Why is Jesus Circumcised and not the rest of the christians ?

[Brian37]

The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke, which states in verse 2:21 that Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth (traditionally January 1). This is in keeping with the Jewish law which holds that males should be circumcised eight days after birth during a Brit milah ceremony, at which they are also given their name. The circumcision of Christ became a very common subject in Christian art from the 10th century onwards, one of numerous events in the Life of Christ to be frequently depicted by artists. It was initially seen only as a scene in larger cycles, but by the Renaissance might be treated as an individual subject for a painting, or form the main subject in an altarpiece.

I was reading through some online content about the gospel of Luke and found this .

I did not know this until 2 days ago .

Why single out just Christians? The Jewish OT has Abraham slicing off his foreskin as an ADULT.

And genital Mutilation is not unique to Christians or Jews. Muslims also do that to the clitoris of females depending on sect. Even some sects of African Christians cut off the clitoris of females. 

But even in the religions of Asia, even without genitals some sects of their religions valued feet binding. That is where a female's toes and heal were over time bounded together to create  a tippy toe walk.

Male or female, every religion has old superstitions of how gender roles work. In the west of course, most of these rituals are not followed by law mandate. But they still exist.

Male or female, practiced today or not, mutilation of the body in antiquity was done out of ignorance. It was a primitive way to regulate behavior. Nobody back then understood the nature of human biology, like we do today.

[Megabullshit]

Thanks for all the reply ,

I have to read this thread a lot of times , because there are so many new things here in this thread alone which i have not heard before .

Its almost 4 early in the morning here , so i am feeling a bit disoriented and sleepy right now .

I did not even know the disciples were Jewish .

All this time i really thought Torah was the Holy Book of Jews , Because that is what is mentioned in the Quran .

I still don't know about the five books of Moses . That is because i am not that familiar with the Jewish Holy books .

I am only familiar with the Old testament and the New Testament .

And all these time i thought this Torah was the Old Testament .

I have lot to learn .

What is the Torah?
The Torah is the first part of the Jewish bible. It is the central and most important document of Judaism and has been used by Jews through the ages.
Torah refers to the five books of Moses which are known in Hebrew as Chameesha Choomshey Torah. These are: Bresheit (Genesis), Shemot (Exodus), Vayicra (Leviticus), Bamidbar (Numbers), and Devarim (Deuteronomy).
Jews believe that God dictated the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai 50 days after their exodus from Egyptian slavery. They believe that the Torah shows how God wants Jews to live. It contains 613 commandments and Jews refer to the ten best known of these as the ten 10 statements.
The Torah is written in Hebrew, the oldest of Jewish languages. It is also known as Torat Moshe, the Law of Moses. The Torah is the first section or first five books of the Jewish bible. However, Tanach is more commonly used to describe the whole of Jewish scriptures. This is an acronym made up from the first letter of the words Torah, Nevi im (prophets), and Ketuvim (writings).
Similarly, the term Torah is sometimes used in a more general sense to incorporate Judaism’s written and oral law. This definition encompasses Jewish scripture in its entirety including all authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history.
The word Torah has various meanings in English. These include: teaching, instruction and law. For Jews the Torah means all of these.
How is the Torah used?
The Torah scrolls are taken out from the Ark (Aron ha kodesh) and portions read in the synagogue three times each week. On Mondays and Thursdays small sections are read. The main reading is on the morning of Shabbat (Sabbath).
Over the course of the year the whole scroll is read in sequence. This begins from the end of Sukkot which is an autumn festival.
The special portions for the readings are called parshioth and are usually three to five chapters in length. The reader has to be very skilled to read from the scroll because the letters are written without corresponding vowels. They have to know the portion very well to avoid making mistakes. The reading is conducted using an ancient tune and is sung rather than spoken.
The scrolls are not directly touched when unfurled on the Bimah (raised platform in middle of the synagogue). A pointer or Yad (hand) is used instead. This is in the shape of a hand with an outstretched finger. The reading or chanting is performed by a person who has been trained in this task. However it may be carried out by the rabbi. It is a very great honour for a congregant to be asked to attend at a reading during a synagogue service. This is called having an Aliyah which is Hebrew for going up.
The weekly portion or Sedrah is followed by the recitation of part of another of the Jewish holy writings.
How is a Torah scroll constructed?
The Torah scrolls are entirely handwritten in Hebrew by a sofer (scribe) on parchment from a kosher animal. This is usually a cow. It can take up to 18 months to complete the whole process from the complex preparation of the animal skins to the writing of the final words. Great accuracy is needed when the sofer writes the scroll. If he makes any mistakes it can make the whole scroll pasul (invalid). The completed scroll is known as a Sefer Torah from sefer which is the Hebrew for book.
A Sefer Torah is so sacred to Jews it is said that if one is accidentally dropped in the synagogue the whole congregation must fast for 40 days. When Jewish communities have suffered persecution, great efforts would be made to preserve these scrolls. This demonstrates just how symbolically and physically important the Torah is to Jews.
Oral law
Alongside the written law Jews believe God also told Moses the spoken or oral law. This is known as the Torah she b’al pei or literally Torah from the mouth.
The letter Pei as well as being the Hebrew word for mouth is the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Pei has a numerical value of 80 which Jews believe is the age that Moses was when he led them out from slavery in Egypt.
Although given at the same time this law was to be passed down orally from generation to generation. It is the information Jews need to practise fully the commandments in the written law. It was codified in the 2nd Century C.E.

If the Torah is the Holy Book of Jews , Why is it always with the New Testament .

Sorry for the Ignorance

[Yonadav]

The xian faith seems to have been tailor made to be offensive to Jewish sensibilities. People don't realize this. It is not just a different religion to us. It is a religion that we can't have anything to do with. It is forbidden for a Jew to even go into a church. A Jew can go into a mosque. A Jew can pray in a mosque. But not a church. It really does seem to have been made toxic for Jews by design.

Yes, though I'm not aware of all of it, there is clearly some weird antipathy here. 

Some oedipal? It certainly seems Freudian.

No, not oedipal. Islam is one of Judaism's 'children' as well. But there is no idolatry in Islam. No man-god. No human sacrifice. A Jew could almost convert to Islam if they continued to keep the 613 commandments. Jews and Muslims actually get along better than people realize. Take away the Israel/Palestine conflict, and we would basically have no trouble with each other at all. I have prayed at the same time and in the same room with Muslims. I have eaten Iftar meals with them. But I could never do that with the followers of Jesus.

My brother in law is a non practicing Catholic. He inherited a dreadful crucifix as a family heirloom. He mounted it on their dining room wall. It's this huge thing with some agonized bleeding man nailed to it. That is exactly what an idol is. If I were still an 'Observant' Jew, I would not even be able to enter my sister's dining room, because of that huge idol hanging on their wall. And even though I'm not so religious anymore, I still feel really creepy when I'm anywhere near that thing.

[Belacqua]

No, not oedipal. Islam is one of Judaism's 'children' as well. But there is no idolatry in Islam. No man-god. No human sacrifice. A Jew could almost convert to Islam if they continued to keep the 613 commandments. Jews and Muslims actually get along better than people realize. Take away the Israel/Palestine conflict, and we would basically have no trouble with each other at all. I have prayed at the same time and in the same room with Muslims. I have eaten Iftar meals with them. But I could never do that with the followers of Jesus.

My brother in law is a non practicing Catholic. He inherited a dreadful crucifix as a family heirloom. He mounted it on their dining room wall. It's this huge thing with some agonized bleeding man nailed to it. That is exactly what an idol is. If I were still an 'Observant' Jew, I would not even be able to enter my sister's dining room, because of that huge idol hanging on their wall. And even though I'm not so religious anymore, I still feel really creepy when I'm anywhere near that thing.

There is something very deep going on there which I don't understand. 

All of those bleeding men, and paintings of saints holding their severed heads, etc..... There is something about the beloved of God sharing our human pain, but there is also some deep enjoyment of seeing that stuff. The mixture of the extreme beauty of the architecture and the extreme sadism of the depictions. 

The "decadents" like Huysmans had a handle on this, to some extent. It's not a coincidence that the most over-the-top drug-taking aesthetes were also deeply linked with the idols of Catholicism. 

There are layers that must be deeply unhealthy, but also deeply appealing.

[Megabullshit]

Islam is one of Judaism's 'children' as well. But there is no idolatry in Islam. No man-god. No human sacrifice. A Jew could almost convert to Islam if they continued to keep the 613 commandments. Jews and Muslims actually get along better than people realize.

Take away the Israel/Palestine conflict, and we would basically have no trouble with each other at all

A verse from the Quran ,

And We did certainly give the Children of Israel the Scripture and judgement and prophethood, and We provided them with good things and preferred them over the worlds. (Quran 45:16)

[fredd bear]

@Ashwin39

"This is a bit strange .

I thought if Jesus Christ was Circumcised , The followers of Jesus should be Circumcised too .

I am not sure when this tradition changed ."

The requirement was changed by Paul of Tarsus. The small sect founded by Jesus was completely Jewish .One had to be a practising jew, or a convert, to belong. This of course included having been circumcised. Gentiles (non Jews) were not admitted.

Paul abolished the ritual commandments, which of course included circumcision (as well as the strict dietary laws).That mean non Jews could be admitted. Christianity as we know it started at that time.I consider Paul to be the actual founder of Christianity, not Jesus. (not an original view by any means)_

There were no set scriptures in early Christianity. Beliefs varied widely, and could include say reincarnation..This was sorted out in the fourth century, when the official canon was introduced. It is split into two sections, The Old and The New Testament.

The Old Testament includes, but is not restricted to, The Torah. Also called 'The Pentateuch' (Greek for 'five books') Those are; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers..

This is actually a pretty complex area. There is actually no one universally agreed canon.

The Wikipedia link below is pretty good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon

[The Valkyrie]

Jesus died for your circumcision!

[fredd bear]

Jesus died for your circumcision!

Yeah, pretty extreme.

 Fortunately, I don't remember the event. My mum told me that one morning a nurse TOLD her "We' going to circumcise baby this morning",and they did. Of course I was not consulted.

The good news; I've always quite liked the sleek look.

I've been told circumcised is less sensitive. I've no way of knowing. All  I'll  say is  I have no complaints. 

[Rev. Rye]

Here's how I understand it (note: this will include a mixture of Watsonian and Doylist explanations):

In Early Christianity, there was a lot of controversy about whether or not, as an offshoot of Judaism, Christianity should keep Jewish customs or not. Eventually, the non-Judaisers won out. Sometimes, this happened because Peter had a vision (like the one in Acts 10-11 where God convinced Peter to eat unclean animals) that meant that the Christians no longer needed to be beholden to the old ways, presumably because crucifixion. Eventually, this led to the issue of circumcision. This proved a contentious issue, not just because, well, cutting off your foreskin is painful, but also because, due to the influence of the Greeks and Romans, public bathing and nude exercise became common, and, to them, the sight of a foreskin-free penis was just evidence of a cruel and barbaric act (some argue it technically is, some disagree, and I will not weigh in on the issue here.) The point is, due likely to the influence of the colonizers, it would eventually be deemed unnecessary around 50 AD, and Peter himself would talk about it in Acts 15; Paul would eventually go into further detail about the practice in the Epistles.

[Abaddon_ire]

This is a bit strange .

I thought if Jesus Christ was Circumcised , The followers of Jesus should be Circumcised too .

I am not sure when this tradition changed .

I will have to read more .

It isn't strange. Jesus was a jew. Christians are not.