Part of a series on The Bible
Biblical canon and books
Tanakh: Torah · Nevi'im · Ketuvim Old Testament · New Testament · Hebrew Bible Deuterocanon · Antilegomena Chapters & verses Apocrypha: Jewish · OT · NT
Development and authorship
Jewish Canon Old Testament canon New Testament canon Mosaic authorship Pauline epistles Johannine works Petrine epistles
Translations and manuscripts
Septuagint · Samaritan Pentateuch Dead Sea scrolls  · Masoretic text Targums · Peshitta Vetus Latina · Vulgate Gothic Bible · Luther Bible English Bibles
Biblical studies
Dating the Bible Biblical criticism Higher criticism Textual criticism Canonical criticism Novum Testamentum Graece Documentary hypothesis Synoptic problem NT textual categories Historicity (People) Internal Consistency Archeology · Artifacts Science and the Bible
Interpretation
Hermeneutics · Pesher Midrash · Pardes Allegorical · Literalism Prophecy
Views
Inerrancy · Infallibility · Criticism Islamic · Qur'anic · Gnostic Judaism and Christianity Biblical law in Judaism Biblical law in Christianity
This box: view • talk • edit Bible portal

The first Christian Church Council in Jerusalem, held in approximately 50 AD^[1] decreed that circumcision was not a requirement for Gentile converts. This became known as the "Apostolic Decree"^[2] and is one of the first acts differentiating Early Christianity from Rabbinic Judaism^[3] At roughly the same time Rabbinic Judaism made their circumcision requirement even stricter.^[4]

According to the Columbia Encyclopedia,^[5] "the decision that Christians need not practice circumcision is recorded in (Acts 15); there was never, however, a prohibition of circumcision, and it is practiced by Coptic Christians."

[edit] Jewish background

There are numerous references in the Hebrew Bible to the obligation for circumcision among Jews. For example, Leviticus 12:3 says:

On the eighth day a boy is to be circumcised.

And the uncircumcised are to be cut off from the Jewish people - (Genesis 17:14):

Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia article on circumcision of proselytes^[6]:

[edit] Circumcision of Jesus

Circumcision of Jesus, sculpture in the Cathedral of Chartres.

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth, in accordance with Mosaic Law. (Luke 2:21-24)

[edit] Circumcision controversy

Disputes over the Mosaic law generated intense controversy in Early Christianity. This is particularly notable in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy came to the fore. Alister McGrath, a proponent of Paleo-orthodoxy, claimed that many of the Jewish Christians were fully faithful religious Jews, only differing in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah.^[8] As such, they believed that circumcision and other requirements of the Mosaic law were required for salvation, if one equates fully faithful religious Jews with Legalism (theology), for a counterview, see Covenantal nomism. See also Judaism and Christianity. Those in the Christian community who insisted that biblical law, including laws on circumcision, continued to apply to Christians were pejoratively labeled Judaizers by their opponents and criticized as being elitist and legalistic, besides other claimed sins.^[9]

[edit] Council of Jerusalem

Icon of James the Just, who issued the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:19-21) at the Council of Jerusalem, c. 50 AD.

The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) of about 50 AD was the first meeting in early Christianity called upon to consider the application of Mosaic Law to the new community. Specifically, it had to consider whether new Gentile converts to Christianity were obligated to undergo biblical circumcision for full membership in the Christian community, but it was conscious that the issue had wider implications, since circumcision is the "everlasting" sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:9-14). Jewish culture was still trying to find its place in the more dominant Hellenistic culture which found circumcision to be repulsive.^[10]

At the time, the Christian community would have considered itself a part of the wider Jewish community, with most of the leaders of the Church being Jewish or Jewish proselytes.

The decision of the Council came to be called the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:19-21) and was that most Jewish law, including the requirement for circumcision of males, was not obligatory for Gentile converts, possibly in order to make it easier for them to join the movement.^[11] However, the Council did retain the prohibitions against eating meat containing blood, or meat of animals not properly slain, and against "fornication" and idol worship.^[12] Beginning with Augustine of Hippo^[13], many have seen a connection to Noahide Law, while some modern scholars^[14] reject the connection to Noahide Law (Genesis 9) and instead see Lev 17-18 as the basis. See also Old Testament Law directed at non-Jews and Leviticus 18. In effect, however, the Jerusalem Church created a double standard: one for Jewish Christians and one for Gentile converts. See Dual-covenant theology for the modern debate.

A Greek language inscription from Herod's Temple, late 1st century BCE. It warns gentiles to refrain from entering the Temple enclosure, on pain of death. Gentiles were restricted to the Court of the Gentiles

The Decree may be a major act of differentiation of the Church from its Jewish roots^[15], the first being the Rejection of Jesus^[16]. Although the outcome is not inconsistent with the Jewish view on the applicability of Mosaic Law to non-Jews, see also Jewish background to the early Christian circumcision controversy, the Decree created a category of persons who were members of the Christian community (which still considered itself to be part of the Jewish community) who were not considered to be full converts of the wider Jewish community. These partial converts were welcomed, a common term for them being "God fearers" (similar to the modern movement of B'nei Noah), but there were certain rituals^[17] and areas in the Temple from which they (Gentiles) were excluded, just as, for example, only the Kohen Gadol could enter the Kodesh Hakodashim of the Temple. This created problems especially when the Christian community had become dominated by new Gentile members with less understanding of the biblical reasons for the dispute.

[edit] Teaching of Paul

Artist depiction of Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, 16th century (Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, Texas). Most scholars think Paul actually dictated his letters to a secretary^[18].

While the issue was theoretically resolved, it continued to be a recurring issue among Christians. Four years after the Council of Jerusalem, Paul wrote to the Galatians about the issue, which had become a serious controversy in their region. There was a burgeoning movement of Judaizers in the area that advocated adherence to traditional Mosaic laws, including circumcision. According to McGrath, Paul identified James the Just as the motivating force behind the movement. Paul considered it a great threat to his doctrine of salvation through faith and addressed the issue with great detail in Galatians 3.^[19]

Paul, who called himself Apostle to the Gentiles, attacked the practice, though not consistently. In the case of Timothy, whose mother was Jewish Christian but whose father was Greek, he personally circumcised him "because of the Jews" that were in town. (Acts 16:1-3)^[20]. He also appeared to praise its value in Romans 3:1-2.

Paul argued that circumcision no longer meant the physical, but a spiritual practice (Romans 2:25-29). And in that sense, he wrote: "Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised" (1 Corinthians 7:18) - probably a reference to the practice of epispasm ^[21]. Paul was circumcised when he was "called." He added: "Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.", and went on to argue that circumcision didn't matter: "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts." (1 Cor 7:19)

Later Paul more explicitly denounced the practice, rejecting and condemning those who promoted circumcision to Gentile Christians. Paul warned that the advocates of circumcision were "false brothers". (Gal 2:4) He accused Galatian Christians who advocated circumcision of turning from the Spirit to the flesh: "Are you so foolish, that, whereas you began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3) He accused advocates of circumcision of wanting to make a good showing in the flesh (Gal 6:12) and of glorying or boasting of the flesh (Gal 3:13). Some believe Paul wrote the entire Epistle to the Galatians attacking circumcision and any requirement for the keeping of Jewish law by Christians, saying in chapter five: "Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all."^[22]

In a late letter he warned Christians to beware of the mutilation (Strong's G2699), saying that Christians were the true circumcision because they worshipped in the Spirit of God (Phil 3:2-3).

The Catholic Encyclopedia: Judaizers notes: "Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (1 Corinthians 9:20). Thus he shortly after circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:1-3), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem (21:26 sqq.)."

[edit] Later views

St. Peter, by Rubens

Simon Peter, who later came to be called the first Pope, condemned required circumcision of converts. (Acts 15:7-10) When the various passages from the New Testament regarding circumcision are gathered together, a strongly negative view of circumcision emerges, according to Michael Glass^[23]. Some Biblical scholars think that the Epistle of Titus, generally attributed to Paul, but see Authorship of the Pauline epistles, may state that circumcision should be discouraged among Christians (Titus 1:10-16), though others believe this is merely a reference to Jews. Circumcision was so closely associated with Jewish men that Jewish Christians were referred to as "those of the circumcision" (e.g. Colossians 3:20) [3] or conversely Christians who were circumcised were referred to as Jewish Christians or Judaizers. These terms (circumcised/uncircumcised) are generally interpreted to mean Jews and Greeks, who were predominate, however it is an oversimplification as 1st century Iudaea Province also had some Jews who were not circumcised, and some Greeks (called Proselytes or Judaizers) and others such as Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Arabs who were.

A common interpretation of the circumcision controversy of the New Testament was, that it was over the issue of whether Gentiles could enter the Church directly or ought to first convert to Judaism. However, the Halakha of Rabbinic Judaism was still under development at this time, as the Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus notes: "Jesus, however, does not appear to have taken into account the fact that the Halakha was at this period just becoming crystallized, and that much variation existed as to its definite form; the disputes of the Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai were occurring about the time of his maturity." This controversy was fought largely between opposing groups of Christians who were themselves ethnically Jewish, see section Jewish background above. According to this interpretation, those who felt that conversion to Judaism was a prerequisite for Church membership were eventually condemned by Paul as "Judaizing teachers".

The source of this interpretation is unknown; however, it appears related to Supersessionism or Hyperdispensationalism (see also New Perspective on Paul). In addition, modern Christians, such as Ethiopian Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox still practice circumcision while not considering it a part of conversion to Judaism, nor do they consider themselves to be Jews or Jewish Christians.

The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Gentile: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah notes the following reconciliation:

[edit] See also

• Christianity and Judaism
• Relations between early Christianity and Judaism
• Expounding of the Law
• Religious male circumcision
• Circumcision controversies

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Circumcision
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Circumcision
• Gentiles and Circumcision