ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Circumcision controversy in early Christianity

Alright kiddo, so let's talk about circumcision in early Christianity. Some people believed that it was really important to have this procedure done, while others thought it wasn't necessary at all.

You see, circumcision was something that was traditionally done in Jewish culture as a symbol of the covenant with God. Some Jewish people who became Christians thought that it was important to keep doing it, since they believed in that covenant too.

But there were also Christians who weren't Jewish and who didn't think that circumcision was necessary or important for their faith. They believed that what really mattered was whether or not you believed in Jesus and followed his teachings.

This difference in opinions created a bit of controversy among early Christians. Some people thought that you couldn't be a "real" Christian unless you were circumcised, while others thought that circumcision was an outdated practice that didn't matter anymore.

Eventually, a group of early Christian leaders got together to talk about this issue and they decided that circumcision wasn't necessary for non-Jewish Christians. They believed that faith in Jesus was enough to make someone a true believer, and that physical rituals like circumcision weren't essential.

So, that's the circumcision controversy in early Christianity in a nutshell. It basically came down to a difference in opinion about whether or not this traditional Jewish practice was important for Christians too.