Circumcision

[April_Rose]

I'm already pretty sure that it isn't commanded today,.. but what are your thoughts on this? Pros? Cons? I haven't made up my mind yet if I have any future sons. Now unlike my infant baptism thread,.. I'm actually looking for advice about this to try and make up my mind.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

I believe that an infant's parents have a duty to have it done if they feel it is commanded in Scripture, but beyond that, there really aren't any other valid reasons to do it at that time.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I'm already pretty sure that it isn't commanded today,.. but what are your thoughts on this? Pros? Cons? I haven't made up my mind yet if I have any future sons. Now unlike my infant baptism thread,.. I'm actually looking for advice about this to try and make up my mind.

No command for circumcision.

Whether to have any future sons circumcised is ultimately up to possible medical or social concerns. The United States is actually one of the very few western nations where circumcision is quite common in the general population, this stems back to the early 20th century when it was believed by some medical experts that circumcision would help prevent teenage boys from masturbating. That's not a joke, that's really why circumcision became common in the United States, some doctors really did think that at the time.

Whether there is any actual good medical reason for circumcision is still debated, but last I looked it up the general consensus seemed to be that there was no substantial medical benefit.

So that really only leaves a social concern. Which kind of makes circumcision little more than having cosmetic surgery performed on your infant son.

There's no religious reason to have it done, there's very likely no medical reason to have it done. So it really boils down to a cosmetic change.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[HARK!]

Baptism is a cleansing, an outward sign to YHWH of the cleansing that has taken place within.
Circumcision is in outward sign to YHWH, of the circumcision of the heart. It's a sign that we are set apart to him.

Baptism has no more value than circumcision, without the change within coming first.

These are just outward signs, to him; that we belong to him.

 

[April_Rose]

No command for circumcision.

Whether to have any future sons circumcised is ultimately up to possible medical or social concerns. The United States is actually one of the very few western nations where circumcision is quite common in the general population, this stems back to the early 20th century when it was believed by some medical experts that circumcision would help prevent teenage boys from masturbating. That's not a joke, that's really why circumcision became common in the United States, some doctors really did think that at the time.

Whether there is any actual good medical reason for circumcision is still debated, but last I looked it up the general consensus seemed to be that there was no substantial medical benefit.

So that really only leaves a social concern. Which kind of makes circumcision little more than having cosmetic surgery performed on your infant son.

There's no religious reason to have it done, there's very likely no medical reason to have it done. So it really boils down to a cosmetic change.

-CryptoLutheran

Really? Interesting about the masturbating thing as I didn't know that. I wonder if that's why it was originally part of the law. You can bet that Jesus never did that though so then His circumcision would have been rather pointless.

 

[HARK!]

No command for circumcision.

(CLV) Gn 17:13
He shall be circumcised, yea circumcised, the manservant born in your household or acquired with your money. Thus will My covenant be marked in your flesh as an eonian covenant.

 

[April_Rose]

(CLV) Gn 17:13
He shall be circumcised, yea circumcised, the manservant born in your household or acquired with your money. Thus will My covenant be marked in your flesh as an eonian covenant.

I think that they meant no command for it today.

 

[HARK!]

I think that they meant no command for it today.

"Thus will My covenant be marked in your flesh as an eonian covenant."

This means forever.

 

[April_Rose]

"Thus will My covenant be marked in your flesh as an eonian covenant."

This means forever.

Well,.. I don't know about that. I would like a second opinion first but things changed a bit after the death and resurrection of Christ.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Paul asked the Apostles in Jerusalem this very question and the answer was NO.

ACTS 15

some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

6The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. 7After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8“And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11“But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
19“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21“For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

 

[Lost4words]

Circumcision was part of the old Covenant. Its not a part of the new.

Circumcision of the heart is more important.

 

[HARK!]

Well,.. I don't know about that. I would like a second opinion first but things changed a bit after the death and resurrection of Christ.

Here's a second witness:

(CLV) Ps 119:160
The sum of Your word is truth, And all of Your righteous ordinances are eonian.

Here's a third:

(CLV) Lk 16:17
Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass by than for one serif of the law to fall.

 

[Carl Emerson]

This is the very theology that Paul went to Jerusalem to sort out.
As a result the believers were not circumcised.
Pharisaism sadly is still very much alive...

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

I agree with Carl Emerson on this.

Circumcision was the sign of belonging to God in the old covenant, baptism is the sign of belonging to God in the new covenant.

 

[Tony B]

I believe that an infant's parents have a duty to have it done if they feel it is commanded in Scripture, but beyond that, there really aren't any other valid reasons to do it to an infant.

Well, it’s not commanded in New Testament scripture. In fact Paul warned against it, indicating that anyone that takes up any of the ordinances in the Law of Moses is in effect turning their back on the gift of faith and their justification through it, and God’s grace. Not a smart move! We know that no one is justified through self works, no matter what they be.

There have been suggestions that circumcision is good for health reasons, but the medical fraternity seem to have debunked that theory, and that makes sense.

 

[mkgal1]

Well,.. I don't know about that. I would like a second opinion first but things changed a bit after the death and resurrection of Christ.

That passage quoted from Genesis 17 was the covenant between God and Abraham. This is what's eternal about that promise:

Galatians 3:16 ~ God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.​

 

[April_Rose]

Circumcision was part of the old Covenant. Its not a part of the new.

Circumcision of the heart is more important.

Unfortunately for you,.. neutering is still a thing.

 

[mkgal1]

Unfortunately for you,.. neutering is still a thing.

Circumcision isn't neutering.

 

[Lost4words]

Unfortunately for you,.. neutering is still a thing.

My owner knows better than to even whisper the word vet! He aint going anywhere near that area? You seen my teeth?

 

[April_Rose]

Circumcision isn't neutering.

I know lol it's a joke.