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[112]
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, 1
but said to them, "Every one ought to worship God according to his
own inclinations, 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.
1 Josephus's opinion is here well worth noting: —That every one is to be permitted to worship God according to his own conscience, and is not to be compelled in matters of religion: as one may here observe, on the contrary, that the rest of the Jews were still for obliging all those who married Jewesses to be circumcised, and become Jews, and were ready to destroy all that would not submit to do so. See sect. 31, and Luke 11:54.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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