Josephus on Circumcision (Letter to a Colleague)

Lately I've been reading through Josephus' "The Life of Flavius Josephus" when I was reminded of something we briefly discussed: the issue of "conscience" in St. Paul. I quoted Romans 2.14-15:

"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them."

At the time you commented something to the effect that he may not have meant what I thought he means. You may be quite right (I’ve filed it away for another day), but of interest in Josephus was the following passage:

“At this time it was that two great men, who were under the jurisdiction of the king [Agrippa] came to me out of the region of Trachonius, bringing their horses and their arms, and carrying with them their money also; and when the Jews would force them to be circumcised, if they would stay among them, I would not permit them to have any force put upon them, but said to them, "Every one ought to worship God according to his own conscience, and not to be constrained by force; and that these men, who had fled to us for protection, ought not to be so treated as to repent of their coming hither." And when I had pacified the multitude, I provided for the men that were come to us whatsoever it was they wanted, according to their usual way of living, and that in great plenty also. (23/112).” Italics mine.

Again a similar reference to conscience, here tied to what appears to be a rebuttal of forcible conversion. It is interesting to note the similarities between Paul and Josephus: both operating in a more Hellenistic environment, cosmopolitan, self-proclaimed Pharisees... One can also note that Josephus here offers a minor refutation of that aspect of Paul’s work which seemed to place circumcision among Jews in a highly prominent position (and a major refutation of those abusers of history who go beyond any ambiguity in Paul). Perhaps we see here once again a failure to appreciate the rhetorical structure of Paul’s letters and the worlds in which he lived.

I know that certain communities, like Qumran for example, could be quite strict about membership, but if Josephus is any indication, Jewish sentiments regarding circumcision and conversion during this time were not quite as black and white as Paul or many more contemporary commentators seem to indicate.