Texts in Conversation
In Romans, Paul says circumcision is of value if one keeps the law and that true circumcision is in the spirit. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says circumcision is not profitable but true circumcision in spirit is, joining profit and spirit as Paul does.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Romans 2:25
New Testament
25 For circumcision has its value if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And the physically uncircumcised man, by keeping the law, will judge you to be the transgressor of the law, even though you have the letter and circumcision! 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the letter. This person’s praise is not from people but from God.
Gospel of Thomas 1:53
Nag Hammadi
52 His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke about you.” He said to them, “You have omitted the Living One who is in your presence and have spoken only of the dead.” 53 His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision beneficial or not?” He said to them, “If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become entirely profitable.” 54 Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.”
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Notes and References
“... As for Rom. 2.25-29, several traditional, not characteristically Pauline features have been observed: the positive evaluation of the [...]; the reference to a circumcision of the heart; the opposition flesh/heart (rather than flesh/spirit). [...] Yet one may ask whether it is not more natural, once the traditional background of the passage is recognized, to take [...] on the level of pre-Pauline tradition [...] in the sense of human spirit or mind, so that the passage speaks of a spiritual rather than literal circumcision. [...] It is intriguing to find points of contact with our passage in logion 53 of the Gospel of Thomas, where the disciples ask: ‘Is circumcision profitable [...] or not?’ Jesus gives an anti-Jewish answer, and then goes on: ‘But the true circumcision in Spirit [...] has found complete [...] usefulness.’ The combination of [...] in connection with circumcision both here and in Rom. 2.25,29 is striking. Elsewhere in the Gospel of Thomas there are no signs of influence from Romans. Could the similarities point to some sort of common tradition? ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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