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Religion and circumcision

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This article is about religious circumcision. For the history of circumcision, see History of circumcision. For the Early Christian controversy, see Circumcision controversy in early Christianity. For prevalence of male circumcision, see Prevalence of circumcision.
"Religious views on circumcision" redirects here. Not to be confused with religious views on female circumcision.
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Religious circumcision is generally performed shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision for religious reasons is most frequently practiced in Judaism and Islam.

Abrahamic religions[edit]

Judaism[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Brit milah.[edit]
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1824 illustration from Lipník nad Bečvou

The brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה‎, Modern Israeli: [bʁit miˈla], Ashkenazi: [bʁis ˈmilə]; "covenant of circumcision") or bris (Yiddish: ברית‎, Yiddish: [bʁɪs]) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed.[1] According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his male descendants on the eighth day of life, symbolizing the covenant between God and the Jewish people.[1] Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as seudat mitzvah.[2]

Brit Milah is considered among the most important and central commandments in Judaism, and the rite has played a central role in the formation and history of Jewish civilization. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of Brit Milah, considers it equal to all other mitzvot (commandments).[3] Jews who voluntarily fail to undergo Brit Milah, barring extraordinary circumstances, are believed to suffer Kareth in Jewish theology: the extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the world to come.[4][5][6][7] Judaism does not see circumcision as a universal moral law. Rather, the commandment is exclusive to followers of Judaism and the Jewish people; Gentiles who follow the Noahide Laws are believed to have a portion in the World to Come.[8]

Historical conflicts between Jews and European civilizations have occurred several times over Brit Milah, including multiple campaigns of Jewish ethnic, cultural, and religious persecution, with subsequent bans and restrictions on the practice as an attempted means of forceful assimilation, conversion, and ethnocide, most famously in the Maccabean Revolt by the Seleucid Empire.[7][9][10] "In Jewish history, the banning of circumcision (brit mila) has historically been a first step toward more extreme and violent forms of persecution".[10] These periods have generally been linked to suppression of Jewish religious, ethnic, and cultural identity and subsequent "punishment at the hands of government authorities for engaging in circumcision".[9] The Maccabee victory in the Maccabean Revolt — ending the prohibition against circumcision — is celebrated in Hanukkah.[7][11] Circumcision rates are near-universal among Jews.[12]

Brit Milah also has immense importance in other religions. The Gospel of Luke records that Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, had him undergo circumcision.

Christianity[edit]

Main article: Circumcision controversy in early Christianity
Further information: Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity and Christian views on the Old Covenant
"Scène de la circoncision de Jésus", a sculpture in the Cathedral of Chartres.

The circumcision of Jesus was recorded as complying with Torah requirements in Luke 2:21. However, circumcision was controversial during early Christianity (before 325). The first Council of Jerusalem (c. 50) declared that circumcision was not necessary for Gentile converts[13][14] (as in Acts 15); covenant theology largely views the Christian sacrament of baptism as fulfilling the Israelite practice of circumcision, as equivalent signs of grace.[15][16]

In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church at the Council of Florence condemned the practice of circumcision for Christians, with Catholic moralists preaching against the practice;[17] Lutheran churches historically taught that Christians should not be circumcised. For American Christians, circumcision is a matter of personal preference, not of faith, and is neither condoned nor condemned. [18] The Catholic Church currently maintains a neutral position on the practice of cultural circumcision, in accord with its policy of inculturation.[19]

Circumcision is considered a customary practice among Oriental Christian denominations such as the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox churches, as well as some other African churches.[20] The Ethiopian Orthodox Church calls for circumcision, with near-universal prevalence among Orthodox men.[21] Some Christian churches in South Africa oppose circumcision, viewing it as a pagan ritual, while others, including the Nomiya church in Kenya,[20][22] require circumcision for membership.

Ethiopian Orthodox children wearing traditional circumcision costumes

Circumcision is widely practiced among Christian communities in the Anglosphere countries, Oceania, South Korea, the Philippines, the Middle East, and Africa.[23] Circumcision is rare for Christians in 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,[24] and in North, East and West Africa. It is also common among Christians in countries such as Cameroon,[21] Democratic Republic of the Congo,[21] Ethiopia,[21] Eritrea,[21] Ghana,[21] Liberia,[21] Nigeria[21] and Kenya,[21] and is also widely practiced among Christians from Philippines, South Korea, Egypt,[25] Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15, the Jewish Christian leaders of the early Church at the Council of Jerusalem rejected circumcision as a requirement for Gentile converts,[13][14] possibly the first act of differentiation of Early Christianity from its Jewish roots[26] The rite of circumcision was frowned upon in Classical civilization[27][28][29][30][31][32] 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 without foreskins.[28][30][33][32] Hellenistic and Roman culture both labeled circumcision cruel and repulsive.[27][28][30][33]

Paul the Apostle, who called himself "Apostle to the Gentiles",[34][35] attacked the practice, but not consistently; in one case he personally circumcised Timothy "because of the Jews" who were in town (Timothy had a Jewish Christian mother and a Greek father Acts 16:1–3).[36] 19th-century American Catholic priest and biblical scholar Florentine Bechtel SJ noted in the Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Judaizers (1910):

Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (1 Corinthians 9:20). Thus he shortly after circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:1–16:3), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem (Acts 21:26).[37]

He also appeared to praise its value in Romans 3:1–2, hence the topic of Paul the Apostle and Judaism is still debated.

Rembrandt: The Apostle Paul, circa 1657 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

Paul argued that circumcision should become a spiritual practice[27][14][38][39] (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.[30][32][40][41][42] Paul was 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:[14][40][41][39] "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,[43][44] condemning those who promoted circumcision to Gentile Christians. He accused those Judaizers who advocated circumcision of turning from the Spirit to the flesh.[14][40][38][41][39] In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul warned Gentile Christians that the advocates of circumcision were "false brothers" (Gal 2:4),[43] and wrote: "Are you so foolish, that, whereas you began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3); he also wrote: "Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you" (Gal 5:2). He accused circumcision advocates of wanting to make a good showing in the flesh (Gal 6:12–13), and of glorying or boasting of the flesh (Gal 6:12–14).[14][40][39] Paul fiercely criticized the Judaizers who demanded circumcision for Gentile converts, and opposed them;[14][40][38][41][39] he stressed instead that faith in Christ constituted a New Covenant with God,[14][40][38][41] a Covenant that essentially provides the justification and salvation for Gentiles from the harsh edicts of the Mosaic Law.[27][14][40][38][41][39]

Simon Peter, who for Catholic Christians was the first Pope, condemned circumcision for converts according to Acts 15. The Epistle to Titus, generally attributed to Paul, may state that circumcision should be discouraged among Christians (Titus 1:10–16), although it may reference Jews. Circumcision was so closely associated with Jewish men that Jewish Christians were referred to as "those of the circumcision" (Titus 1:10)[citation needed] or conversely Christians who were circumcised were referred to as Jewish Christians or Judaizers. These terms (circumcised/uncircumcised) are generally interpreted to mean Jews and Greeks, who dominated, however that is an oversimplification as 1st century Iudaea Province also had some Jews who no longer circumcised (see Hellenistic Judaism), and some Greeks (see proselytes or Judaizers) and others such as Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Arabs who did.

The Lutheran Church and the Greek Orthodox Church celebrate the Circumcision of Christ on 1 January,[45] while Orthodox churches following the Julian calendar celebrate it on 14 January. All Orthodox churches consider it a "Great Feast".[46] In much of Western Christianity, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ has been replaced by other commemorations,[47] such as the Solemnity of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church or the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus in the Lutheran Churches.[48] Exceptions, such as among most Traditionalist Catholics, who reject Novus Ordo and other changes following Vatican II to varying degrees, maintained the feast as a Holy day of obligation.[citation needed]

Roman Catholic Church[edit]

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church denounced religious circumcision for its members in the Cantate Domino, written during the 11th Council of Florence in 1442, warning of loss of salvation for converts who observe it.[17][49] This decision was based on the belief that baptism had superseded circumcision (Col 2:11–12),[50] and may also have been a response to Coptic Christians, who continued to practice circumcision.[51]

Origen stated in his work Contra Celsum that circumcision "was discontinued by Jesus, who desired that His disciples should not practise it."[52]

Pope Pius XII taught that circumcision is only §"[morally] permissible if, in accordance with therapeutic principles, it prevents a disease that cannot be countered in any other way."[53]

On another instance, he stated:

Furthermore, Christian doctrine establishes, and the light of human reason makes it most clear, that private individuals have no other power over the members of their own bodies than that which pertains to their natural ends: and they are not free to destroy or mutilate their members, or in any other way render themselves unfit for their natural functions, except when no other provision can be made for the good of the whole body.[54]

The Church has been viewed as maintaining a neutral position on the practice of cultural circumcision, due to its policy of inculturation,[19][55] though Catholic scholars, including John J. Dietzen, David Lang, and Edwin F. Healy, argue that the church condemns it as "elective male infant circumcision not only violates the proper application of the time-honored principle of totality, but even fits the ethical definition of mutilation, which is gravely sinful."[17]

Catholic moralists such as Fr. John J. Dietzen, a priest and columnist, have argued that paragraph number 2297 from the Catholic Catechism (Respect for bodily integrity) makes the practice of elective and neonatal circumcision immoral.[56] John Paul Slosar and Daniel O'Brien, however, argue that the therapeutic benefits of neonatal circumcision are inconclusive, but that recent findings that circumcision may prevent disease puts the practice outside the realm of paragraph 2297.[19] They also argue that statements regarding mutilation and amputation in the "Respect for bodily integrity" paragraph are made within the context of kidnapping, hostage taking or torture, and that if circumcision is defined as an amputation, any removal of tissue or follicle, regardless of its effect on functional integrity, could be considered a violation of moral law.[19] The proportionality of harm versus benefit of medical procedures, as defined by Directives 29 and 33 of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (National Conference of Catholic Bishops),[57] have also been interpreted to support[19] and reject[58] the practice of circumcision. These arguments represent the conscience of the individual writers, and not the official stance of the Church. The most recent statement from the Church was that of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:

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.[59]

With the exception of the commemoration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish practice, circumcision has not been part of Catholic practice. According to an epistle of Cyprian of Carthage, circumcision of the flesh was replaced by circumcision of the spirit.[clarification needed (what is "circumcision of the spirit?")][60]

The Latter Day Saint movement[edit]

Passages from scriptures connected with the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormons) explain that the "law of circumcision is done away" by Christ and thus unnecessary from a religious standpoint.[61][62]

Druze faith[edit]

Circumcision is widely practiced by the Druze,[63] the procedure is practiced as a cultural tradition, and has no religious significance in the Druze faith.[64] There is no special date for this act in the Druze faith: male Druze infants are usually circumcised shortly after birth,[65] however some remain uncircumcised until the age of ten or older.[65] Some Druses do not circumcise their male children, and refuse to observe this "common Muslim practice".[66]

Islam[edit]

Main article: Khitan (circumcision)

The origin of circumcision in Islam is a matter of religious and scholarly debate.[67][68] It is mentioned in some hadith and the sunnah, but it is not found explicitly in the Quran,[67][68][69][70] though has been said is implicit though its command to "follow the way of Ibrahim, the true in Faith".[71] In the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, circumcision was carried out by Pagan Arabian tribes,[68][69][70] and circumcision by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for religious reasons.[68] This has also been attested by the Muslim scholar al-Jahiz,[70] as well as by the Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.[68][70]

The four schools of Islamic jurisprudence have different opinions and attitudes towards circumcision.[69]Some state that it is recommendable, others that it is permissible but not binding, while others regard it as a legal obligation.[68] According to Shafi‘i and Hanbali jurists male circumcision is obligatory for Muslims,[68][69] while Hanafi jurists consider circumcision to be recommendable exclusively for Muslim males on the seventh day after birth.[68] Some Salafis have argued that circumcision is required in Islam to provide ritual cleanliness based on the covenant with Abraham.[72]

Whereas Jewish circumcision is closely bound by ritual timing and tradition, in Islam there is no fixed age for circumcision.[67][70][73] Therefore, there is a wide variation in practice among Muslim communities, with children often being circumcised in late childhood or early adolescence.[73] It depends on family, region, and country.[73] The age when boys get circumcised, and the procedures used, tend to change across cultures, families, and time.[73] In some Muslim-majority countries, circumcision is performed on Muslim boys after they have learned to recite the whole Quran from start to finish.[74] In Malaysia and other regions, the boy usually undergoes the operation between the ages of ten and twelve, and is thus a puberty rite, serving to introduce him into the new status of an adult.[citation needed] The procedure is sometimes semi-public, accompanied with music, special foods, and much festivity.[citation needed]

There is no equivalent of a Jewish mohel in Islam. Circumcisions are usually carried out in health facilities or hospitals, and performed by trained medical practitioners.[73] The circumciser can be either male or female,[73] and is not required to be a Muslim,[74] and is not required of, converts to Islam.[75]

Indian religions[edit]

See also: Indian religions

There is no reference to circumcision in the Hindu canons,[76] and both Hinduism and Buddhism appear to have a neutral view on circumcision.[77] However, Hinduism discourages non-medical circumcision, as according to them, the body is made by the almighty God, and nobody has right to alter it without the concern of the person who is going for it.[78] Certain Hindu gurus consider it to be directly against nature and God's Design.[79][80]

Sikh infants are not circumcised.[81] Sikhism does not require circumcision of either males or females, and criticizes the practice.[82] For example, Bhagat Kabir criticizes the practise of circumcision in the following hymn of Guru Granth Sahib.

Because of the love of woman, circumcision is done; I don't believe in it, O Siblings of Destiny. If God wished me to be a Muslim, it would be cut off by itself. If circumcision makes one a Muslim, then what about a woman? She is the other half of a man's body, and she does not leave him, so he remains a Hindu. Give up your holy Books, and remember the Lord, you fool, and stop oppressing others so badly. Kabeer has grasped hold of the Lord's Support, and the Muslims have utterly failed.

— Bhagat Kabir, Guru Granth Sahib 477[83]

Africa[edit]

Main article: Circumcision in Africa

In West Africa, infant circumcision had religious significance as a rite of passage or otherwise in the past; today in some non-Muslim Nigerian societies it is medicalised and is simply a cultural norm.[84] In many West African traditional societies circumcision has become medicalised and is simply performed in infancy without ado or any particular conscious cultural significance.[citation needed] Among the Urhobo of southern Nigeria it is symbolic of a boy entering into manhood. The ritual expression, Omo te Oshare ("the boy is now man"), constitutes a rite of passage from one age set to another.[85]

In East Africa, specifically in Kenya among various so-classified Bantu and Nilotic peoples, such as the Maragoli and Idakho of the Luhya super-ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Maasai, circumcision is a rite of passage observed collectively by a number of boys every few years, and boys circumcised at the same time are taken to be members of a single age set.[86]

Authority derives from the age-group and the age-set. Prior to circumcision a natural leader or Olaiguenani is selected; he leads his age-group through a series of rituals until old age, sharing responsibility with a select few, of whom the ritual expert (Oloiboni) is the ultimate authority. Masai youths are not circumcised until they are mature, and a new age-set is initiated together at regular intervals of twelve to fifteen years. The young warriors (Il-Murran) remain initiates for some time, using blunt arrows to hunt small birds which are stuffed and tied to a frame to form a head-dress. Traditionally, among the Luhya, boys of certain age-sets, typically between 8 and 18 years of age would, under the leadership of specific men engage in various rites leading up to the day of circumcision. After circumcision, they would live apart from the rest of society for a certain number of days. Not even their mothers nor sisters would be allowed to see them.

The Xhosa Tribe from the Eastern Cape in South Africa has a circumcision ritual. The ceremony is part of a transition to manhood. It is called the Abakwetha - "A Group Learning". A group of normally five aged between 16 and 20 go off for three months and live in a special hut (sutu). The circumcision is the climax of the ritual. Nelson Mandela describes his experiences undergoing this ritual in his biography, Long Walk to Freedom.[87][88] Traditional circumcisions are often performed in unsterile conditions where no anesthetic is administered; improper treatment of the wound can lead to sepsis and dehydration, which has in the past lead to initiate deaths.[89][90]

Among some West African animist groups, such as the Dogon and Dowayo, circumcision represents a removal of "feminine" aspects of the male, turning boys into fully masculine males.[24]

Ancient Egypt[edit]

Ancient Egyptian carved scene of circumcision, from the inner northern wall of the Temple of Khonspekhrod at the Precinct of Mut, Luxor, Egypt. Eighteenth dynasty, Amenhotep III, c. 1360 BC.

Sixth Dynasty (2345 - 2181 BC) tomb artwork in Egypt is thought to be the oldest documentary evidence of circumcision, the most ancient depiction being a bas-relief from the necropolis at Saqqara (ca. 2400 B.C) with the inscription reading "Hold him and do not allow him to faint". In the oldest written account, by an Egyptian named Uha, in the 23rd century B.C, he describes a mass circumcision and boasts of his ability to stoically endure the pain: "When I was circumcised, together with one hundred and twenty men ... there was none thereof who hit out, there was none thereof who was hit, and there was none thereof who scratched and there was none thereof who was scratched."[91]

Circumcision in ancient Egypt was thought to be a mark of passage from childhood to adulthood. The alteration of the body and ritual of circumcision was supposed to give access to ancient mysteries reserved solely for the initiated.[92] The content of those mysteries are unclear but are likely to be myths, prayers, and incantations central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, for example, tells of the sun god ra performing a self-circumcision, whose blood created two minor guardian deities. Circumcisions were performed by priests in a public ceremony, using a stone blade. It is thought to have been more popular among the upper echelons of the society, although it was not universal and those lower down the social order are known to have had the procedure done.[93]

Asia[edit]

In early 2007 it was announced that rural aidpost orderlies in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea are to undergo training in the circumcision of men and boys of all ages with a view to introducing the procedure as a means of prophylaxis against HIV/AIDS, which is becoming a significant problem in the country.[citation needed]

Neither the Avesta nor the Zoroastrian Pahlavi texts mention circumcision, traditionally, Zoroastrians do not practice circumcision.[94] Circumcision is not required in Yazidism, but is practised by some Yazidis due to regional customs.[95]

Circumcision is forbidden in Mandaeism,[96] and the sign of the Jews given to Abraham by God, circumcision, is considered abhorrent by the Mandaeans.[97] According to the Mandaean doctrine a circumcised man cannot serve as a Mandaean priest.[98]

Circumcision in South Korea is largely the result of American cultural and military influence following the Korean War.

The origin of circumcision (tuli) in the Philippines is uncertain. One newspaper article speculates that it is due to the influence of Western colonisation,[99] however, Antonio de Morga's 17th-century History of the Philippine Islands documents its existence in pre-Colonial Philippines, owing it to Islamic influence.[100]

Circumcision is not a religious practice of the Bahá'í Faith, and leaves that decision up to the parents.[101]

Oceania[edit]

Circumcision is part of initiation rites in some Pacific Islander, and Australian aboriginal traditions in areas such as Arnhem Land,[102] where the practice was introduced by Makassan traders from Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago.[103] Circumcision ceremonies among certain Australian aboriginal societies are noted for their painful nature, including subincision for some aboriginal peoples in the Western Desert.[104]

In the Pacific, ritual circumcision is nearly universal in the Melanesian islands of Fiji and Vanuatu;[105] participation in the traditional land diving on Pentecost Island is reserved for those who have been circumcised.[citation needed] Circumcision is also commonly practised in the Polynesian islands of Samoa, Tonga, Niue, and Tikopia. In Samoa, it is accompanied by a celebration.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Hirsch, Emil; Kohler, Kaufmann; Jacobs, Joseph; Friedenwald, Aaron; Broydé, Isaac (1906). "Circumcision: The Cutting Away". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 13, 2020. In order to prevent the obliteration of the "seal of the covenant" on the flesh, as circumcision was henceforth called, the Rabbis, probably after the war of Bar Kokba (see Yeb. l.c.; Gen. R. xlvi.), instituted the "peri'ah" (the laying bare of the glans), without which circumcision was declared to be of no value (Shab. xxx. 6).
  2. ^ Gollaher, David (2001). Circumcision: A History Of The World's Most Controversial Surgery. United States: Basic Books. pp. 1–30. ISBN 978-0-465-02653-1.
  3. ^ Tractate Nedarim 32a
  4. ^ Harlow, Daniel; Collins, John (2010). "Circumcision". The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-4674-6609-7.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Victor (1990). The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 473. ISBN 978-0-8028-2521-6. In fact, circumcision is only one of two performative commands, the neglect of which bring the kareth penalty. (The other is the failure to be cleansed from corpse contamination, umb. 19:11-22.)
  6. ^ Mark, Elizabeth (2003). "Frojmovic/Travelers to the Circumcision". The Covenant of Circumcision: New Perspectives on an Ancient Jewish Rite. Brandeis University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-58465-307-3. Circumcision became the single most important commandment... the one without which... no Jew could attain the world to come.
  7. ^ a b c Rosner, Fred (2003). Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics. Feldheim Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-58330-592-8. Several eras in subsequent Jewish history were associated with forced conversions and with prohibitions against ritual circumcision... Jews endangered their lives during such times and exerted strenuous efforts to nullify such edicts. When they succeeded, they celebrated by declaring a holiday. Throughout most of history, Jews never doubted their obligation to observe circumcision... [those who attempted to reverse it or failed to perform the ritual were called] voiders of the covenant of Abraham our father, and they have no portion in the World to Come.
  8. ^ Oliver, Isaac W. (2013-05-14). "Forming Jewish Identity by Formulating Legislation for Gentiles". Journal of Ancient Judaism. 4 (1): 105–132. doi:10.30965/21967954-00401005. ISSN 1869-3296.
  9. ^ a b Wilson, Robin (2018). The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-108-41760-0. Jews have a long history of suffering punishment at the hands of government authorities for engaging in circumcision. Muslims have also experienced suppression of their identities through suppression of this religious practice.
  10. ^ a b Livingston, Michael (2021). Dreamworld or Dystopia: The Nordic Model and Its Influence in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-108-75726-3. In Jewish history, the banning of circumcision (brit mila) has historically been a first step toward more extreme and violent forms of persecution.
  11. ^ "What Is Hanukkah?". Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and belief in G‑d. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G‑d. ... To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah.
  12. ^ Cohen-Almagor, Raphael (9 November 2020). "Should liberal government regulate male circumcision performed in the name of Jewish tradition?". SN Social Sciences. 1 (1): 8. doi:10.1007/s43545-020-00011-7. ISSN 2662-9283. S2CID 228911544. Protagonists and critics of male circumcision agree on some things and disagree on many others... They also do not underestimate the importance of male circumcision for the relevant communities.... Even the most critical voices of male circumcision do not suggest putting a blanket ban on the practice as they understand that such a ban, very much like the 1920–1933 prohibition laws in the United States, would not be effective... Protagonists and critics of male circumcision debate whether the practice is morally acceptable... They assign different weights to harm as well as to medical risks and to non-medical benefits. The different weights to risks and benefits conform to their underlying views about the practices... Protagonists and critics disagree about the significance of medical reasons for circumcision...
  13. ^ a b Bokenkotter, Thomas (2004). A Concise History of the Catholic Church (Revised and expanded ed.). Doubleday. pp. 19–21. ISBN 0-385-50584-1.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Acts 15:1–2, 15:6–10; Galatians 5:2–3, 5:6–12, 6:12–15; Philippians 3:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:17–21; Romans 2:17–29, 3:9–28, 5:1–11; Titus 1:10–16.
  15. ^ Clark, R. Scott (17 September 2012). "Baptism and Circumcision According to Colossians 2:11–12". The Heidelblog. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  16. ^ Crowther, Jonathan (1815). A Portraiture of Methodism. p. 224.
  17. ^ a b c Marie, André (26 December 2016). "Circumcision: An Acceptable Practice?". The Catholic Thing. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  18. ^ Sicard, Sigvard von (1970). The Lutheran Church on the Coast of Tanzania 1887-1914: With Special Reference to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Synod of Uzaramo-Uluguru. Gleerup. p. 157.
  19. ^ a b c d e Slosar, J. P.; D. O'Brien (2003). "The Ethics of Neonatal Male Circumcision: A Catholic Perspective". American Journal of Bioethics. 3 (2): 62–64. doi:10.1162/152651603766436306. PMID 12859824. S2CID 38064474.
  20. ^ a b Customary in some Coptic and other churches:
    • "The Coptic Christians in Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians—two of the oldest surviving forms of Christianity—retain many of the features of early Christianity, including circumcision. Circumcision is not prescribed in other forms of Christianity... Some Christian churches in South Africa oppose the practice, viewing it as a pagan ritual, while others, including the Nomiya church in Kenya, require circumcision for membership and participants in focus group discussions in Zambia and Malawi mentioned similar beliefs that Christians should practice circumcision since Jesus was circumcised and the Bible teaches the practice."
    • "The decision that Christians need not practice circumcision is recorded in Acts 15; there was never, however, a prohibition of circumcision, and it is still practiced by Coptic Christians." "circumcision" Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Male circumcision: Global trends and determinants of prevalence, safety and acceptability" (PDF). World Health Organization. 2007.
  22. ^ Mattson, CL; Bailey, RC; Muga, R; Poulussen, R; Onyango, T (2005). "Acceptability of male circumcision and predictors of circumcision preference among men and women in Nyanza province Kenya". AIDS Care. 17 (2): 182–194. doi:10.1080/09540120512331325671. PMID 15763713. S2CID 22917530.
  23. ^ "Circumcision protest brought to Florence". Associated Press. March 30, 2008. However, the practice is still common among Christians in the United States, Oceania, South Korea, the Philippines, the Middle East and Africa. Some Middle Eastern Christians actually view the procedure as a rite of passage.
  24. ^ a b "Circumcision amongst the Dogon". The Non-European Components of European Patrimony (NECEP) Database. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-01-16. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
  25. ^ Thomas Riggs (2006). "Christianity: Coptic Christianity". Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices: Religions and denominations. Thomson Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-6612-5.
  26. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Baptism: "According to rabbinical teachings, which dominated even during the existence of the Temple (Pes. viii. 8), Baptism, next to circumcision and sacrifice, was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism (Yeb. 46b, 47b; Ker. 9a; 'Ab. Zarah 57a; Shab. 135a; Yer. Kid. iii. 14, 64d). Circumcision, however, was much more important, and, like baptism, was called a 'seal' (Schlatter, "Die Kirche Jerusalems," 1898, p. 70). But as circumcision was discarded by Christianity, and the sacrifices had ceased, Baptism remained the sole condition for initiation into religious life. The next ceremony, adopted shortly after the others, was the imposition of hands, which, it is known, was the usage of the Jews at the ordination of a rabbi. Anointing with oil, which at first also accompanied the act of Baptism, and was analogous to the anointment of priests among the Jews, was not a necessary condition."
  27. ^ a b c d Adams, Gregory; Adams, Kristina (2012). "Circumcision in the Early Christian Church: The Controversy That Shaped a Continent". In Bolnick, David A.; Koyle, Martin; Yosha, Assaf (eds.). Surgical Guide to Circumcision. London: Springer-Verlag. pp. 291–298. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2858-8_26. ISBN 978-1-4471-2857-1.
  28. ^ a b c Hodges, Frederick M. (2001). "The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to Lipodermos, Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the Kynodesme" (PDF). Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 75 (Fall 2001). Johns Hopkins University Press: 375–405. doi:10.1353/bhm.2001.0119. PMID 11568485. S2CID 29580193. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  29. ^ Neusner, Jacob (1993). Approaches to Ancient Judaism, New Series: Religious and Theological Studies. Scholars Press. p. 149. Circumcised barbarians, along with any others who revealed the glans penis, were the butt of ribald humour. For Greek art portrays the foreskin, often drawn in meticulous detail, as an emblem of male beauty; and children with congenitally short foreskins were sometimes subjected to a treatment, known as epispasm, that was aimed at elongation.
  30. ^ a b c d Rubin, Jody P. (July 1980). "Celsus' Decircumcision Operation: Medical and Historical Implications". Urology. 16 (1). Elsevier: 121–124. doi:10.1016/0090-4295(80)90354-4. PMID 6994325. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  31. ^ Kohler, Kaufmann; Hirsch, Emil G.; Jacobs, Joseph; Friedenwald, Aaron; Broydé, Isaac. "Circumcision: In Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature". Jewish Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2020. Contact with Grecian life, especially at the games of the arena [which involved nudity], made this distinction obnoxious to the Hellenists, or antinationalists; and the consequence was their attempt to appear like the Greeks by epispasm ("making themselves foreskins"; I Macc. i. 15; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 5, § 1; Assumptio Mosis, viii.; I Cor. vii. 18; Tosef., Shab. xv. 9; Yeb. 72a, b; Yer. Peah i. 16b; Yeb. viii. 9a). All the more did the law-observing Jews defy the edict of Antiochus Epiphanes prohibiting circumcision (I Macc. i. 48, 60; ii. 46); and the Jewish women showed their loyalty to the Law, even at the risk of their lives, by themselves circumcising their sons.
  32. ^ a b c Schultheiss, Dirk; Truss, Michael C.; Stief, Christian G.; Jonas, Udo (1998). "Uncircumcision: A Historical Review of Preputial Restoration". Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 101 (7). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 1990–8. doi:10.1097/00006534-199806000-00037. PMID 9623850. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  33. ^ a b Fredriksen, Paula (2018). When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation. London: Yale University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-300-19051-9.
  34. ^ Black, C. Clifton; Smith, D. Moody; Spivey, Robert A., eds. (2019) [1969]. "Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles". Anatomy of the New Testament (8th ed.). Minneapolis: Fortress Press. pp. 187–226. doi:10.2307/j.ctvcb5b9q.17. ISBN 978-1-5064-5711-6. OCLC 1082543536. S2CID 242771713.
  35. ^ Galatians 1:15–16, 2:7–9; Romans 11:13; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11.
  36. ^ McGarvey on Acts 16: "Yet we see him in the case before us, circumcising Timothy with his own hand, and this 'on account of certain Jews who were in those quarters.'"
  37. ^ Bechtel, Florentine. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Judaizers" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  38. ^ a b c d e Thiessen, Matthew (2016). "Gentile Sons and Seed of Abraham". Paul and the Gentile Problem. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 105–115. ISBN 978-0-19-027175-6.
  39. ^ a b c d e f Fredriksen 2018, pp. 157-160.
  40. ^ a b c d e f g Dunn, James D. G., ed. (2007). "'Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but...'". The New Perspective on Paul: Collected Essays. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. Vol. 185. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 314–330. ISBN 978-3-16-149518-2.
  41. ^ a b c d e f Bisschops, Ralph (January 2017). "Metaphor in Religious Transformation: 'Circumcision of the Heart' in Paul of Tarsus" (PDF). In Chilton, Paul; Kopytowska, Monika (eds.). Language, Religion and the Human Mind. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–30. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190636647.003.0012. ISBN 978-0-19-063664-7. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  42. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Circumcision: "To this epispastic operation performed on the athletes to conceal the marks of circumcision St. Paul alludes, me epispastho (1 Cor 7:18)."
  43. ^ a b Dunn, James D. G. (Autumn 1993). Reinhartz, Adele (ed.). "Echoes of Intra-Jewish Polemic in Paul's Letter to the Galatians". Journal of Biblical Literature. 112 (3). Society of Biblical Literature: 459–477. doi:10.2307/3267745. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3267745.
  44. ^ Thiessen, Matthew (September 2014). Breytenbach, Cilliers; Thom, Johan (eds.). "Paul's Argument against Gentile Circumcision in Romans 2:17-29". Novum Testamentum. 56 (4). Leiden: Brill Publishers: 373–391. doi:10.1163/15685365-12341488. eISSN 1568-5365. ISSN 0048-1009. JSTOR 24735868.
  45. ^ "April 2020". www.goarch.org. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008.
  46. ^ "The Circumcision (Obrezanie) of the Lord". www.holytrinityorthodox.com.
  47. ^ "The Online Book of Common Prayer". www.bcponline.org.
  48. ^ "Year A 2019/2020" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. p. 5. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  49. ^ Eugenius IV, Pope (1990) [1442]. "Ecumenical Council of Florence (1438–1445): Session 11—4 February 1442; Bull of union with the Copts". In Norman P. Tanner (ed.). Decrees of the ecumenical councils. 2 volumes (in Greek and Latin). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-490-2. LCCN 90003209. Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2007-04-25. [The Holy Roman Church] firmly believes, professes and teaches that the legal prescriptions of the Old Testament or the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, holy sacrifices and sacraments, because they were instituted to signify something in the future, although they were adequate for the divine cult of that age, once our Lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end and the sacraments of the new Testament had their beginning. Whoever, after the Passion, places his hope in the legal prescriptions and submits himself to them as necessary for salvation and as if faith in Christ without them could not save, sins mortally. It does not deny that from Christ's passion until the promulgation of the Gospel they could have been retained, provided they were in no way believed to be necessary for salvation. But it asserts that after the promulgation of the gospel they cannot be observed without loss of eternal salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the [Jewish] sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practise circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation.
  50. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Circumcision". www.newadvent.org.
  51. ^ Jones, David Albert (2018). "Infant Male Circumcision". The Linacre Quarterly. 85 (1). National Institutes of Health Search database Search term Clear input: 49–62. doi:10.1177/0024363918761714. PMC 6027118. PMID 29970937.
  52. ^ Origen. "XXII". Contra Celsum (Against Celus).
  53. ^ Pope Pius XII, Discorsi e messaggi radiodiffusi, t. XIV, Rome 1952, s. 328-329
  54. ^ Pope Pius XII, "The Intangibility of the Human Person," September 14, 1952, in The Human Body: Papal Teachings, pp. 199-207.
  55. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions: The Catholic Church and Circumcision".
  56. ^ Father John J. Dietzen. The Morality of Circumcision. The Tablet, Brooklyn, N.Y., 30 October 2004, p. 33.
  57. ^ "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services" (Fourth ed.). U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2001. Retrieved 2008-04-11. Directive 29 All persons served by Catholic health care have the right and duty to protect and preserve their bodily and functional integrity. The functional integrity of the person may be sacrificed to maintain the health or life of the person when no other morally permissible means is available. Directive 33 The well-being of the whole person must be taken into account in deciding about any therapeutic intervention or use of technology. Therapeutic procedures that are likely to cause harm or undesirable side-effects can be justified only by a proportionate benefit to the patient.
  58. ^ Fadel, P. (2003). "Respect for bodily integrity: a Catholic perspective on circumcision in Catholic hospitals". American Journal of Bioethics. 3 (2): 23–25. doi:10.1162/152651603766436379. PMID 12859800. S2CID 41776096.
  59. ^ Benedict XVI, General Audience, Wednesday, 31, January 2007.
  60. ^ Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. Epistle 58. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886. Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
  61. ^ Book of Moroni 8:8 and Doctrine and Covenants Section 74
  62. ^ Book of Mormon Student Manual, (2009), 395–400 [1]
  63. ^ Ubayd, Anis (2006). The Druze and Their Faith in Tawhid. Syracuse University Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780815630975. Male circumcision is standard practice, by tradition, among the Druze
  64. ^ Jacobs, Daniel (1998). Israel and the Palestinian Territories: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 147. ISBN 9781858282480. Circumcision is not compulsory and has no religious significance.
  65. ^ a b Dana, Nissim (2003). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. University of Michigan Press. p. 56. ISBN 9781903900369.
  66. ^ Brenton Betts, Robert (2013). The Sunni-Shi'a Divide: Islam's Internal Divisions and Their Global Consequences. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 56. ISBN 9781612345239. There are many references to the Druze refusal to observe this common Muslim practice, one of the earliest being the rediscoverer of the ruins of Petra, John Burckhardt. "The Druses do not circumcise their children
  67. ^ a b c Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh, Sami A. (1994). "To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah: Legitimization of Male and Female Circumcision". Medicine and Law. 13 (7–8). World Association for Medical Law: 575–622. PMID 7731348.; Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh, Sami A. (1995). "Islamic Law and the Issue of Male and Female Circumcision". Third World Legal Studies. 13. Valparaiso University School of Law: 73–101. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  68. ^ a b c d e f g h Kueny, Kathryn (2004). "Abraham's Test: Islamic Male Circumcision as Anti/Ante-Covenantal Practice". In Reeves, John C. (ed.). Bible and Qurʼān: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality. Symposium Series (Society of Biblical Literature). Vol. 24. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 161–2, 169–173. ISBN 90-04-12726-7.
  69. ^ a b c d Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. J.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch., eds. (1986). "Khitan". Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 5. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 20–22. ISBN 90-04-07819-3.
  70. ^ a b c d e Šakūrzāda, Ebrāhīm; Omidsalar, Mahmoud (October 2011). "Circumcision". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. V/6. New York: Columbia University. pp. 596–600. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  71. ^ Alahmad, Ghiath; Dekkers, Wim (2012-03-20). "Bodily Integrity and Male Circumcision: An Islamic Perspective". Journal of the Islamic Medical Association of North America. 44 (1): 44–1–7903. doi:10.5915/44-1-7903. ISSN 0899-8299. PMC 3516177. PMID 23610746.
  72. ^ Gauvain, Richard (2013). Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God. Routledge Islamic studies series. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-7103-1356-0.
  73. ^ a b c d e f Anwer, Abdul Wahid; Samad, Lubna; Baig-Ansari, Naila; Iftikhar, Sundus (January 2017). "Reported Male Circumcision Practices in a Muslim-Majority Setting". BioMed Research International. 2017. Hindawi Publishing Corporation: 4957348. doi:10.1155/2017/4957348. PMC 5282422. PMID 28194416.
  74. ^ a b "Islam: Circumcision of boys". Religion & ethics—Islam. Bbc.co.uk. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  75. ^ Clark M (10 March 2011). Islam For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-118-05396-6. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016.
  76. ^ Tandavan, Doctor (February 1989). "Routine Circumcision is Unnecessary". Hinduism Today. Archived from the original on 2003-07-07. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  77. ^ London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; WHO; UNAIDS (2007). "Male circumcision: Global trends and determinants of prevalence, safety and acceptability" (PDF). p. 4.
  78. ^ Clarence-Smith 2008, pp. 14–22.
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  92. ^ Cf. the old Hebrew classic, Midrash Rabba (Exodus Rabba 30:9), where Aquila of Sinope said to Hadrian the king, "I wish to become a proselyte." When the king retorted, "Go and study their Divine Law, but do not be circumcised." Aquila then said to him,"Even the wisest man in your kingdom, and an elder who is aged one-hundred, cannot study their Divine Law if he isn’t circumcised, for thus is it written: 'He makes known his words unto Jacob, even his precepts and judgments unto Israel. He has not done the like of which to any other nation' (Ps. 147:19-20). Unto whom, then, [has he done it]? Unto the sons of Israel!”
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Works cited:

Clarence-Smith, William G. (2008). "Islam and Female Genital Cutting in Southeast Asia: The Weight of the Past" (PDF). Finnish Journal of Ethnicity and Migration. 3 (2). Archived from the original on 2009-03-06.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

  • Glick, Leonard B. Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-19-517674-X)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) The rabbinic literature and Converts to Judaism are sections are an evolution of the corresponding article which gives the following Bibliography:

  • Pocock, Specimen Historiœ Arabum, pp. 319 et seq.;
  • Millo, Histoire du Mahométisme, p. 350;
  • Hoffmann, Beschneidung, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc.;
  • Steinschneider, Die Beschneidung der Araber und Muhammedaner, in Glassberg, Die Beschneidung;
  • Jolly, Etude Critique du Manuel Opératoire des Musulmans et des Israélites, Paris, 1899.

External links[edit]

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