Jesus of Nazareth was circumcised,[87:4] and had he been really the founder of the Christian religion, so-called, it would certainly be incumbent on all Christians to be circumcised as he was, and to observe that Jewish law which he observed, and which he was so far from abrogating, that he declared: "heaven and earth shall pass away" ere "one jot or one tittle" of that law should be dispensed with.[87:5] But the Christians are not followers of the religion of Jesus.[87:6] They are followers of the religion of the _Pagans_. This, we believe, we shall be able to show in Part Second of this work. FOOTNOTES: [85:1] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. i. p. 249. [85:2] Genesis, xvii. 10. [85:3] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. i. p. 251. [85:4] Mr. Herbert Spencer shows (Principles of Sociology, pp. 290, 295) that the sacrificing of a part of the body as a religious offering to their deity, was, and is a common practice among savage tribes. Circumcision may have originated in this way. And Mr. Wake, speaking of it, says: "The _origin_ of this custom has not yet, so far as I am aware, been satisfactorily explained. The idea that, under certain climatic conditions, circumcision is necessary for cleanliness and comfort, does not appear to be well founded, as the custom is not universal even within the tropics." (Phallism in Ancient Religs., p. 36.) [85:5] "Other men leave their private parts as they are formed by nature, except those who have learned otherwise from them; but the Egyptians are _circumcised_. . . . They are circumcised for the sake of cleanliness, thinking it better to be clean than handsome." (Herodotus, Book ii. ch. 36.) [86:1] We have it also on the authority of Sir J. G. Wilkinson, that: "this custom was established long before the arrival of Joseph in Egypt," and that "this is proved by the ancient monuments." [86:2] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, pp. 414, 415. [86:3] Ibid. p. 415. [86:4] Ibid. and Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 89. [86:5] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 415. [86:6] Herodotus: Book ii. ch. 36. [86:7] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 114. Amberly: Analysis Religious Belief, p. 67, and Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 309. [86:8] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 414, and Amberly's Analysis, pp. 63, 73. [86:9] Amberly: Analysis of Relig. Belief, p. 73. [86:10] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 414: Amberly's Analysis, p. 63; Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 163, and Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 18, 19. [86:11] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 414. [86:12] Kendrick's Egypt, quoted by Dunlap; Mysteries of Adoni, p. 146. [86:13] Amberly's Analysis, p. 63, Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 309, and Acosta, ii. 369. [87:1] Orton: The Andes and the Amazon, p. 322. [87:2] This was done by cutting off the _clytoris_. [87:3] Orton: The Andes and the Amazon, p. 322. Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. p. 563, and Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 319.