Approaching the West — Page 102
A pproaching the West—102 they encouraged their followers to adhere to the essential ones. When asked about the most important commandments, Jesus condensed them into the two, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. ” Paul taught the new converts to remain virtuous, and prayed for them to “abound in every good work” and “being fruitful in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8) (Col. 1:10). However, the Jewish religious custom of circumcision was a practical hurdle in the way of bringing the Gentiles and the Romans into Christianity. The tradition of circumcision was based on a command of God given to Abraham as a token of God’s everlasting covenant with him. The Torah clearly had quoted God saying to Abraham, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; every man child among you shall be circumcised” (Gen. 17:10). The Jews had kept the terms of this covenant most sincerely over the centuries. The disciples of Jesus were not willing to ignore this vitally important practice. That is why Apostle Peter vigorously disagreed and debated with Paul on the issue of circumcision. Similarly, there were some other impediments concerning Jewish dietary laws. Paul argued that no one would be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the Law, because through Law the believers become conscious of sin (Romans 3:20). The parents of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, his wife and early disciples were all Hindus, but he did not adhere to Hindu ceremonial devotions. Later on, other Sikh Gurus rejected many of the Brahmanical rites and rituals,