Circumcision, Child Sacrifice, and Sanity vs. Psychosis in the Abraham Epic
By Alexander Carpenter
Good Spectrum Blog community member Arlyn sent me an email and suggested that this Sabbath School Commentary by John Berecz would provide some fuel for thought. I mean, what could possible be interesting about a Sabbath School Commentary entitled: Circumcision, Child Sacrifice, and Sanity vs. Psychosis in the Abraham Epic?
Note: This commentary contains explicit anatomical language.
The Abraham epic—like much of the Old
Testament—is permeated with all sorts of intriguing stories and back
stories. Violence, incest, racism, slavery, animal and child
sacrifices, are but a few of the earthy ingredients that comprise these
sagas. This is definitely R-rated stuff. If it were made into a movie
that accurately depicted what James Dobson would not rate it
family friendly. And the lesson quarterly committee apparently also
struggles to sanitize the presentations so that this week’s lesson
appears to focus on such PG 13 themes as infertility, lying, and the
dangers of attempting to help God out with our own plans.
So, I’d like to stay closer to the script and
talk about circumcision, child sacrifice, and sanity vs. psychosis.
Let’s begin with circumcision.
I’ve always wondered why God chose clipping
off some of the most sensitive parts of one’s anatomy as a sign of
“faith.” Couldn’t s/he have snipped an ear lobe or chopped off the end
of a little finger between the nail bed and the first joint? Why pick
on the penis?
Read more here.
And let us know what your learned opinion is.
