That is a very good question. Needed time to reflect. As is seen in Genesis 17 the covenant of circumcision was the Abrahamic covenant establishing the Jewish nation. Gentiles were considered unclean. And this was a major distinguishing diffence between Jews and Gentiles. For a Gentile to physically become Jew they could be circumcised.
Your question though seems to deal with the aspect of health since the spiritual question was considered by the council of church leaders in Acts 15 and addressed by Paul in Romans 2:25 - 29.
Your question could also apply to eating fleah. When God created man the herbs of the field was all that was given for man to eat. After the great flood man was permitted to eat the flesh of certain clean animals. God chose to change what man was allowed to eat.
This could be taken as far as when Jesus spoke of eating with unwashen hands, that is ceremonially unwashen hands. Man is not defiled eating unwashen hands. It's not that which goes into the mouth, but rather what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man.
Jesus is ultimately concerned with the spiritual part of our lives, still He allows for various physical corruptions to continue. Consider if you will the man sitting at the temple gate in Acts 3. This man is said to have sat there a long time as he was 40 years old. It might be reasonable to think he sat at that same gate when Jesus taught in the temple. Jesus didn't heal everyone. Paul besought God to heal him and he wasn't healed.
So it would appear that while it is an unhealthy situation requiring much more attention it doesn't affect the spiritual condition of man.
Thanks for considering the issue, as you say the spiritual condition is what matters.
Many times in scripture we are told to "circumcise your heart".
Physical circumcision was supposed to remind Israelites of Abraham’s faith. Yet God often accused them of lacking faith, and therefore being uncircumcised in their heart: Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, (they were already physically circumcised, but not spiritually) men of Judah and people of Jerusalem; lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can put it out; because of the evil of your doings. (Jeremiah 4:4)
This is a form of Spiritual circumcision: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that outwardly in flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart; in spirit and not in letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. (Rom 2:28-29)
The idea of being uncircumcised in heart is also in the book of Deuteronomy, which is a record of Moses’ final very long sermon, in which he recounted all the wanderings and trials of the past 40 years. He also reminded them of the outcomes that would ensue from loving God in obedience, or not loving God and subsequently being in disobedience to his purpose and way of life. The analogy Moses used for them to be obedient to God was to have a circumcised heart: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, (to hold Him in awe) to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, … Only the Lord had a delight in your fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to love them, and He chose their seed after them (the nation of Israel), you above all people, as it is today. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked. (Deut 10:12-16) God’s goal was for physical Israel to become Spiritual Israel- obeying the spirit of the law, not just the letter.
When Stephen was on trial before the Jews, he recounted the rebellious history of Israel, and concluded: O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! (Acts 7:51) Not only were they uncircumcised in their heart, but also in their ears! The mixed metaphor of “circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked” is similar to Stephen’s “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears”. Such mixing of metaphorical expression is frowned upon in the English language, but was an accepted way of emphasising an important point in both Hebrew and Greek.
The issue of circumcision is like the issue of clean and unclean food, it is something that separates those whom God has chosen from those whom he has not. There is nothing unhealthy about unclean foods, although many people claim there is. Yet God never says that. The same with circumcision.
I don't actually think being uncircumcised is unhealthy, as that is how God made man and he said it was "very good".
The Gentile's were not chosen to be in the first covenant, but they are chosen to be in the second. Circumcision is used by God to delineate the difference between these two complementary covenants, neither of which are done away with, or ever will be.
If this was so unhealthy to have then why was it not required of Gentile Christians?
That is a very good question. Needed time to reflect. As is seen in Genesis 17 the covenant of circumcision was the Abrahamic covenant establishing the Jewish nation. Gentiles were considered unclean. And this was a major distinguishing diffence between Jews and Gentiles. For a Gentile to physically become Jew they could be circumcised.
Your question though seems to deal with the aspect of health since the spiritual question was considered by the council of church leaders in Acts 15 and addressed by Paul in Romans 2:25 - 29.
Your question could also apply to eating fleah. When God created man the herbs of the field was all that was given for man to eat. After the great flood man was permitted to eat the flesh of certain clean animals. God chose to change what man was allowed to eat.
This could be taken as far as when Jesus spoke of eating with unwashen hands, that is ceremonially unwashen hands. Man is not defiled eating unwashen hands. It's not that which goes into the mouth, but rather what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man.
Jesus is ultimately concerned with the spiritual part of our lives, still He allows for various physical corruptions to continue. Consider if you will the man sitting at the temple gate in Acts 3. This man is said to have sat there a long time as he was 40 years old. It might be reasonable to think he sat at that same gate when Jesus taught in the temple. Jesus didn't heal everyone. Paul besought God to heal him and he wasn't healed.
So it would appear that while it is an unhealthy situation requiring much more attention it doesn't affect the spiritual condition of man.
Thanks for considering the issue, as you say the spiritual condition is what matters.
Many times in scripture we are told to "circumcise your heart".
Physical circumcision was supposed to remind Israelites of Abraham’s faith. Yet God often accused them of lacking faith, and therefore being uncircumcised in their heart: Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, (they were already physically circumcised, but not spiritually) men of Judah and people of Jerusalem; lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can put it out; because of the evil of your doings. (Jeremiah 4:4)
This is a form of Spiritual circumcision: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that outwardly in flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart; in spirit and not in letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. (Rom 2:28-29)
The idea of being uncircumcised in heart is also in the book of Deuteronomy, which is a record of Moses’ final very long sermon, in which he recounted all the wanderings and trials of the past 40 years. He also reminded them of the outcomes that would ensue from loving God in obedience, or not loving God and subsequently being in disobedience to his purpose and way of life. The analogy Moses used for them to be obedient to God was to have a circumcised heart: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, (to hold Him in awe) to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, … Only the Lord had a delight in your fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to love them, and He chose their seed after them (the nation of Israel), you above all people, as it is today. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked. (Deut 10:12-16) God’s goal was for physical Israel to become Spiritual Israel- obeying the spirit of the law, not just the letter.
When Stephen was on trial before the Jews, he recounted the rebellious history of Israel, and concluded: O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! (Acts 7:51) Not only were they uncircumcised in their heart, but also in their ears! The mixed metaphor of “circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked” is similar to Stephen’s “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears”. Such mixing of metaphorical expression is frowned upon in the English language, but was an accepted way of emphasising an important point in both Hebrew and Greek.
The issue of circumcision is like the issue of clean and unclean food, it is something that separates those whom God has chosen from those whom he has not. There is nothing unhealthy about unclean foods, although many people claim there is. Yet God never says that. The same with circumcision.
I don't actually think being uncircumcised is unhealthy, as that is how God made man and he said it was "very good".
The Gentile's were not chosen to be in the first covenant, but they are chosen to be in the second. Circumcision is used by God to delineate the difference between these two complementary covenants, neither of which are done away with, or ever will be.
Amen. Your thoughts on the Scriptures are an added blessing and help clarify so much.
Thanks for your encouragement it is greatly appreciated.