# Circumcision from Barnabas



## Andrew P.C. (Feb 17, 2007)

"Chapter IX.-The Spiritual Meaning of Circumcision.

He speaks moreover concerning our ears, how He hath circumcised both them and our heart. The Lord saith in the prophet, "In the hearing of the ear they obeyed me."105 And again He saith, "By hearing, those shall hear who are afar off; they shall know what I have done."106 And, "Be ye circumcised in your hearts, saith the Lord."107 And again He says, "Hear, O Israel, for these things saith the Lord thy God."108 And once more the Spirit of the Lord proclaims, "Who is he that wishes to live for ever? By hearing let him hear the voice of my servant."109 And again He saith, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for God110 hath spoken."111 These are in proof.112 And again He saith, "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of this people."113 And again He saith, "Hear, ye children, the voice of one crying in the wilderness."114 Therefore He hath circumcised our ears, that we might hear His word and believe, for the circumcision in which they trusted is abolished.115 For He declared that circumcision was not of the flesh, but they transgressed because an evil angel deluded them.116 He saith to them, "These things saith the Lord your God"-(here117 I find a new118 commandment)-"Sow not among thorns, but circumcise yourselves to the Lord."119 And why speaks He thus: "Circumcise the stubbornness of your heart, and harden not your neck? "120 And again: "Behold, saith the Lord, all the nations are uncircumcised121 in the flesh, but this people are uncircumcised in heart."122 But thou wilt say, "Yea, verily the people are circumcised for a seal." But so also is every Syrian and Arab, and all the priests of idols: are these then also within the bond of His covenant?123 Yea, the Egyptians also practise circumcision. Learn then, my children, concerning all things richly,124 that Abraham, the first who enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit to Jesus, practised that rite, having received the mysteries125 of the three letters. For [the Scripture] saith, "And Abraham circumcised ten, and eight, and three hundred men of his household."126 What, then, was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three hundred.127 The ten and the eight are thus denoted-Ten by I, and Eight by H.128 You have [the initials of the, name of] Jesus. And because129 the cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, "Three Hundred." He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one. He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted130 gift of His doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent piece of knowledge131 than this, but I know that ye are worthy."

This is something interesting. . I like reading the church fathers. This letter is from the Barnabas that Paul knew. 

To read the whole letter(which is very interesting) here's the link:

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-41.htm#P3130_520749


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 18, 2007)

well sir, it could have been some monk in the mountains.  But seriously, I only know from what the letter says. The site is pretty reliable.


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 18, 2007)

Paul manata said:


> Despite its being utterly unintelligible, it is so repetative that it seems like I could be reading the Koran.
> 
> At any rate, this claim:
> 
> ...




Brother, 2 Cor 4:4 tells us the satan has blinded the unbelieving. Matthew does tell us that God has hidden truth from them as well.


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## Ivan (Feb 18, 2007)

Paul manata said:


> But we know specifically that it was Jehovah who blinded the Jews.
> 
> Barnabas is too vague and your passage too general to conclude anything important.
> 
> ...



Agreed.


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## Davidius (Feb 18, 2007)

Paul manata said:


> Barnabas is too vague and your passage too general to conclude anything important.
> 
> At any rate, you shouldn't be pushing an item as if it were the Barnabas Paul knew. The "epistle" of Barnabas was denied for myriad reasons.
> 
> You shouldn't be calling him a chruch father, and you shouldn't be using him to support any baptist ideas.


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 18, 2007)

Paul manata said:


> But we know specifically that it was Jehovah who blinded the Jews.
> 
> Barnabas is too vague and your passage too general to conclude anything important.
> 
> ...



Lol, brother that wasnt my intention. You are definently correct on the issue of trying to push this for "the baptist cause." 



I just thought this was interesting.

Brother, everything i see i discern it with the bible. The bible is authoritative, not the church fathers.

I am thankful that you are discerning what is on here though. Seriously, thank you for your imput.


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## bookslover (Feb 19, 2007)

Andrew P.C. said:


> ...having received the mysteries of the three letters. For [the Scripture] saith, "And Abraham circumcised ten, and eight, and three hundred men of his household." What, then, was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three hundred. The ten and the eight are thus denoted-Ten by I, and Eight by H. You have [the initials of the, name of] Jesus. And because the cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, "Three Hundred." He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one. He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted gift of His doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that ye are worthy."



Worthless allegory. You've got to wonder what these guys were smoking...


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 19, 2007)

bookslover said:


> Worthless allegory. You've got to wonder what these guys were smoking...


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## Theoretical (Feb 19, 2007)

> ...having received the mysteries of the three letters. For [the Scripture] saith, "And Abraham circumcised ten, and eight, and three hundred men of his household." What, then, was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three hundred. The ten and the eight are thus denoted-Ten by I, and Eight by H. You have [the initials of the, name of] Jesus. And because the cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, "Three Hundred." He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one. He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted gift of His doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that ye are worthy."





bookslover said:


> Worthless allegory. You've got to wonder what these guys were smoking...





This passage seems quite gnostic - is that a fair reading of it?


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 19, 2007)

Theoretical said:


> Wow, that's so gnostic, it's laughable.



I feel the sarcasm strongly in your statement.


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## Theoretical (Feb 19, 2007)

Andrew P.C. said:


> I feel the sarcasm strongly in your statement.


Sorry, I was meaning to catch the quote. Let me correct that.

Corrected. I also changed the glib statement to a question upon re-reading that section.


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## turmeric (Feb 19, 2007)

I wonder if Clement of Alexandria wrote this. I don't think the NT Barnabas would be so ignorant of Scripture and dependent on allegory to interpret it. He makes an interesting argument against circumcision proving that a person is categorically in the covenant anymore, however, with his Egyptians.


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## Andrew P.C. (Feb 19, 2007)

Theoretical said:


> Sorry, I was meaning to catch the quote. Let me correct that.
> 
> Corrected. I also changed the glib statement to a question upon re-reading that section.



LOL, brother, that's fine.


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## py3ak (Feb 19, 2007)

Well, however the other things may be, this is good and excellent:



> Learn then, my children, concerning all things richly, that Abraham, the first who enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit to Jesus, practised that rite


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## bookslover (Feb 20, 2007)

Andrew P.C. said:


>



Regarding allegorical interpretation: I'm fascinated by the fact that, in Augustine's case particularly (since he held to the allegorical interpretation of Scripture), how such a lousy exegete could be such a good theologian, all things considered.


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## KMK (Feb 20, 2007)

bookslover said:


> Worthless allegory. You've got to wonder what these guys were smoking...



It is amazing how much it sounds like something from the PTL crowd. (The more things change etc.)


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