Circumcision controversy in early Christianity information
This article uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article.(June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Part of a series on the
Bible
Canons and books
Tanakh
Torah
Nevi'im
Ketuvim
Old Testament (OT)
New Testament (NT)
Deuterocanon
Antilegomena
Chapters and verses
Apocrypha
Jewish
OT
NT
Authorship and development
Authorship
Dating
Hebrew canon
Old Testament canon
New Testament canon
Composition of the Torah
Mosaic authorship
Pauline epistles
Petrine epistles
Johannine works
Translations and manuscripts
Dead Sea scrolls
Masoretic Text
Samaritan Pentateuch
Targumim
Septuagint
Peshitta
Vetus Latina
Vulgate
Gothic Bible
Luther Bible
English Bibles
by language
Biblical studies
Archeology
Artifacts
Dating
Historicity
Internal consistency
People
Places
Names
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
Rahlfs' Septuagint
Novum Testamentum Graece
Documentary hypothesis
Synoptic problem
NT textual categories
Biblical criticism
Historical
Textual
Source
Form
Redaction
Canonical
Interpretation
Hermeneutics
Pesher
Midrash
Pardes
Allegorical interpretation
Historical-grammatical method
Inspiration
Literalism
Alcohol
Conspiracy theory
Ethics
Capital punishment
Homosexuality
Humor
Incest
Muhammad
Prophecy
Rape
Serpents
Sex
Slavery
Violence
Warfare
Women
Perspectives
Gnostic
Islamic
Quranic
Inerrancy
Infallibility
Criticism of the Bible
Biblical authority
Outline of Bible-related topics Bible portal
v
t
e
The controversy on religious male circumcision in early Christianity has played an important role in the history of Christianity and Christian theology.[1][2][3][4]
The circumcision of Jesus is celebrated as a feast day in the liturgical calendar of many Christian denominations, while the teachings of the Apostle Paul asserted that physical circumcision was unnecessary for the salvation of Gentiles and their membership in the New Covenant.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The first Council of Jerusalem (c. 50) declared that circumcision was not necessary for new Gentile converts[6][11][12] (a record of the council is found in Acts 15); Pauline Christianity was instrumental in the split of early Christianity and Judaism and eventually became the predominant position among Christians.[13][14] Covenant theology largely views the Christian sacrament of baptism as fulfilling the Israelite practice of circumcision, both being signs and seals of the covenant of grace.[15]
While circumcision is not observed by the majority of Christians in most parts of the Christian world and mainstream Christian denominations do not require circumcision,[16][17][18] it is still practiced among some Christian communities.[19][20][21][22] Despite the fact that Christianity does not require circumcision of its followers, some Oriental Christian denominations retained the practice of male circumcision,[23][20][16] and males are generally required to be circumcised shortly after birth as part of a rite of passage.[23]
^Stendahl, Krister (July 1963). "The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West" (PDF). Harvard Theological Review. 56 (3). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School: 199–215. doi:10.1017/S0017816000024779. ISSN 1475-4517. JSTOR 1508631. LCCN 09003793. OCLC 803348474. S2CID 170331485. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^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.
^Jacobs, Andrew (2012). Christ Circumcised: A Study in Early Christian History and Difference. United States: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812206517.
^Bolnick, David; Koyle, Martin; Yosha, Assaf (2012). "Circumcision in the Early Christian Church: The Controversy That Shaped a Continent". Surgical Guide to Circumcision. United Kingdom: Springer. pp. 290–298. ISBN 9781447128588. In summary, circumcision has played a surprisingly important role in Western history. The circumcision debate forged a Gentile identity to the early Christian church which allowed it to survive the Jewish Diaspora and become the dominant religion of Western Europe. Circumcision continued to have a major cultural presence throughout Christendom even after the practice had all but vanished.... the circumcision of Jesus... celebrated as a religious holiday... [has been] examined by many of the greatest scholars and artists of the Western tradition.
^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.
^ abCross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Paul the Apostle". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd Revised ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1243–45. doi:10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^Bokenkotter, Thomas (2004). A Concise History of the Catholic Church (Revised and expanded ed.). Doubleday. pp. 19–21. ISBN 0-385-50584-1.
^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.
^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."
^Cite error: The named reference Clark2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abPitts-Taylor, Victoria (2008). Cultural Encyclopedia of the Body [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 394. ISBN 9781567206913. For most part, Christianity does not require circumcision of its followers. Yet, some Orthodox and African Christian groups do require circumcision. These circumcisions take place at any point between birth and puberty.
^Meyer, Barbara U. (12 March 2020). Jesus the Jew in Christian Memory: Theological and Philosophical Explorations. Cambridge University Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-108-49889-0. In his cultural accounts of circumcision, Boyarin clearly presupposes an alienated attitude to circumcision in Western countries. They show that the Christian memory of Jesus' circumcision is significantly weaker than the growing awareness of his Jewishness. In contemporary political debates – as in Canada or in North-European countries and especially in Germany – circumcision is typically described as an "archaic" rite, with those practicing it presented as forced to do so by some "ancient" law or custom.
^Levine, Alan J. (2000). Captivity, Flight, and Survival in World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-275-96955-4. In the last resort, even Jewish men otherwise well equipped to pretend to be Christians could be spotted, since circumcision was rare among Eastern European Christians.
^Gruenbaum, Ellen (2015). The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780812292510. Christian theology generally interprets male circumcision to be an Old Testament rule that is no longer an obligation ... though in many countries (especially the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, but not so much in Europe) it is widely practiced among Christians
^ abCite error: The named reference R. Peteet 2017 97–101 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Associated Press was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Creighton, Sarah; Liao, Lih-Mei (2019). Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery: Solution to What Problem?. Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9781108435529. Christians in Africa, for instance, often practise infant male circumcision.
^ abCite error: The named reference N. Stearns 2008 179 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 27 Related for: Circumcision controversy in early Christianity information
The controversy on religious male circumcisioninearlyChristianity has played an important role in the history of Christianity and Christian theology...
Male circumcision has been a subject of controversy for a number of reasons including religious, ethical, sexual, and medical. During the late 19th and...
against the circumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity. Forced circumcisions have occurred in a wide range of situations, most notably in the compulsory...
of Christianity: note for example Jesus' teaching of the Law during his Sermon on the Mount and the circumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity. Rabbinic...
Mosaic Law. Later, in Acts 15:1–21, the Council of Jerusalem addressed the circumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity. Christianity and Judaism Christian...
wiped it off with the hairs of her head". The circumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity was resolved in the 1st century, so that non-Jewish Christians...
Christianity—retain many of the features of earlyChristianity, including circumcision. Circumcision is not prescribed in other forms of Christianity...
Israelite practice of circumcision, both being signs and seals of the covenant of grace (cf. CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity). Since the Council...
Christian views on magic CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity Esoteric Christianity Gentile Neoplatonism and Christianity This disambiguation page...
amusement of prying atheists." Christianity portal CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity Nail (relic) Nanteos Cup Sandals of Jesus Christ Shroud...
believed to be the site of Golgatha and the Empty tomb. CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity – Jesus and Paul and presumably the Jewish Christians...
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps...
EarlyChristianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council...
Jewish Christianity is the foundation of EarlyChristianity, which later developed into Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Christianity started...
milah). See also CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity and the Abrogation of Old Covenant laws. The attractiveness of Christianity may, however,...
Circumcisionin Africa, and the rites of initiation in Africa, as well as "the frequent resemblance between details of ceremonial procedure in areas thousands...
publicly accuses Peter of "Judaizing" (2:11–21); see also CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity 50–53? Paul's 2nd mission (Acts 15:36–18:22), split...
require circumcision for Gentile converts. Eventually Paul's view prevailed, and this among other related developments led to the separation of early Christianity...
practice within EarlyChristianity and early Rabbinic Judaism (both of which were far less orthodox and theologically homogeneous in the first centuries...
100) and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age.[citation needed] EarlyChristianity developed out of the eschatological ministry of Jesus. Subsequent...
Ashkenazi: [bʁis ˈmilə]; "covenant of circumcision") or bris (Yiddish: ברית, Yiddish: [bʁɪs]) is the ceremony of circumcisionin Judaism and Samaritanism. According...
somewhere in between these two extremes, opposed to insistence on keeping the "Ritual Laws" (for example the circumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity) as...
(Hellenization, see also Antinomianism, Hellenistic Judaism, and CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity). The new-perspective view is that Paul's writings discuss...
Christian views on the Old Covenant Christian Zionism CircumcisioncontroversyinearlyChristianity Conversion of the Jews (future event) Criticism of Judaism...
surviving forms of Christianity— retain many of the features of earlyChristianity, including male circumcision. Circumcision is not prescribed in other forms...