circumcision and the bible?

Question

is there anywhere in the bible where god says WHY males must be circumcised? i know there's a lot of talk about it but can't recall if a reason is given.
and if god made man in his own image, does god have forskin or not? did he create adam with an extra bit or does god have one too? and if god has one, why doesn't he want anyone else to have one?
thanks

Answer 1

I have no idea why God wanted Jewish males to be circumcised. We can ask him one day.

Being made in God's image is in a spiritual sense, not physical. God is spirit, and therefore doesn't have or need sex organs.

Answer 2

The reason given is a man must be circumcised for him to be 'clean'.

Male hygiene involves pulling back the foreskin and cleaning the head of the penis. If this is not done every day, a smelly deposit forms under the foreskin. Very unpleasant. In an age when water was used mostly for drinking and not washing, it was considered better to cut off the foreskin, as then it would be easier to keep the penis clean and odour free.

There is also a condition in young boys where the foreskin is too tight, making it impossible to pull back. Minor surgery to remove the foreskin is the only remedy. As males get older, circumcision becomes more painful, so they perform the surgery on babies when they are being named.

Removing the foreskin should not be done willy-nilly. (pardon the expression). One of my sons had to have it done for medical reasons but as the other developed normally, he didn't. Some men report a loss of sexual pleasure after having it done. One said it was like an orchestra 'without the violins'. If at all possible, it shouldn't be done. In today's modern society, there is no excuse for not washing often.

As for creating man in God's image, well, She was only joking!

P.S. My son's answer to a Religious Studies exam:
'The first person to be circumcised was?'.............in pain.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

In Genesis 17, God made a covenant with Abraham that if he accepted God and followed in his ways, then God would make Abraham fruitful and make nations come out of him and give him the land of Canaan. The covenant was sealed by Abraham circumcising every man child then and for all generations to come. The circumcision was a token between God and Abraham regarding the covenant.
Jeremiah 4, speaks of cicumcising yourself to the Lord and taking away the foreskins of your heart. Although this is in the old testament, we can apply this to our faith as Christians today.
God created us in his image as he is a truine being ie Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are made in His image because we too are truine beings ie spirit, soul and body.

Answer 5

It was a covenant between God and Jews. In the early church, Paul conceded with new congregations that the important thing was to preach the gospel, not to nitpick over everything that the new Christians didn't understand. Paul's message was not to let individual differences in opinion become a stumbling block for a new Christian's faith, so he granted that they could accept not following up with circumcision if submitting to the physical act was going to keep new believers from joining the church. After all, these were adult males, not babies on the 8th day as per the Jewish law.

The symbolism of the circumcision in my opinion is that God asks us to give unconditionally from the most intimate part of our lives and promises to bless us if we do, even if we think we are surrendering to change something that we love dearly. We all know how much children mean to their parents to be sacrificed this way, and we all know how men feel about their penises. God knows its a lot to ask of a person but that kind of faith is required for God to do his will in our lives.

Answer 6

I'm not touchin this on a religious level, but I will tell you that circumcisions are in the best interest of the boy. Later in life if the foreskin is still present, it can cause sexual disfunctions as well as have psycological effects. Men most often don't like the way it looks and I've had friends that never had a circumcision and each one of them wishes they could. As they get older, there is too much risk. I wouldn't worry about what God does with his penis or what the bible says to do, I would leave it up to the parents of the child and hope they'd make the right decision.

Answer 7

Circumcision was an old testament law that only the Jews practiced. It was what set them apart from the gentiles. After Jesus came, the religious laws went out the window regarding circumcision. It is up to you whether or not to get circumcised now. But by no means is it a commandment.

Answer 8

Circumcision was a way that the Jews sacrificed a small part of their male offspring to God. It was, and still is a very ritualized ceremony. Other than that, it serves no other purpose. Many people have invented medical reasons, primarily hygiene as the origin but it is nothing more, in modern days than to charge more for a male at birth.

Answer 9

In the Old Testament it was a sign of the covenant between Abraham and God. And His people.

Answer 10

According to the Jewish Bible, 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, an "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:13), thus it is commonly observed by the Abrahamic religions.

Answer 11

Your answer is found in: Genesis 17 1 to 23.
I have found the details on the Bible Gateway.com (see below link) I hope this helps

Joolz:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2017&version=31