Kerryn

Hi all
everytime i read about the council of Jerusalem it blows me away.
it really is quite incredibe how they council, on Paul and Barnabas’ encouragement agree to do away with this incredibly significant ritual from the days of Abraham…
what is perhaps even MORE amazing is that a few verses ‘later’ in the next chapter Paul ‘makes’ Timothy get the ‘chop’ (just after he’s fought for Christian’s right to NOT need circumcision physically!) so that the gospel is not hindered….
i’d love to have been a fly on the wall when he sat poor Tim down to give him the ‘bad’ news of what ‘had’ to be done ….

i just think that’s ‘amazing’ – but Paul was all about forwarding the gospel …. i think that this illustration of two opposite ‘practices’ in Ch 15 and 16 of Acts is a warning to us on taking too ‘literally’ specific local actions taken in the early church such as stuff that is discussed in the gender debate… ???

on a purely ‘medical’ note… on my dad’s side, my hubby’s side and my brother in law’s side there have been at least one or two circumcisions done after the age of 10 due to serious infections. God has given me three daughters – so i am thankful it’s a ‘non’ issue for us! but these poor blokes went through circumcision at ages where it was not only painful but very embarrasing… not sure about official stats – but ‘local’ ones seem to be a lot higher than ‘1%’. (based purely on medical, not religious reasons that is!)

God bless you all!

kerryn