RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Neutel, KarinYR 2014 T1 De betekenis van het verleden in het hedendaagse debat over jongensbesnijdenis: ‘Social imaginaries’ en het geval van Paulus JF NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion, VO 68 IS 4 SP 308 OP 321 DO https://doi.org/10.5117/NTT2014.68.308.NEUT PB Amsterdam University Press, SN 2590-3268, AB This article explores perceptions of the past, and in particular of the apostle Paul, in recent newspaper articles that discuss male circumcision, using Charles Taylor’s category of the ‘social imaginary’. Applying Taylor’s category of the ‘imaginary’ to this contemporary debate shows that the past is constructed in several ways, sometimes in understanding history as progress, but also as a warning or a deciding factor in contemporary oppositions. Views of the past that mention Paul locate his relevance for contemporary attitudes in his presumed rejection of physical circumcision and emphasis on inner attitudes, but can draw very different conclusions from this for contemporary attitudes towards circumcision., UL https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/NTT2014.68.308.NEUT