Worship & law
Circumcised on the eighth day
God gave Abraham circumcision as the sign of his covenant. Jesus was circumcised as a baby, and so was John the Baptist. Why did the church later stop requiring it, and what does that mean for following Jesus?
1The question
Did Jesus keep the covenant of circumcision, and why did the church stop requiring it?
2What Christians believe
Christians agree that Jesus was circumcised, as a Jewish child under the Law. But when Gentiles began to believe, the apostles decided at the council in Jerusalem that they did not need to be circumcised (Acts 15).
Paul teaches that the true circumcision is “that of the heart” (Romans 2:29), and warns Gentile believers that if they seek to be justified by circumcision, “Christ shall profit you nothing” (Galatians 5:2). Many Christians see baptism as the sign of the new covenant, as Colossians 2:11–12 links the two.
3What the texts say
The covenant with Abraham
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
John the Baptist and Jesus
And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Paul’s teaching
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
4What scholars say
Acts 15 and Galatians 2 record the debate over circumcising Gentile believers, which most scholars date to around the year 49. The fact that it needed a council shows that the first believers, all Jews, had kept circumcision.
Paula Fredriksen (Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle, 2017) argues that Paul opposed circumcision for Gentiles specifically, and did not teach Jewish believers to give it up.
Scholars agree that Jesus, John the Baptist and the first disciples were circumcised, and that Genesis 17 calls circumcision “an everlasting covenant”.
5The Islamic perspective
Islam follows the way of Abraham, which the Qur’an calls the upright religion. Circumcision is part of that way:
And afterward We inspired thee (Muhammad, saying): Follow the religion of Abraham, as one by nature upright. He was not of the idolaters.
And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters.
The Prophet ﷺ counted circumcision among the practices of the natural way (fitrah), as reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Muslims see themselves keeping the covenant sign that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, John and Jesus all kept.
6Objections and responses
“Paul says that if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing (Galatians 5:2).”
Response: Those are Paul’s words to Gentiles who thought circumcision would save them. Genesis calls circumcision an everlasting covenant (17:13), and Jesus and his disciples kept it. Muslims ask that Jesus’s own example come first.
“What matters is the circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).”
Response: Islam agrees that the heart matters most. But the Torah calls for a circumcised heart alongside the outward sign, not instead of it: “the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart” (Deuteronomy 30:6) is said to a people already circumcised in the flesh.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, in keeping with the covenant of Abraham. Christians hold that the church rightly stopped requiring it for Gentiles. Muslims keep the practice as part of the way of Abraham, and see in it one more point where Muslims, not most Christians, follow what Jesus did.
Read Genesis 17:9–14 and Acts 15:1–21 and ask what changed, and who changed it.
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Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Genesis 17:10Genesis 17:12Genesis 17:13Luke 1:59Luke 2:21Galatians 5:2Romans 2:29
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 16:123Qur’an 2:135
- Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle (2017)