Historical Article

The Circumcision of Jesus Christ

Johan J. Mattelaer, Robert A. Schipper and Sakti Das*
From the History Office, European Association of Urology, Kortrijk, Belgium (JJM), Department of Urology, Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis,
Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (RAS), and the History Committee, American Urological Association, Linthicum, Maryland (SD)

Purpose: We study the controversies manifested in religious writings, art, sculpture and music as well as the theological
disputes surrounding the circumcision of Jesus Christ.
Materials and Methods: Data are derived from relevant historical and theological articles.
Results: Jesus Christ was circumcised as a Jew on the 8th day after his birth. Until 1960 the Catholic church celebrated the
day as Circumcision Day. In medieval times the holy foreskin was worshipped in many European churches.
Conclusions: Christianity never condoned the ritual of circumcision and established the sacrament of baptism in its place.

Key Words: circumcision, male; Christianity; foreskin; theology

CIRCUMCISION IN CHRISTIANITY compelled the Jacobites to abandon the ritual and adopt
the sacrament of baptism. Circumcision was henceforth
esus Christ was born as a Jew and, thus, was circum-

J
cised on the 8th day after his birth. “And when the
eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of
the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of
the angel before he was conceived in the womb” (Luke,
chapter 2, verse 21). Notwithstanding the fact that Jesus
was circumcised, Christianity never accepted this practice.
Although Jewish converts were allowed to be circumcised it
was forbidden for heathen converts. As early as 43 AD no
less an authority than St. Peter adopted this pro-gentile
position. “And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they
that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying,
Thou wentest into men uncircumcised, and didst eat with
them.” (Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11, verses 2 to 3)
Similarly Paul wrote in his First Epistle to the Christians
at Corinth (chapter 7, verses 18 to 19), “Is any man called
being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Is
any called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but
the keeping of the commandments of God is all.” This anti-
circumcision position was confirmed at the first Council of
Jerusalem in 48 AD and a new rite or sacrament was created
to take its place: baptism.
The first century of the new church was marked by constant
theological and dogmatic disputes between Christians and
Jews on this difficult subject. The leaders of the early church
were divided on the issue. In the Dictionnaire d’Archéologie
Chrétienne et de Liturgie Father Henri Leclercq wrote, “The
faithful quickly came to regard circumcision as an eccentricity,
a bizarre and indecent act from which they felt far removed
and to which they did not intend to submit.”1
Nevertheless, the practice of circumcision remained
rooted in the Christian churches of the Jacobites in England
and the Copts in Ethiopia. The Council of Florence in 1442
Submitted for publication September 1, 2006.
* Correspondence: 1890 Via Ferrari, Lafayette, California 94549
(telephone: 925-639-5707; e-mail: saktidas@sbcglobal.net).
regarded as a mortal sin.2 In Christian philosophy the spir-
itual circumcision of the heart triumphed over the physical
circumcision of the foreskin. This was also the standpoint
later adopted by Luther and Calvin.
Until late in the 20th century January 1 was shown on
calendars not as New Year’s Day but as the Feast of the
Circumcision. The feast probably had its origins in Spain
during the late 5th century. When Spain later submitted to
the authority of the Western Empire and the Catholic
church, the celebration of the feast spread throughout the
rest of Western Europe and was included in the orthodox
calendar.2 The Feast of the Circumcision was finally re-
moved from the Catholic calendar by the Second Vatican
Council in 1960.
THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST
IN THE HISTORY OF ART AND MUSIC
In light of this theological position it seems paradoxical that
uncircumcised Christian artists created so many images
relating to the circumcision of Jesus in painting and sculp-
ture (fig. 1). In Belgium alone there are no less than 54 listed
works in churches, museums and public buildings relating
to Christ’s circumcision, including paintings, grisaille,
frescos, statues, altarpieces, stained glass windows and key-
stones. The icons of the Greek and Russian Orthodox
churches also frequently contain circumcision images.
In the area of music there are fewer works relating to the
circumcision of Jesus, although mention must be made of
the “Missa Circumcisionis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi” com-
posed by Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 –1745), a court musician
in Vienna and Dresden. The original manuscript is pre-
served in the Sächsiche Landesbibliothek in Dresden.
REPRESENTATION OF THE CHILD
CHRIST IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ART
In Byzantine and Roman art the child Christ is always
dressed. However, from late medieval Flemish painters until

0022-5347/07/1781-0031/0 31 Vol. 178, 31-34, July 2007

THE JOURNAL OF UROLOGY® Printed in U.S.A.
Copyright © 2007 by AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION DOI:10.1016/j.juro.2007.03.016
32 CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS CHRIST

In addition, the importance of the circumcision in the

Renaissance lay in the fact that Christ shed his own blood.
The blood was the proof of the incarnation just as it was a
premonition of the Passion. What mattered was not the
phallus but the wound.

THE RELIC OF THE

HOLY FORESKIN OF CHRIST

In the Middle Ages every tourist was a pilgrim and every

pilgrim was somewhat of a tourist. Pilgrimage centers like
Compostela and great abbeys were major attractions, and
sacred relics and shrines acquired huge importance. Good
relics could attract pilgrims and bring revenue from great
distances, and the religious orders were quick to exploit this
fact. Understandably the greatest value was attached to the
relics of Christ himself. However, this presented something
of a problem. Most saints left their bodies behind on earth
when they died, thus there was an adequate supply of bones
and other artifacts. Skulls were particularly prized. How-
ever, Christ ascended into heaven in human form. This
meant that the relic hunters had to make use of the parts of
Christ’s body which he had lost before his death, such as his
teeth, nails, tears, blood and, above all, his foreskin. This
last item was particularly venerated and was known to the

FIG. 1. Gothic altarpiece panel in church of Sankt Wolfgang at

Salzkammergut (Austria) painted by Michael Pacher (1430 –1498).

the Renaissance we see the Christ child completely nude and

always uncircumcised.3 Although these painters must have
been informed about circumcision because January 1 was a
festivity day and they knew about circumcision in Jews and
Moorish (Muslim) people, the Christ child was always de-
picted as uncircumcised (fig. 2).
One reason for this depiction is the change in theology.
The first Christians claimed for all the deity of Christ, while
since the time of Augustine they claimed that Christ was
perfect in divinity and in humanness, an actual God and an
actual man, with a rational soul and body.3 A major reason
for the Christ child not being shown circumcised must lie in
the artist’s sense of the body’s perfection. Here artists would
not infringe any more than they would deprive Eve of a
navel, no matter what the learned might say.3
In view of the infinite merit which Christian doctrine at-
tached to the circumcision of Christ, the refusal of artists in the
Renaissance to acknowledge its visual effect remains an unex-
plained puzzle. Erasmus includes circumcision among the Jew-
ish customs on which “we cry shame” (excremur). Perhaps
this explains why Christian Renaissance artists did not
represent the physical effect of circumcision when the sub-
ject was a reverend figure such as David or Christ. Depicting
the nude infant Christ at any age they willingly paid the
FIG. 2. Christ child completely nude and uncircumcised. Painting
price of inaccuracy to spare the reverend body the blemish of by Hans Memling (ca. 1435–1494), Memlingmuseum, Bruges
imperfection. (Belgium).
 CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS CHRIST 33

French as “Le Saint Prépuce,” to the English as “the Holy

Foreskin,” to the Italians as “Santissimo Prepuzio” and to
the Vatican as “Praeputium Domini.”
The Spanish theologian and philosopher Francisco de
Suarez (1548 –1617) expressed the opinion that “after its
circumcision, the foreskin of Christ was recovered and kept
with great care and devotion by the Holy Virgin Mary.”4
Another version says that Holy Mary entrusted it with Mary
Magdalena, and she later brought it to Saint Maximin-La
Sainte Baume in the south of France where she was buried.
The Swedish Saint Brigitta had a revelation in which she
learned that Holy Mary had entrusted the holy foreskin with
Saint John before her death. Other versions tell us that the
holy prepuce fell into the caring hands of the apostles and
from there it went to their successors. It finally emerged
after centuries when an angel brought it to Charlemagne at
Aachen (Germany), while a last story says it was a wedding
gift to Charlemagne from the Byzantine Empress Irene.
However, these startling assertions fail to explain how
the Dominican scholar A. V. Müller, writing in 1907, could
list no fewer than 13 separate locations, all of which claimed
to possess the sacred foreskin as their holiest relic.5 We have
been able to extend this list to 21 churches and abbeys,
which at one time or another are reputed to have held
Christ’s foreskin.6
Charroux, near Poitiers, France. The most famous center
of pilgrimage related to the foreskin donated by the Emperor
Charlemagne, who in turn had received it as a gift from the
Empress Irene along with Christ’s sandals. The relic was
described by Calvin, “Even the foreskin was shown by the
monks of Charroux, who as a proof of its genuineness, de-
clared that it yields drops of blood” (Calvin’s tract, vol. 1,
pp. 296–304). The foreskin of Charroux was declared the
only real one by Pope Clement VII (1523–1534).
Coulombs, near Chartres, France. This “Saint Prépuce” FIG. 3. Reliquary for foreskin of Christ in church of St. Cornelius
and St. Cyprian in Calcata.
was famed for protecting women during childbirth. It was
stolen in 1422 by the English King Henry V who believed it
would help his French wife. The monks of Chartres were to the abbey by Charlemagne. Both relics were kept in the
only able to recover it with great difficulty. same shrine, the “Capsa Magna.” It dates from the post-
Sancta Sanctorum at the top of the famous Scala Santa, Carolingian period and was believed to be a gift from Pepin
Rome, Italy. This relic was supposedly brought to Rome by of Aquitaine.8
Saint Brigida. It was stolen in 1527 during the siege of Rome Le Puy-en-Velay, France. During pilgrimages to Le Puy,
by Charles V and was only rediscovered years later at Calcata the mother’s milk of the Blessed Virgin and the holy foreskin
in the province of Viterbo. From that point Calcata itself be- were carried in procession through the streets in a kind of
came a new center of pilgrimage. The relic was known as “La Christian fertility rite.
Carna Vera Santa” (the True Flesh of the Most Holy). The Clermont, France. It was to this remote town that Saint
reliquary containing the foreskin was carried in procession Austremoine, the patron saint of the Auvergne, brought the
annually through the streets of Calcata until it was again holy foreskin and 2 fingernails of Christ’s right hand.
stolen in 1983 (fig. 3). To date it has not been recovered.7 Paris, France. Saint Louis, King of France, built the
San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome, Italy. In the early 12th magnificent Sainte-Chapelle to house his rich collection of
century the holy prepuce was brought to Rome before Pope relics, including the holy foreskin.
Innocent III. The Pope was asked to rule on the authenticity Hildesheim, Germany. Calvin wrote, “When this little
but he declined the opportunity. book (on relics, published in 1543) was passing through the
Antwerp, Belgium. In 1426 a fellowship was founded with press, I was informed of a third foreskin, which I had not
the cumbersome name “The Fellowship of the Holy Foreskin mentioned, and which is displayed in Hildesheim.”
of Our Dear Lord Jesus Christ in Our Lady’s Church in The remaining 11 locations include Notre-Dame-en-
Antwerp.” A Flemish priest brought the holy foreskin to Vaux, Chalons-sur-Marne, France; Abbey of St.-Corneille,
Antwerp after traveling to Jerusalem during the first cru- Compiègne, France; Metz, France; Santiago de Compostela,
sade. However, the foreskin went missing during the icono- Spain; Langres, France; Besançon, France; Nancy, France;
clastic riots of 1566.4 Boulogne, France; Chalon-sur-Marne, France; Fecamp, France
Sainte-Foy de Conques, France. According to the and Vienna, Austria. However, the Vatican became increas-
Chronique de Conques, a not wholly reliable source, the ingly less supportive of relics and in 1900 threatened excom-
umbilical cord and the holy foreskin of Christ were donated munication to anyone who spoke of the holy foreskin.
34 CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS CHRIST
A THEOLOGICAL DEBATE
Throughout the centuries many theologians concerned
themselves with the thorny question of whether Christ was
reunited with his foreskin before he ascended into heaven.
Some argued that Christ must have taken his foreskin with
him to heaven. Finally a consensus emerged that the pre-
puce was not more significant than the hair that had been
cut from Jesus’ head, or his nails or umbilical cord. Pope
Innocent III (1160/61–1216) decided not to become involved
and refused to judge who was right. According to him only
God would know the truth about such a delicate matter.
Anastasius Sinaita wrote in Quaestiones et Responsiones
(Questions and Answers), “We can be sure that he, having
voluntarily submitted himself to the act of circumcision, will
have kept his foreskin, so that it could be restored to his
body following his resurrection, thus allowing him to ascend
to his heavenly father with a perfect body, entire and in-
tact.”9
Around the year 1150 Theophylactus made a similar ar-
gument that “It is useless to speculate what became of the
circumcised foreskin. We need not question where the scrip-
tures themselves remain silent. We can assume, however,
that this body part, once removed, fell to the ground and
made it holy, just as the water and blood which later flowed
from his sacred side also made the ground holy. We must
conclude that our Lord preserved his undamaged foreskin
and restored it to his body following his resurrection, so that
he would once again become perfect” (Gospel of St. Luke,
chapter 2).9
The early Christian church was clearly interested in the
question of what happened to the foreskin of Christ, but
believed that the answer to this question was not deemed
essential to the spiritual well-being of the faithful. Never-
theless, during the 17th century the theologian Leo Allatius
speculated (in an essay, De Praeputio Domini Nostri Jesu
Christi Diatriba) that the holy foreskin may have ascended
into heaven at the same time as Jesus himself, and might
have become the rings of Saturn, then only recently ob-
served by the telescope.
FIG. 4. Mystical Marriage of Catherine of Siena. Ring of foreskin of
Christ is on her left middle finger. Painting by Lorenzo Lotto, 1523,
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy.
FEMALE MYSTICI AND
THE FORESKIN OF CHRIST
St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), 1 of the 2 female “doc-
tores” in the Catholic church during the Middle Ages, was
widely revered for her “bridal purity and devotion.” To sym-
bolize her marriage with Christ she was reputed to wear the
foreskin of Jesus as a ring on her finger.5 This was depicted
by several painters such as Peter Paul Rubens (Museum of
Fine Arts Houston) and Lorenzo Lotto (Accademia Carrara,
Bergamo, Italy) as The Mystical Marriage of Catherine of
Siena (fig. 4). The Austrian nun Agnes Blannbekin (1244 –
1315) also led a life devoted to the foreskin of Jesus. She was
obsessed by the loss of blood and the pain which the re-
deemer had suffered during his circumcision.5 On one occa-
sion when she was moved to tears by the thought of this
suffering, she suddenly felt the foreskin on her tongue.
McGinn explains that in late medieval times the festivity of
the circumcision of Jesus Christ was popular as a commem-
oration of the first bloodshed of our savior.10
CONCLUSIONS
Born as a Jew, Jesus Christ was circumcised, and was de-
picted as such in numerous paintings, sculptures and manu-
scripts. In the Catholic church Circumcision Day was cele-
brated on January 1 until 1960. However, Christianity did
not condone the practice of this rite but changed it to a new
sacrament, that of baptism. In medieval times the holy
foreskin was worshipped in at least 21 Western European
churches. Some theologians believed that to restore his per-
fect body Christ was reunited with his foreskin after resur-
rection before ascending to heaven.
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