Wikipedia
on Covenant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_(religion)
A biblical
covenant is
a religious
covenant that is described in the Bible. All Abrahamic religions consider
biblical covenants important. Of the covenants found in the Pentateuch or Torah,
the Noahic Covenant is unique in
applying to all humanity, while the other covenants are principally agreements
made between God and
the biblical Israelites. In
the Book of Jeremiah, verses 31:30-33 predict "a new
covenant" that God will establish with Israel and Judah. Most Christians believe this New Covenant is
the "replacement" or "final fulfilment" of
the Old Covenant described in
the Old Testament and as
applying to the People of God, while a minority
believe both covenants are still applicable in a dual covenant
theology.
In Genesis chapters 12–17 three covenants can be distinguished based on
the differing Jahwist, Elohist and Priestly sources. In Genesis 12 and 15,
God grants Abraham land and descendants but does not place any stipulations
(unconditional). By contrast, Gen. 17 contains the covenant of circumcision (conditional).
It
was argued that God’s covenant with Abraham was still in effect and that all
babies must be circumcised at 8 days. I find it interesting that the
Islamic faith as well as the Jewish has this as a rule. Of course, they
are both Abrahamic religions; descending from Ishmael and Isaac. Abraham
was 99 when he was circumcised; Ishmael 13.
Also of interest to me is
that Mary Baker Eddy does not enter into the conversation about circumcision –
she doesn’t even mention it in her writings, though she does define Abraham in
the Glossary to Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures (579:10):
Abraham. Fidelity;
faith in the divine Life and in the eternal Principle of being.
This
patriarch illustrated the purpose of Love to create trust in good, and showed
the life-preserving power of spiritual understanding.
Mrs Eddy seems to have taken
for granted that the New Covenant is
now in operation. I will quote from Jeremiah 31: 31 - 36 about the New Covenant:
Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith
the Lord:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by
day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,
which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of
hosts is his name:
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the
seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul points out that Abraham was
blessed long before he was circumcised, and emphasises that faith was the
principle which blessed him.
Wikipedia has this (http://www.ask.com/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas?qsrc=3044)
According to the Gospel of Thomas saying 53, Jesus says:
"His disciples said to
him, 'is circumcision useful or not?' He said to them, 'If it were useful,
their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather,
the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect.'"
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