TsonMariytho
Puritan Board Freshman
Gen 17:9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Gen 17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
Gen 17:13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Gen 17:12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
Gen 17:13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Questions:
1. Was it appropriate for Abraham and his descendants to circumcise a slave "purchased with money", without first requiring a profession of faith, i.e. an adult foreign slave who was completely ignorant of God?
2. Is there a procedural prerequisite to circumcision given anywhere in the Torah (may be useful in answering #1)?
3. Would it be permissible to waive the normal profession of faith such as all Christian churches currently require for adult baptisms, and go ahead and baptize an unbelieving, or at least totally ignorant modern equivalent of the slave in #1?
4. If based on your answers above, circumcision and baptism are treated differently in some situations, then would you agree that the application of circumcision under the Old Covenant did not imply a presumption of regeneration?
5. Or, if "presumed regeneration" doesn't always require any visible evidence in adults, but can be presumed from their merely being within the salvific pale of the ministry of the church -- can we now baptize any unbeliever who comes under the regular preaching of the gospel and sits in our pews?