Dr Paul Allen

Circumcision is a topic mentioned nearly 100 times in the Bible. It is a central focus for Old Testament and New Testament theology (Rom 4:9–12; Gal 2:1–12; 5:1–10). It was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 17:9–14), but circumcision was also widely practiced in the ancient Near East (the method, though, wasn’t always the same). Jeremiah 9:25–26 notes that Israel’s neighbors were circumcised. Archaeologists have also found that it was practiced in Syria and Phoenicia. Textual remains indicate that circumcision in Egypt goes back to at least 2200 bc, centuries before the Israelites were enslaved. Israelite men may have even submitted to Egyptian circumcision while in Egypt since Joshua commanded the men crossing into the promised land to be re-circumcised in order to “roll away the reproach of Egypt” (Josh 5:2, 9). The evidence suggests that circumcision did not distinguish Israelite men from their foreign neighbors. Circumcision in the Bible When God told Abraham to be circu...

if we were to start reading the New Testament from the beginning, we would not be able to get very far before we encountered something called baptism. As early as Matthew 3:1, we run into a man by the name of John, who is otherwise known as “the baptizer,” and, a few verses later, we see why. This John, we are told, devotes his life to “baptizing” many different people (vv. 6, 7, 11), the Lord Jesus Himself being one of them (vv. 13–17). The baptisms that we encounter in these early chapters of Matthew’s gospel are described simply as occurring. Very little explanation is given as to how they were performed or why they were performed. We are left to conclude that the practice of “baptism,” whatever it is, must have been something that was familiar to Matthew’s Jewish audience in the first century. The same thing can be said for all the baptisms that we see in the New Testament. Thus, when Jesus commands His followers to go and make disciples in Matthew 28:18–20, He instructs them to...

Though infant baptism has been the majority practice of historic Christianity, its propriety has been solemnly challenged by godly Christians of various denominations. The question surrounding infant baptism rests upon several concerns.  The New Testament neither explicitly commands infants to be baptized nor explicitly prohibits them from being baptized. The debate centers on questions surrounding the meaning of baptism and the degree of continuity between the Old Covenant and New Covenant.  The most crucial objection from those who oppose infant baptism is that the sacrament of baptism belongs to members of the church and the church is a company of believers. Since infants are incapable of exercising faith, they ought not to be baptized.  It is also stressed that of the baptisms recorded in the New Testament there are no specific references to infants. A further objection is that the Old Covenant, though not conveying salvation via biological blo...

English: Detail of a sculpture showing Jesus Christ carrying the cross in the grounds of the Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Singapore. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ , by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” ( Galatians 6:14 ) As we ponder the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, a fuller understanding should bring us to an ever-deeper reliance on and identification with Him. To assist us in examining the work of Christ on the cross, let us use the beloved hymn “ The Old Rugged Cross .” Here we will find its words reflecting a deep and abiding love for Christ and His cross. The next four days we will, in turn, study each of its four verses, but today, note its chorus: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown. Our text reminds us that there is no worth in...

Brit Milah (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin from the penis. Is it still an important Christian tradition? I. Old Testament A. The Rite The earliest reference to circumcision is found at Gen. 17:10–14 where God is said to have commanded Abraham to circumcise (Heb. mālal) himself and all other males of his household, including his slaves. According to the account, circumcision is one of the ways God (re)establishes his covenant with Abraham.  Though at that time Abraham was ninety-nine years old and his son Ishmael was thirteen (vv. 24–25), God stipulated that from then on all males were to be circumcised on the eighth day following their birth (5:12; cf. Lev. 12:3), possibly because by that day the mother’s impurity was no longer contagious (W. H. Gispen, Leviticus. COT [1950], p. 196). The Jews kept the law, performing the rite on the eighth day even when it fell on the Sabbath (cf. John 7:22–23; see also Phil. 3:5).  U...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses ’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” (Ex. 4:25) In this account, Moses committed the sin of neglecting to circumcise his son. We don’t know why Moses neglected to perform this duty, which was required of all Hebrews. It probably had something to do with living among Midianites who did not circumcise, thus proving that it is easy to become faithless to God ’s commands when we are deprived of the fellowship of His people. In reaction to Moses’ disobedience, the Lord sought to kill him on the road to Egypt, probably by the hand of an angel. This must have been very surprising to Moses because God had just recently conversed with him so intimately. But when we disobey God, not only with sins of commission but of omission, we will be disciplined by Him. This discipline will not be punitive, but it will be des...