Hello Rich, my wife and I have been attending the church for several years and we have always appreciated your wisdom and insight into things. We have a bit of a strange question but I would think you have probably had this asked before. We are pregnant with twin boys and are debating having them circumcised. We could not really find medical direction in favor of circumcision but wondered if there was any biblical direction on this front.

Thanks,

Dennis (name protected for privacy)

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Dear Dennis,

I don’t believe there is biblical direction one way or the other concerning whether to circumcise one’s son. As the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5.6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” In other words neither circumcision or uncircumcision is any longer an issue of obedience to God, nor does it have any current relevance concerning membership with God’s people. I chose to circumcise my son and he chose to circumcise his three boys. We did this for two reasons: 1) So that the boys would “look like their dad” and 2) Because there is more work in keeping that area clean and we were told by doctors that there is some health benefit to circumcision. But this is absolutely a matter of personal opinion. It is not a matter of doctrine and it no longer has any theological significance.

Hope this helps, Dennis. God bless you.

Warmly,

Rich

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