The Council of Jerusalem during the Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity did not include religious male circumcision as a requirement for new gentile converts. This became known as the “Apostolic Decree” and may be one of the first acts differentiating early Christianity from Judaism. Circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as “a token of the covenant” concluded with him by God for all generations, as an “everlasting covenant”. ([Genesis 17:13])
There are numerous references in the Hebrew Bible to the obligation for circumcision. For example, Leviticus 12:3 says:
And the uncircumcised are to be cut off from the covenant in Genesis 17:14:
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Circumcision, Concision, Circumcise, Circumcize, Penis, Foreskin, Removal of the foreskin, Performing circumcision, Jews circumcision, Penis foreskin, Circumcised, Circumcized, Penile cancer, Penis cancer
Bible reference(s): Genesis 17:10-14, Genesis 17:23-27, Genesis 21:4, Genesis 34:15, Genesis 34:17, Genesis 34:22, Genesis 34:24, Exodus 4:26, Exodus 12:44, Exodus 12:48, Leviticus 12:3, Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 30:6, Joshua 5:2-8, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 9:25, Luke 1:59, Luke 2:21, John 7:22-23, Acts 7:8, Acts 10:45, Acts 11:2, Acts 15:1, Acts 15:5, Acts 16:3, Acts 21:21, Romans 2:25-29, Romans 3:1, Romans 3:30, Romans 4:9-12, Romans 15:8, 1 Corinthians 7:18-19, Galatians 2:3, Galatians 2:7-9, Galatians 2:12, Galatians 5:2-3, Galatians 5:6, Galatians 5:11, Galatians 6:12-13, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:11, Philippians 3:3, Philippians 3:5, Colossians 2:11, Colossians 3:11, Colossians 4:11, Titus 1:10, Judith 14:10, 1 Maccabees 1:15, 1 Maccabees 1:60, 1 Maccabees 1:61, 1 Maccabees 2:46, 2 Maccabees 6:10, 4 Maccabees 4:25, 2 Esdras 1:31
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Circumcision controversy in early Christianity,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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