Editing Circumcision and law (section)

=== Ecclesiastical canon law in Christianity ===
[[Image:Coptic Children wearing traditional circumcision costumes.jpg|thumb|right |[[Copts|Coptic]] children wearing traditional circumcision costumes]]
Circumcision has also [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity|played a major role]] in [[History of Christianity|Christian history]] and [[Christian theology|theology]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |title=Christ Circumcised: A Study in Early Christian History and Difference |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8122-0651-7 |location=United States |pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bolnick |first1=David |title=Surgical Guide to Circumcision |last2=Koyle |first2=Martin |last3=Yosha |first3=Assaf |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4471-2858-8 |location=United Kingdom |pages=290–298 |chapter=Circumcision in the Early Christian Church: The Controversy That Shaped a Continent |quote=In summary, circumcision has played a surprisingly important role in Western history. The circumcision debate forged a Gentile identity to the early Christian church which allowed it to survive the Jewish Diaspora and become the dominant religion of Western Europe. Circumcision continued to have a major cultural presence throughout Christendom even after the practice had all but vanished.... the circumcision of Jesus... celebrated as a religious holiday... [has been] examined by many of the greatest scholars and artists of the Western tradition.}}</ref> The [[Council of Jerusalem]] in the early [[Christian Church]] declared that circumcision was not necessary for Christians;<ref name="Wilson1989">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Marvin R. |title=Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith |date=1989 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-0423-5 |page=48 |language=en}}</ref> [[covenant theology]] largely views the Christian [[sacrament]] of [[baptism]] as fulfilling the Israelite practice of circumcision, both being signs and seals of the covenant of grace.<ref name="Clark2012">{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=R. Scott |date=17 September 2012 |title=Baptism and Circumcision According to Colossians 2:11–12 |url=https://heidelblog.net/2012/09/baptism-and-circumcision-according-to-colossians-211-12/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101024039/https://heidelblog.net/2012/09/baptism-and-circumcision-according-to-colossians-211-12/ |archive-date=1 November 2020 |access-date=24 December 2020 |publisher=The Heidelblog |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Crowther1815">{{Cite book |last=Crowther |first=Jonathan |title=A Portraiture of Methodism |year=1815 |page=224 |language=en}}</ref> Though mainstream Christian denominations maintain a neutral position on routine circumcision, it is widely practiced in many [[Christendom|Christian communities]].<ref name="R. Wylie 2015 101">{{cite book|title=ABC of Sexual Health|first=Kevan|last= R. Wylie|year= 2015| isbn=978-1-118-66569-5| page =101 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|quote= Although it is mostly common and required in male newborns with Moslem or Jewish backgrounds, certain Christian-dominant countries such as the United States also practice it commonly.}}</ref><ref name="R. Peteet 2017 97–101" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=S. Ellwood |first=Robert |title=The Encyclopedia of World Religions |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4381-1038-7 |page=95 |quote=It is obligatory among Jews, Muslims, and Coptic Christians. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians do not require circumcision. Starting in the last half of the 19th century, however, circumcision also became common among Christians in Europe and especially in North America.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gruenbaum |first=Ellen |title=The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8122-9251-0 |page=61 |chapter=Ritual and Meaning |quote=Christian theology generally interprets male circumcision to be an Old Testament rule that is no longer an obligation ... though in many countries... it is widely practiced among Christians. |author-link=Ellen Gruenbaum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunting |first=Katherine |title=Essential Case Studies in Public Health: Putting Public Health Into Practice |publisher=[[Jones & Bartlett Learning]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4496-4875-6 |pages=23–24 |quote=Neonatal circumcision is the general practice among Jews, Christians, and many, but not all Muslims.}}</ref>

Historically, the [[Lutheran Church]]es have also not practiced circumcision among their communicants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sicard |first=Sigvard von |title=The Lutheran Church on the Coast of Tanzania 1887-1914: With Special Reference to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Synod of Uzaramo-Uluguru |date=1970 |publisher=Gleerup |page=157 |language=en}}</ref> Currently the [[Catholic Church]] maintains a neutral position on the practice of non-religious circumcision.<ref name=Slosar>{{cite journal | vauthors = Slosar JP, O'Brien D | title = The ethics of neonatal male circumcision: a Catholic perspective | journal = The American Journal of Bioethics | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 62–64 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12859824 | doi = 10.1162/152651603766436306 | s2cid = 38064474 }}</ref> Today, many [[Christian denominations]] are neutral about ritual male circumcision, not requiring it for religious observance, but neither forbidding it for cultural or other reasons.<ref>{{cite book| author = Pope Eugenius IV | author-link = Pope Eugene IV| editor-first = Norman P. | editor-last = Tanner | title = Decrees of the ecumenical councils| orig-date = 1442 | access-date = 25 April 2007| series = 2 volumes| year = 1990| publisher = [[Georgetown University Press]]| location = [[Washington, D.C.]]| isbn = 978-0-87840-490-2| language = el, la | chapter = Ecumenical Council of Florence (1438–1445): Session 11—4 February 1442; Bull of union with the Copts| chapter-url = http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM#5| quote =| lccn = 90003209}}</ref>

On the other hand, in [[Oriental Christianity]], the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Eritrean Orthodox Church]] require that their male members undergo circumcision.<ref name="Al-Salem2016">{{Cite book |last=Al-Salem |first=Ahmed H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kuZ0DQAAQBAJ&q=ethiopian+orthodox+church+circumcision&pg=PA481 |title=An Illustrated Guide to Pediatric Urology |date=5 November 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-44182-5 |page=481 |language=en |access-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422011322/https://books.google.com/books?id=kuZ0DQAAQBAJ&q=ethiopian+orthodox+church+circumcision&pg=PA481 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="N. Stearns 2008 179">{{Cite book|last= N. Stearns|first=Peter|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-19-517632-2|page=179|quote=Uniformly practiced by Jews, Muslims, and the members of Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, male circumcision remains prevalent in many regions of the world, particularly Africa, South and East Asia, Oceania, and Anglosphere countries.}}</ref><ref name="R. Peteet 2017 97–101">{{cite book|title=Spirituality and Religion Within the Culture of Medicine: From Evidence to Practice|first=John|last=R. Peteet|year= 2017| isbn=978-0-19-027243-2| pages =97–101 |publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=male circumcision is still observed among Ethiopian and Coptic Christians, and circumcision rates are also high today in the Philippines and the US.}}</ref>