baptism. Your verse does not say what you think it does. See my reply above.
Judaism require it. And Christians notably changed that. It did become common in the US, which is a largely Christian country, but it’s not like it’s part of Christianity. Otherwise you’d expect this map of where circumcision is common would look more like this map of where Christianity is common. Instead it looks like this map of where Islam is common, which is a religion that actually encourages it.
I don’t know why you think 20% of a population being mutilated indicates that it isn’t being encouraged. And no, Islam requires it, Christianity encourages it. Just because some people are smart enough to know they shouldn’t mutilate their children doesn’t mean it isn’t being encouraged. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801794/
In South America and Europe, it’s less than 20%, which is as low as that map goes. The only really high Chistian area where it’s also common is Africa.
It’s true that there’s overlap between places with Christianity and places where circumcision is encouraged, but you’re making it sound like it’s encouraged as part of Christianity, which it’s not. Or that Christian nations in general tend to be more in favor of circumcision, which they do not. Otherwise why would you end up with all those extremely Christian countries like Mexico having very little circumcision?
“Where I heard that” is from the Christian Bible.
Consider Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 2.
Philippians 3:2 in Other Translations
Because not everyone knows this stuff: this is text from one of the Epistles (Latin for “letters”) which are attributed to Paul of Tarsus also known as Saint Paul the Apostle. Apostle means one of the chief disciples of Jesus Christ. The Epistles provide instruction to early Christians on how to organize their churches.
@[email protected] posts another relevant passage.
What made you disagree?
The bible says a lot of things that Christian churches do not teach. Quoting anything in the old testament you might as well just say that Christianity teaches that you shouldn’t have long hair or ear piercings, which is clearly not true. That verse also does not say what you think it does. It says that you should watch out for people who say you “must” be circumcised to be saved. I’ve never heard anyone say that anywhere. That doesn’t mean it’s not encouraged in the church. That doesn’t mean it’s not taught. That doesn’t mean it’s not done as part of baptism (as it has been at literally every christian church I’ve seen). But yeah, of course no one is going around saying you won’t be saved unless you do so. That doesn’t make it “NOT a Christian thing”.
Provide some evidence for your claim, then.
A major point of the quote I provided is that Christians are not bound by such strictures on dress, diet, mold remediation, etc., set forth in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, or elsewhere in Hebrew Scripture (which the early Christian church adapted with some changes to be the Old Testament).
I myself have been to a lot of baptisms, and there’s never been a circumcision involved. It’s not on me to prove a negative though…where’s your evidence?
You’re ignoring what I’m saying. I never said that Christians were bound by anything. In fact I explicitly said otherwise.
The circumcision is never at the church, it’s always after at a hospital if the person is not already circumcised. If you never knew that I’m sorry but it’s what happens. And I’m not really going to bother with providing you evidence. You’re clearly not going to believe whatever I post as you clearly don’t read what I write anyway. You can just go look up rates of circumcision in America. Have a nice day.
The fact that many men, religious and otherwise, happen to be circumcised in a country where many Christians live does not make it part of the religion.
Why would I believe your unsupported claims that are contrary to lots of evidence, my studies, and my own lived experience?
I hope you learn one day that making generalizations about groups of people based on your own vague notions is neither good nor kind.
that’s literally what you’re doing. Your evidence is a quote from the bible that is both the opposite of what it says in multiple other locations in the bible, but also the opposite of actual teachings in actual churches. You’re making generalizations about the group based on just a few short sentences rather than looking at the entire religion as a whole.