IV. Circumcision & Bodily Autonomy
Circumcision and Christianity: The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and the Letters of Paul
Christianity is the one major faith whose founding texts argue against requiring it.
Many American parents circumcise because they believe it is a Christian thing to do. The New Testament says the opposite. The early church ruled that Christians do not need to be circumcised, and Paul argued against requiring it in plain language.
Circumcision enters the Bible as the covenant of Abraham in Genesis 17. It is a Jewish rite, later adopted by Islam. The common American assumption that it is also Christian does not survive a reading of the New Testament.
The first major decision the early church ever made was about exactly this question. At the Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15 around the year 50, the apostles ruled that Gentile converts did not have to be circumcised to follow Christ. Britannica notes this is where the Christian exemption was first written down.
Paul was blunter. In Galatians he warns that "if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you." In First Corinthians he writes that "circumcision is nothing." In Romans he moves the whole idea inward, saying real circumcision is "of the heart," not the flesh. Jesus was himself circumcised as a Jewish baby, but he is nowhere recorded requiring it of anyone.
Genesis 17
Where the rite begins, as a Jewish covenant
Acts 15
Church rules it is not required, around 50 AD
Galatians 5:2
Paul argues directly against it
Romans 2:29
True circumcision is "of the heart"
Why it matters
A boy cut for a tradition his own scripture never asked for is left with the same scars as any other. The tissue does not care about the reason it was taken.
This is one finding from the research library behind How to Birth a Mother. Everything here traces back to a study, a dataset, or a systematic review.