Ritual circumcision

Religious circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism, Islam, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church.The Church of Antioch sent Barnabas on a mission with Paul, which became known as the Apostle's first missionary journey . . . Together with Paul, he then went to the so-called Council of Jerusalem where after a profound examination of the question, the Apostles with the Elders decided to discontinue the practice of circumcision so that it was no longer a feature of the Christian identity (cf. Acts 15: 1-35). It was only in this way that, in the end, they officially made possible the Church of the Gentiles, a Church without circumcision; we are children of Abraham simply through faith in Christ.His disciples said to him, 'is circumcision useful or not?' He said to them, 'If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect.' SV R. Emden, in a remarkable apology for Christianity contained in his appendix to 'Seder 'Olam' (pp. 32b–34b, Hamburg, 1752), gives it as his opinion that the original intention of Jesus, and especially of Paul, was to convert only the Gentiles to the seven moral laws of Noah and to let the Jews follow the Mosaic law—which explains the apparent contradictions in the New Testament regarding the Veniamin Portugalov, who—alone among Russian Jewish physicians—called for the abolition of circumcision, set off these discussions. Portugalov not only denied all medical claims regarding the sanitary advantages of circumcision but disparaged the practice as barbaric, likening it to pagan ritual mutilation. Ritual circumcision, he claimed, stood as a self-imposed obstacle to the Jews’ attainment of true equality with the other peoples of Europe. Religious circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism, Islam, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Many countries with majorities of Christian adherents have low circumcision rates (as in Europe and South America), while both religious and non-religious circumcision is common in some predominantly Christian countries such as the United States, and the Philippines, Canada, and in North Africa and West Africa. It is common in countries such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Kenya. Circumcision is also widely practiced among Christians from South Korea, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa. Circumcision rates in Oceania were high but are now relatively low. While the Catholic Church has condemned religious circumcision for its members, and currently maintains a neutral position on the practice of non-religious circumcision, Coptic Christianity, Ethiopian Orthodoxy, and Eritrean Orthodoxy still observe circumcision and practice circumcision as a rite of passage. Hodges affirms that in Classical civilization the foreskin was positively valued both from Ancient Greeks and Romans, and that Greek and Roman attempts to abolish ritual circumcision were prompted by humanitarian concerns. Circumcision practiced as a religious rite is found in texts of the Hebrew Bible, as part of the Abrahamic covenant, such as in Genesis 17, and is therefore practiced by Jews and Muslims, which are both Abrahamic religions. Some rabbinical sources indicate that even before the covenant of Abraham, the aposthia of Shem may have been an inspiration for circumcision; although the aposthia of Shem is not specifically mentioned in the text of the Book of Genesis. Contemporary thought on circumcision is as follows: 'New Testament Christians are no longer under the Old Testament Law, and circumcision is no longer required. This is brought out in a number of New Testament passages, among which are Acts 15; Galatians 2:1–3; 5:1–11; 6:11–16; 1 Corinthians 7:17–20; Colossians 2:8–12; and Philippians 3:1–3. As these passages proclaim, being delivered from our sins is the result of faith in Christ; it is Christ’s finished work on the cross that saves, not the observance of an external rite.' Circumcision was controversial during the period of Early Christianity (before 325) and the first Church Council in Jerusalem (c.50), which declared that circumcision was not necessary for new gentile converts (a record of the council is found in Acts 15). But it is customary among the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, and also some other African churches. Some Christian churches in South Africa oppose circumcision, viewing it as a pagan ritual, while others, including the Nomiya church in Kenya, require circumcision for membership. The United States is an outlier with regards to other predominately Christian Western nations. As of 2007, fifty-five percent of newborn males were circumcised, a significant decline from years past. Countries like Australia and Canada have much lower rates of circumcision, and the United Kingdom is considering an outright ban. Further, circumcision is rare for Christians in the countries of Europe, East Asia, parts of Africa, as well as in India and until recently in Southern Africa. Christians in the East and West Indies (excluding the Philippines) do not practice it either. Circumcision is near universal among Christian countries of Oceania and in North and West Africa and it is common in countries such as Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Kenya, and is also widely practiced among Christians from South Korea, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa. While Jesus' circumcision was recorded as having been performed in accordance with Torah requirements in Luke 2:21, according to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15, the leaders of the Christian Church at the Council of Jerusalem rejected circumcision as a requirement for Gentile converts, possibly the first act of differentiation of Early Christianity from its Jewish roots (see also list of events in early Christianity). The rite of circumcision was especially execrable in Classical civilization because it was the custom to spend an hour a day or so exercising nude in the gymnasium and in Roman baths, therefore Jewish men did not want to be seen in public deprived of their foreskins. Hellenistic and Roman culture both found circumcision to be cruel and repulsive. The Apostle Paul, who called himself Apostle to the Gentiles, attacked the practice, but not consistently; for example in one case he personally circumcised Timothy 'because of the Jews' that were in town (Timothy had a Jewish Christian mother but a Greek father Acts 16:1–3). He also appeared to praise its value in Rom 3:1–2, hence the topic of Paul the Apostle and Judaism is still debated. Paul argued that circumcision no longer meant the physical, but a spiritual practice (Rom 2:25–29). And in that sense, he wrote 1 Cor 7:18: 'Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised'—probably a reference to the practice of epispasm. Paul was already circumcised ('on the eighth day', Phil 3:4–5) when he was 'called'. He added: 'Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised', and went on to argue that circumcision did not matter: 'Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts' (1 Cor 7:19). Later he more explicitly denounced the practice, rejecting and condemning those who promoted circumcision to Gentile Christians. He accused Galatian Christians who advocated circumcision of turning from the Spirit to the flesh. And in Gal 3:3 says 'Are you so foolish, that, whereas you began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh?' He accused circumcision advocates of wanting to make a good showing in the flesh Gal 6:12 and of glorying or boasting of the flesh Gal 6:13.The Pauline epistles fiercely criticized the Judaizers that demanded circumcision for gentile converts, and opposed them; he stressed instead that faith in Christ constituted a 'New Covenant' with God, a covenant which essentially provides a 'free gift' of salvation from the harsh edicts of the Mosaic Law for Gentiles that didn't require circumcision.