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I believe:
The New Roman Religion - a Rabbi later declared Priest, and Messiah Substitutes for Animal Sacrifices
Paul, and other educated Roman citizens who also believed in God, considered the religious sacrifice of animals to be obsolete.
Circumcision was an obstacle to Roman unified religion. Circumcision as a religious ritual, may also have been considered ancient by the educated (circumcision today is common for health and medical reasons, but for many it is not part of religious ritual).
The sacrifice of animals was part of both Jewish and polytheist practice. The Jewish followers of Jesus continued normal Jewish practice including sacrifice of animals. The religion of Paul was new to them, so obviously, it was not part of the whatever teachings they had received. Much of the Letters in the Bible focus on the negation of Jewish laws such as circumcision as well as the replacement of animal sacrifices with a new sacrifice that didn't involve killing of animals. The new form of sacrifice fit the Roman pattern of substitution of prior religious prayer, practice, holidays, and symbols with a new practice that unified religions in the empire.
For the Jewish people, the Rabbi, declared as priest, messiah, and lamb, is the new sacrifice.
For the polytheists, the new form of sacrifice is the body of a man (declared as image of God) rather than an animal. The sacrifices were generally eaten, and thus eating of the man (in image of God) substitutes.
Much theology was formed and built up around this, and Scripture passages of the later books after the letters, such as the Books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, were designed to support the new theology of the new religion that ended animal sacrifices and united Jews and Greco-Romans.
Colossians 2:11 "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,..."
Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, ... for you are all one"
Galatians 3:10 "...all who depend on works of the law are under a curse;"
Galatians 6:15 "For neither does circumcision mean anything,"
Colossians 2:11 ...you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand,...
1 Corinthians 8:5 "...even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth (there are, to be sure, many 'gods' and many 'lords'),
...yet for us there is one God, the Father,"
1 Corinthians 8:7 "There are some who have been so used to idolatry up until now that, when they eat meat sacrificed to idols,..."
1 Corinthians 9:13 "Do you not know that those who perform the temple services eat (what) belongs to the temple, and those who minister at the altar share in the sacrificial offering?"
1 Corinthians 10:20 "...they sacrifice, to demons, not to God,..."
1 Thessalonians 1:9 "...you turned to God from idols..."
Hebrews 7:27 "He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day,..."
The New Roman Religion - a Rabbi later declared Priest, and Messiah Substitutes for Animal Sacrifices
Paul, and other educated Roman citizens who also believed in God, considered the religious sacrifice of animals to be obsolete.
Circumcision was an obstacle to Roman unified religion. Circumcision as a religious ritual, may also have been considered ancient by the educated (circumcision today is common for health and medical reasons, but for many it is not part of religious ritual).
The sacrifice of animals was part of both Jewish and polytheist practice. The Jewish followers of Jesus continued normal Jewish practice including sacrifice of animals. The religion of Paul was new to them, so obviously, it was not part of the whatever teachings they had received. Much of the Letters in the Bible focus on the negation of Jewish laws such as circumcision as well as the replacement of animal sacrifices with a new sacrifice that didn't involve killing of animals. The new form of sacrifice fit the Roman pattern of substitution of prior religious prayer, practice, holidays, and symbols with a new practice that unified religions in the empire.
For the Jewish people, the Rabbi, declared as priest, messiah, and lamb, is the new sacrifice.
For the polytheists, the new form of sacrifice is the body of a man (declared as image of God) rather than an animal. The sacrifices were generally eaten, and thus eating of the man (in image of God) substitutes.
Much theology was formed and built up around this, and Scripture passages of the later books after the letters, such as the Books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, were designed to support the new theology of the new religion that ended animal sacrifices and united Jews and Greco-Romans.
Roman Unity
Jewish laws regarding circumcision were an obstacle to unity, so the removal of circumcision also had to be worked into the new religion.Colossians 2:11 "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,..."
Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, ... for you are all one"
Change in Jewish Practice
Galatians 3:1 "O stupid Galatians!...Are you so stupid?"Galatians 3:10 "...all who depend on works of the law are under a curse;"
Galatians 6:15 "For neither does circumcision mean anything,"
Colossians 2:11 ...you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand,...
No Animal Sacrifices
1 Corinthians 8:1 "Now in regard to meat sacrificed to idols:...So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that 'there is no idol in the world, and that "there is no God but one."1 Corinthians 8:5 "...even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth (there are, to be sure, many 'gods' and many 'lords'),
...yet for us there is one God, the Father,"
1 Corinthians 8:7 "There are some who have been so used to idolatry up until now that, when they eat meat sacrificed to idols,..."
1 Corinthians 9:13 "Do you not know that those who perform the temple services eat (what) belongs to the temple, and those who minister at the altar share in the sacrificial offering?"
1 Corinthians 10:20 "...they sacrifice, to demons, not to God,..."
1 Thessalonians 1:9 "...you turned to God from idols..."
Hebrews 7:27 "He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day,..."
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