Circumcision

Circumcision

Circumcision of young boys continues to take place around the world. It is a requirement for Muslims and Jews, and is commonly practiced among Christians, even though it is not a Christian requirement. There is some worldwide debate about its appropriateness, focusing on such aspects as pain infliction, long-term health benefits, sexual sensitivity, and aesthetics. The subject tends to surface with young parents as they make their decisions about whether to circumcise their sons. Once decisions are made, the subject tends to slip again into the background. 

In contrast, circumcise was a hot-button issue in the early Christian Church. Where the Church landed on the matter was a key factor in separating Christianity from Judaism. 

Debate in the Early Christian Church

In the book of Acts, chapter 11, verses 1-3, we read the following: Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 

The “circumcision party” was a group of Christians that believed that circumcision, a requirement of the Jewish faith, should remain a requirement for the followers of Jesus. The central disagreement between Judaism and Christianity was the identity of Jesus, but Jewish believers did not believe they were changing their loyalty to a different God. They believed that God had revealed himself in a new and surprising way, through Jesus, that resulted in the trinitarian clarification. Circumcision had been one of the conditions of the covenant between Abraham and God. The circumcision party felt it would be improper and dangerous to abandoned any aspect of the covenant.  

Origin

For a Hebrew, circumcision was a requirement for being a part of the nation of Israel. The practice originated when God first called Abraham to separate himself from his people and establish a new nation, specifically identified with God. 

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham,for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. (Genesis 17.1-14). 

The terms of the covenant are essentially: Abraham and his descendants are to walk before God, to be blameless, and the males are to undergo circumcision. God’s part of the arrangement is that he will multiply Abraham’s offspring, he will provide Canaan as an everlasting possession, and he will remain their God forever. 

The purpose of circumcision, then, is to serve as a sign and a reminder to the Hebrew people of all the other elements of the covenant. The covenant is clear and, perhaps, there are no further inferences to be drawn than its overt statements. The covenant associated with circumcision is life-altering and community altering. It’s not clear how well Abraham understood what it meant to be “blameless”, but blamelessness is defined in much greater detail later when God provided Moses with the Ten Commandments, as well as numerous sub-commandments. The importance of circumcision was that it was a material part of a crucial covenant with God.

Miraculous Fertility

Having said that it’s possible that nothing more needs be said about circumcision, there are other possible inferences that, at least, should be considered. To start with, it’s important to give thought to the actual physical circumcision. I doubt very much that God’s choice of circumcision was arbitrary. Circumcision was indicative, in itself, of some truth. 

The location of circumcision and the context of the covenant suggest that it is related to fertility. When God made the covenant with Abraham and promised that he would be the father of many nations, Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah, his wife, was well past the age of child bearing. The birth of their child (Isaac) was a miracle. Israelites would, therefore, thereafter be reminded by their circumcisions that their very existence was due to a miraculous intervention. Israelites would not only see God as their creator, but also as the one who covenanted with Abraham, and miraculously established the nation of Israel.

Health Benefits 

Some have argued that God provided circumcision as a means of good health. There has been much debate in recent years about whether circumcision is actually a health benefit in today’s world. However, recent research has shown that circumcision can reduce sexual transmission of HIV from women to men by 60%. This led the World Heath Organization to recommend routine circumcision in countries most at risk from epidemics of AIDS. 

In any case, at the time of the covenant, hygiene was not practiced or understood with the scientific insights of the twenty-first century. The evidence is strong that under those earlier circumstances, circumcision provided considerable health benefit. It would not be unlike God to institute such a benefit without explaining it. He is the God of grace.

Uncovering  

One peculiarity about the outward sign of circumcision is that it is located in the most private of locations. God could have demanded a blue ring in the right ear or a tattoo on the back of the left hand. Maybe a star of David on the forehead. Circumcision is an outward sign that is ironically, private. How do we make sense of this? It is worth considering that circumcision was enacted as a reference to the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately covered their genitals with fig leaves. 

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3.7-11).

Some have interpreted the shame and the discovery of nakedness suggests that that the “fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was a kind of euphemism for having sex. Sex was the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve found irresistible. This interpretation should be dismissed out of hand. In the first place, Eve ate the fruit first and then, after having eaten the fruit, she encouraged Adam to have some, too. More importantly, in Genesis chapter 1, before the eating of the fruit, God blessed Adam and Eve, granting them dominion over the earth and encouraging them to be fruitful and multiply. 

So, why did Adam and Eve react to their eating of the fruit by covering themselves? We might ask the same question (and answer it) by considering why we cover ourselves. Young children are mostly unaware of their nakedness or, to the extent of their awareness, are unconcerned about it. Parents teach their children about modesty. Why are they concerned about modesty? Because they have learned that human beings cannot be trusted. Speaking in generalities now, there is a strong urge within men to pursue sex. Women are well aware of this, so there is a tendency among them to use this drive to exercise power over men. But sex is a mutual activity, so the first problem is to get both parties interested. But even if both parties are interested, there is a myriad of reasons why sex is not necessarily mutually beneficial. Examples include such things as the psychological damage caused by its impersonal practice; the contracting of diseases; the possibility of pregnancy, which, when it occurs out of wedlock, likely results in a difficult life for the child or, worse, abortion. It’s easy to talk about “free love” in the world, and considerable effort is put forth to preserve the right to it, but it is a pipe dream. It is a nightmare in sheep’s clothing. Even Joni Mitchell said, “Free love – now we know there’s no such thing. Pay later always.” We pursue modesty as a part of our need for boundaries and the proper practice of sex (even though there is a wide range of understanding about what that means). 

When Adam and Eve covered themselves, it was an expression of the terrible truth that they no longer could trust one other. Some would argue that the covering was an expression of their guilt at having disobeyed God, but this is not right. When they heard God walking in the garden they hid. They covered themselves from each other before God came to see them. 

The breakdown in their relationship was further revealed when God asked them how they knew they were naked. It’s not that they had previously been equipped with some kind of internal photoshop that masked their private parts. What happened was that they suddenly saw that their partner, the one with whom they had lived without reservation, was actually dangerous. Intimacy that had been intuitive was now called into question. Adam spoke tragic volumes when he said, “the woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree…” Eve had done wrong by trusting the serpent rather than God. She had done wrong by eating the fruit. And she had done wrong by enticing Adam to join with her. But Adam did wrong by eating of the fruit, too, and then he “threw Eve under the bus” by blaming the whole thing on her, rather than sharing responsibility with her. Even more laughable, he blamed God: “the woman you gave me…” All the relationships that had previously been beneficial now came under a dark cloud that included betrayal and mistrust. This breakdown is our present reality. We understand the good but, in our selfishness, we frequently choose ways that harm the ones we love. We are so mired in sin we hardly know how to escape the thick webs of our own making. We clothe ourselves because we know that even the people we trust cannot be trusted fully. We trust strangers hardly at all. We cannot even trust ourselves. 

Keeping in mind how Adam and Eve immediately resorted to covering themselves and hiding when they disobeyed God, compare this to the covenant that God initiated with Abraham. He told Abraham that he would have him “walk before me”. While this clearly is in reference to living a holy life and acting the way God acts, it also presents a stark contrast to Adam and Eve’s inclination to hide from God. Furthermore, while Adam and Eve cover themselves, the circumcision operation is a very real uncovering. Looking at circumcision from this perspective, we can see the covenant with Abraham as a kind of undoing of the impact of the Fall. It is not a complete undoing, of course. God’s remedy for the fall is a patient one—much more patient than we would like, perhaps. It requires all of redemptive history, including such events as the giving of the Law through Moses; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and the triumphal return of Christ. 

But God makes it clear that living before him without shame is possible and, in fact, something he insists on. Further, he insists that husbands and wives live together without shame, as well, and that their bearing of children is a sign of God’s blessing and approval. The world today has not given up on the idea of children as blessing, but it is becoming tentative on the question. Children damage my sex life. Children wreak havoc on my vacation plans. Children cause global warming. Some people have determined that it is “irresponsible” to bring children into an evil world such as ours. But to despise children in this way is a failure to image God, which is a sort of giving up of one’s inheritance for a bowl of lentil soup. And it is a failure to trust him, every bit as serious as Adam and Eve’s failure to trust him. 

In human society, we find it difficult to talk about sex. We find it embarrassing. We tell lewd jokes about it. But God insists that sexual activity, when undertaken appropriately, is a gift to husband and wife, and the source of the blessing of children. It is not taboo; it is to be celebrated.  

In contrast, other nakedness (sexual activity) between humans is not possible without shame before God, whether it be so-called “casual sex” or serial monogamy or all that can be imagined in the expanding alphabet soup generally known as the LBGT lifestyles. These relationships are all knock-offs of God’s good design. As such, they are doomed to frustration, failure and, at best, a sexuality that does not bear fruit.

I want to avoid improper offenses at this point. There are couples who are unable to bear children for medical reasons. They should not feel ashamed about this, nor should anyone look down on them. There may be psychological reasons for couples to avoid children, as well. I don’t know how such determinations are made, but I hope they are made with much counsel, and the rest of us need to respond with grace.

Additionally, I don’t want to suggest any sort of inferiority in those who are single. Perhaps they will not always be single and may have children in the future. At any rate, while circumcision is presented within the context of anticipated child-bearing, the Word never looks down on those who don’t marry. The Apostle Paul wrote: “It is good for a man not to marry.” There are no second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God. In Christ we are all brothers and sisters, taking joy together with all of those who have been born of the flesh and then born again by the Spirit.  

But we should also keep in mind God’s first command: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Marriage is fundamentally about two things: a committed, loving relationship between a man and a woman; and the bearing and nurturing of children. 

So sex can be a source of much bitterness and difficulty, or it can result in intimacy and great joy. Circumcision suggests that it should be the latter.

Female Circumcision

Many wonder why God initiated the important rite of circumcision that leaves out half the human population. Doesn’t this suggest that the rite was really only a construct of the male imagination? A low view of Scriptures could lead you to such a conclusion. Of course, a low view of Scriptures is the recipe for cooking up anything any cook can imagine. But is it sustaining food? Let us let Scriptures answer the questions it raises: Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2.22-24). 

Here, at the very beginning, marriage is described as becoming one flesh. There is a physical uniting in sex, but the physical uniting was never intended to be merely a physical uniting, as important as that is for procreation. The pleasure suggests and provides for relational joy. The physical uniting was intended to be indicative of a spiritual uniting. This spiritual unity implies many things, including the uniting of purpose in such things as the provision for daily needs; the pursuits of careers; the decisions about where to live; the decisions about the meaning of life, as guided by the understanding of who God is; the bearing and nurture of children; and other things, as well. 

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7.3-5)

So, if in marriage, the couple is one flesh: the man owns the woman’s flesh and the woman owns the man’s flesh, then the circumcision that is applied to the man is also effectively applied to the woman. The outward but hidden sign is not hidden from a man’s wife. All of its associated meanings are brought to her again and again, especially in a faithful, joyful, appropriate marriage. 

Christian View of Circumcision

It’s clear that circumcision was of critical importance within Judaism. What’s also clear is that Christianity was not a switch to a different God. Christianity claimed allegiance to the Jehovah of the Old Testament. But if this was so, how was it possible to jettison a practice so intimate in its nature, and so important to those who wanted to live in obedience to Jehovah. God gave the command. How did Christianity determine that it was proper to walk away from the command? How did it arrive at this place: Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. (1 Corinthians 7.18). To understand the answer we must recognize that circumcision was seen as conformity to the Law, while Christianity came to believe that conformity to the Law was a matter of the Spirit rather than a matter of the Letter.

Judaism, particularly from the perspective of its religious leadership, had devolved into a dry system of conformity to an expanding list of regulations. It had become a religion of salvation by works (which, like all works/salvation systems, is completely useless). It had lost the spirit of the law, elevating literal and litigated conformity over the substance of the law. Worst of all, it had strayed so far that it had lost sight of God himself. The Jewish leaders should have recognized Jesus as coming from God. Instead, they saw him as a threat to their comfort and power, and self-satisfied conformity to regulations. They conspired against him and had him killed. It was clear that Judaism was in need of radical reform. 

But the early Christian wrestling over the place of the Law went beyond conformity to the Law with sincerity of spirit; it went on to insist that the letter of the Law was actually a grave problem. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3.4-6).

Jesus’ Sermon On the Mount was a demonstration of how God wants the Law to be appreciated according to the Spirit. Jesus said in the sermon, Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5.18). But thenJesus went on to talk about conformity to the Law in ways that seem beyond reach, even as the truth he speaks resonates. 

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5.43-48).

The change was not meant to suggest that the religious ritual was foreign or irrelevant. Rather, the change was a focusing on the spiritual meanings associated with the rituals while shedding the rituals themselves. One example is the elimination of the practice of animal sacrifice. The sacrifices were important reminders to the people of God’s purity, in contrast to their own sinfulness. Sin, according to God, is so horrible that it demands the penalty of death. The sacrificial rituals ended but their significance did not. The sacrifice of the perfect Jesus was sufficient to cover sins for all time for those who would look upon him (trust in him). The importance of holiness, the continued presence of sin in the hearts of humans, and the necessity of provision for that sin remain in place.  

There were many rituals related to cleansing that called for dietary restrictions, and that called for certain outward attire. All of these were intended as reminders that the people of God were to be separate from the nations. This separation was always fundamentally about being spiritually distinct, while the regulations were reminders and tools to help nurture the spirit. But the laws and rituals began to take on great importance in Judaism, while the spirit and intent of the laws were increasingly obscured. Christianity, then, coming through Christ, served as a means to decouple from the ritual, which had become a sort of idol, leaving only the spirit of the laws. 

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7.6). So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. (Galatians 3.24,25). 

So it also was the case with circumcision. The Christian church understood that the “circumcision of the heart” was to remain in force, while the ritual of circumcision was no longer of value. But Christianity was not merely a reforming of Judaism; it wasn’t merely a return to the heart of Judaism. It was a step upward in God’s work to create a people whose spirits aligned with his. This essentially means that we no longer live under the letter of the law but under the spirit of the law. 

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. (1 Corinthians 10.23)

The STOP sign can illustrate the difference. With a STOP sign, the literal application of the law is that you are to stop your vehicle whenever you come upon a STOP sign. If you read your State driver’s code it will also say something like, “After stopping, scan the surroundings and proceed carefully through the intersection once you determine it is safe to do so.”  So the full letter of the law actually gets closer to the spirit of the law.

The underlying spirit of the STOP sign is that we are to love one another. The spirit says that humans are of great value and that when we travel on the roads we are to make sure that, not only do we care for our own safety and care for the vehicle we are driving, but we are to care for the property and safety of all others, as well. Christian drivers are to be guided by the spirit of the law, which includes the respect due to civil authorities…so we do stop. But the spiritual demand is greater. It is possible to follow the letter of the traffic laws and still be a menace on the roads. Driving safely becomes the first priority of driving, even more important than getting from one place to another.

Circumcision gots a lot of attention in the book of Acts, partly because it was so critical to a Jewish identity that needed transformation. But also partly due to it serving a reference point or a “legal precedent” for the many other questions that would arise concerning the tension between Law and Spirit. 

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.  (Galatians 5.2-11). For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. – (1 Corinthians 7.19). For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. – (Romans 2.28,29).

God chose the Jewish nation as a special people with whom he was to dwell. This people was identified genetically, and if not genetically, it was identified through the process of circumcision, making the people of God identifiable outwardly. Through Christ, God redefines his people, or perhaps it would be better to say, refines the understanding of who his people are by insisting that they are identified according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. 

So, with Christianity, there is a shift to the spiritual. It’s crucial to emphasize, however, that to spiritualize an idea does not mean to rob it of its importance, nor of its demands on us. It is a terrible mistake to assume that the God of Grace is not also the God who insists on purity. Christians are expected to remember the cost of the cross without having to experience the routine bloody examples of animal sacrifice. Fundamentally, then, spiritualization is more demanding of the people of God than adherence to regulations and rituals. A Christian who is cavalier about holiness is a person who has been freed from ritual but who has presumed that he is free of the demands of the Spirit. Apathy toward the Spirit is good cause for reevaluating whether that person is a Christian in the first place.

For the Christian, it is one thing to say that physical circumcision is no longer of any importance; it is quite another—a serious falsehood—to claim that circumcision is irrelevant. Christians are required to be circumcised in their spirits. This means that we are to remember our identity as people created and then adopted by God himself. It means that we must trust him completely and solemnly regard the covenant we have made with him that calls for us to walk before him without shame.