Regarding circumcision, the funny thing is that in the Bible the crazy old coot Abraham adopted it from the Egyptians to show his loyalty to the Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom. And then in the New Testament Peter and Paul had a big controversy if circumcision would grant the guys a ticket to eternal life. Paul did some but he didn't like it because he had to suck the guy's bloody stump. Now imagine if he had enjoyed it and it was still the ritual when a guy became a Christian. The guys would still be walking around pulling out their new and improved penises to show that they were members of the Christian cult just like Timothy had to do when he and Paul went to visit the Jews in Acts chapter 16.
The interesting thing is that while the fight over circumcision for the guys was going on there was no ritual for the women. So as a compromise to include the women into the ranks the guys gave up chopping foreskins and went with the baptizing ritual from India for all converts.
The interesting thing is that while the fight over circumcision for the guys was going on there was no ritual for the women. So as a compromise to include the women into the ranks the guys gave up chopping foreskins and went with the baptizing ritual from India for all converts.
