Circumcision in the early church

Circumcision, its meaning, and whether Christians should be circumcised. Part of Jews and Judaism.

Epistle of Barnabas 9.1Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · God circumcised our hearts and ears to hear.
Epistle of Barnabas 9.3Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · God circumcised our hearing so that we might hear and believe.
Epistle of Barnabas 9.4Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · Circumcision of the flesh was never meant; an evil angel misled Israel.
Epistle of Barnabas 9.5Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · The prophets call for circumcision of the heart.
Epistle of Barnabas 9.6Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · Other peoples are circumcised too, so it cannot be the covenant's seal.
Epistle of Barnabas 9.7Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · Abraham's circumcision looked forward to Jesus.
To Diognetus 4.4Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Circumcision is not a sign of special election.
Dialogue with Trypho 12.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The true Sabbath is a life of repentance; the true circumcision is of the heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 15.7Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The true circumcision is of the heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 16.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Moses himself called for circumcision of the heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 16.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin argues that circumcision was given as a mark by which the Jews would be singled out for their present sufferings.
Dialogue with Trypho 18.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Circumcision and the Sabbath were imposed on Israel because of its hardness of heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 19.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Circumcision was not for all; Jewish washings are broken cisterns compared with the baptism of life.
Dialogue with Trypho 19.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Adam, Abel, and Enoch pleased God without circumcision.
Dialogue with Trypho 19.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Lot, Noah, and Melchizedek were uncircumcised; Christ is priest after Melchizedek's order.
Dialogue with Trypho 23.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · As there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, there is none now after Christ, born of the Virgin Mary.
Dialogue with Trypho 23.5Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Women cannot be circumcised, yet can be righteous; so circumcision is only a sign.
Dialogue with Trypho 24.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The eighth day is more significant than the seventh; the blood of circumcision is replaced by Christ's saving blood.
Dialogue with Trypho 24.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christ circumcises with “knives of stone,” making a righteous people.
Dialogue with Trypho 27.5Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Priests sacrifice and infants are circumcised on the Sabbath; so the Sabbath is not absolute.
Dialogue with Trypho 28.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin urges them to believe before Christ returns, quoting Jeremiah on circumcising the heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 28.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Jer 9:25–26: all nations and Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
Dialogue with Trypho 28.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Any Gentile who knows God and Christ has the true circumcision.
Dialogue with Trypho 29.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Gentile believers, baptized with the Holy Spirit, need neither circumcision nor ritual washing.
Dialogue with Trypho 41.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Circumcision on the eighth day prefigured Christ's resurrection on Sunday, the “eighth day.”
Dialogue with Trypho 43.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians receive spiritual circumcision through baptism.
Dialogue with Trypho 92.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision.
Dialogue with Trypho 92.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians have the circumcision of the heart; the law was given to keep Israel from idolatry.
Dialogue with Trypho 113.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Joshua's second circumcision with stone knives prefigured Christ's circumcision of the heart by his words.
Dialogue with Trypho 113.7Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The stone knives are Christ's words, which circumcise the heart.
Diatessaron, section 28Tatian · ca. 160-180
Against Heresies 3.12.14Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The Jerusalem council's letter to the Gentile believers shows that the apostles knew no other God, only the new covenant of freedom.
Against Heresies 4.16.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Circumcision and the sabbath were given as signs pointing to the circumcision of the heart, constant service of God, and the rest of the kingdom.
Against Heresies 4.25.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Abraham, justified by faith before circumcision, is father of believers from both circumcision and uncircumcision; faith in uncircumcision is both first and last.
Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 24Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–200
Book of the Laws of Countries 44Anonymous · ca. 196–235
Against the Jews 2Tertullian · ca. 197–207 · God gave a law to all humanity from the beginning: the command in paradise contained the whole later law, and righteous men before Moses (Abel, Noah, Enoch, Melchizedek, Lot) pleased God without circumcision or the sabbath.
Against the Jews 3Tertullian · ca. 197–207 · Circumcision was given as a temporary sign, not for salvation; the prophets foretold a spiritual circumcision of the heart and a new law of peace going out from Zion to the nations, who have become God's people.
Didascalia 6.12Anonymous · first half of the third century
Arabic Pentateuch fragment VHippolytus of Rome · unknown (transmitted in a medieval Arabic catena) · Hippolytus is cited for the legend that Melchizedek circumcised Abraham, a type of John's baptism of Christ and of the Jews.
Against Marcion 1.20Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Paul's rebuke of Peter concerned conduct, not doctrine; the apostles agreed on one gospel, and Paul's attack on Jewish ceremonies in Galatians only carries out what the Creator himself had foretold through the prophets.
Against Marcion 5.4Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Working through Galatians 3–6, Tertullian argues that the promise to Abraham, the fullness of time, the end of the old observances, the allegory of the two sons, and the law of love all belong to the Creator, and that Paul's scars show Christ's flesh was real.
Against Marcion 5.13Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · In Romans 1–7 the God whose wrath and judgment are revealed, who judges by the gospel through Christ, whose law is holy and spiritual, and with whom sinners are reconciled, is the Creator, not Marcion's god.
On Monogamy 6Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · Those who appeal to Abraham's two wives must remember that Christians are Abraham's children through the faith he had while uncircumcised and married once; the better examples of Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and Joshua point to monogamy.
Eclogae on Exodus-Judges, column 287Origen · ca. 220-254 · Church teaching is not taken outside the church; spiritual circumcision of heart, ears, lips, eyes, and flesh; the stations of the exodus; the tristatai; God tests for our benefit.
Eclogae on Exodus-Judges, column 817Origen · ca. 220-254 · Notes on Joshua 2–6: the number four signifies affliction; circumcision and the Sabbath were useful for a time, not good in themselves; the stone knife is Christ; Michael, the chief captain; the trumpets of the last day.
Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 7Origen · ca. 220-254 · Comments on Song of Songs 6:13–7:12 read the Shulammite as the church at peace or the despoiled soul called back, and her features as the gifts of teachers and the fruit of love.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.14.1Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · The Elchasaites require circumcision and the law, and teach that Christ is an ordinary man reborn many times.
Fragment on 1 Corinthians (Jenkins § 37, part 1)Origen · ca. 226-254 · Origen reads Paul's words on circumcision and slavery in 1 Cor 7:18–24 as figures for the married and the unmarried: the man who has cast off his wife should not marry another, the married should not cast off his wife, and celibacy and marriage are in themselves indifferent.
Commentary on John 10.72Origen · ca. 230–248 · A proselyte who keeps the Lord's Passover must be circumcised.
Commentary on John 13.451Origen · ca. 230–248 · Circumcision is called a sign, though not a wonder.
Homilies on Exodus 7.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The bitter water of Marah is the law taken literally (circumcision, sacrifices, the Sabbath), and the tree that sweetens it is Christ, the tree of life, who opens its spiritual sense.
Homilies on Joshua 1.7Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The nations of Canaan are the vices within us, which only Jesus can drive out; the hearers are urged to meditate on Scripture, attend church, repent, and receive the second circumcision that removes the reproach of Egypt.
Homilies on Joshua 5.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The second circumcision with stone knives is the circumcision by Christ the rock, received when one passes from the law to the Gospel.
Homilies on Joshua 6.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Christ performs the true circumcision, whose wound heals when new virtues become habit; the three foods of the exodus are secular learning, the divine law, and the fruits of the promised life to come.
Homilies on Joshua 26.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The stone knives are the word of God, which circumcises vices after baptism and is laid up in souls given wisdom and knowledge; its stone, not iron, shows it comes from Christ, not from rhetoric; the dismissal of the two and a half tribes figures the fathers’ final reward when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Homilies on Numbers 15.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Balaam's wish to die among the righteous will be fulfilled in the Jewish people when they come to faith in Christ at the end of the age, and his “seed” may be the magi; neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts, but faith working through love.
Homilies on Jeremiah 5.14Origen · ca. 240 · Circumcision of the heart must be “to God”: philosophers and heretics discipline themselves by false teachings, but only the church's sound teaching removes the uncleanness we are born with.
Homilies on Jeremiah 5.15Origen · ca. 240 · The foreskin of the heart is the false opinions everyone forms in youth, which the Word must cut away; otherwise God's wrath burns like fire, fed by our wicked practices.
On the Singleness of Clerics 33Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Those who castrate themselves, Jews who circumcise, and the self-mutilating priests of Cybele all shame clerics who will not even part from a woman; their hidden sins will be exposed.
Against Celsus 1.22Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus says circumcision came from Egypt, but Moses says it began with Abraham, whose name even exorcists use; its deeper meaning is left for another time.
Against Celsus 5.41Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus says the Jews have no special claim: others worship the heavens as God under different names, and others also practise circumcision and food taboos; their ruined state shows God has no special favor for them.
Against Celsus 5.47Origen · ca. 248 · Jewish circumcision differs from that of Egyptians and Colchians because its purpose and law differ, just as 'justice' and 'courage' mean different things to Epicureans, Stoics, and Platonists.
Against Celsus 5.48Origen · ca. 248 · Jewish circumcision on the eighth day differs even from Ishmaelite practice; Origen suggests, from Zipporah's story, that it guarded against a hostile angel whose power Christ destroyed by his own circumcision, so Christians need not be circumcised.
Commentary on Romans 2.12Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · True circumcision is the heart's cutting off of vices, but it profits only if joined to doing good, since perfection lies in good works, not merely in avoiding evil; so a baptized Christian who transgresses Christ's law has his baptism counted as uncircumcision.
Commentary on Romans 2.13Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Origen applies Rom 2:26-29 to Jewish and Gentile believers and to catechumens, argues at length from the law that circumcision bound only Abraham's descendants and slaves, gives its spiritual meaning, answers pagan and Marcionite objections, and begins Rom 3:1-4 on the Jews' advantage, the oracles of God, and 'every man a liar.'
Commentary on Romans 4.2Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Abraham was justified while uncircumcised, so he is the father of believing Gentiles, while circumcision was given afterward as a 'sign' pointing to spiritual circumcision and a 'seal' to be opened when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and all Israel is saved; true sonship of Abraham is by faith and works, not descent.
Commentary on Romans 10.8Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Christ was minister of circumcision either by being circumcised in the flesh, so that Jewish believers who keep the law should not be judged, or as minister of the spiritual circumcision of the heart; the cited texts follow the Septuagint, and the 'root of Jesse' (Jesse meaning 'he is to me') points to the eternal one who is, born for the Gentiles' salvation.
To Quirinus 1.8Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Scripture foretold a spiritual circumcision of the heart, and the righteous before Abraham were uncircumcised, while the sign of the Lord seals women and men alike.
Letter 64.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · An infant's supposed uncleanness is no obstacle, since to the clean all things are clean; the eighth-day circumcision was a figure of the Lord's day and of spiritual circumcision, now fulfilled.
Symposium 1.3Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd century · Circumcision ended marriage of siblings; the prophets and the Wisdom books then led from polygamy to one wife and on toward continence.
Cib. 10Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · Since the heifer's ashes have run out, Jews cannot keep the Law literally without transgressing it; the true circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit.
Acta Archelai (Latin) 45Hegemonius · early to mid 4th century (Greek original) · Diodorus reports Manes's use of 2 Corinthians 3, Galatians, and Romans against the law, and asks Archelaus to answer.
Acta Archelai (Latin) 48Hegemonius · early to mid 4th century (Greek original) · Archelaus argues that Christ, Lord of the sabbath, did not destroy it, and that he fulfilled circumcision by circumcision of the heart, which alone saves, while not condemning the fleshly rite.
Divine Institutes 4.17.8Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The prophet calls for circumcision of the heart.
Divine Institutes 4.17.9Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Moses and Joshua speak of a second circumcision.
Divine Institutes 4.17.10Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The second circumcision is of the heart, given by Christ, the true Jesus.
Divine Institutes 4.17.14Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Circumcision figures an open and sincere heart.
Divine Institutes 4.17.15Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Circumcision of the heart means hiding no shameful deed.
Divine Institutes 4.17.16Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · God moved circumcision from flesh to soul.
Preparation for the Gospel 1.10.33Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · During a plague Cronus sacrificed his only son and circumcised himself and his allies.
Preparation for the Gospel 6.10.42Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Jews everywhere circumcise on the eighth day, regardless of stars or land.
Preparation for the Gospel 6.11.69Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Circumcision customs of Jews and Ishmaelites cannot come from horoscopes.
Preparation for the Gospel 7.8.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Abraham, already righteous by faith, was later circumcised as a sign for his descendants.
Preparation for the Gospel 9.22.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Jacob requires the Shechemites to be circumcised.
Preparation for the Gospel 9.22.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Theodotus: circumcision as God's command to Abraham.
Preparation for the Gospel 9.27.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · The Ethiopians and priests learn circumcision from Moses.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Melchizedek, uncircumcised and without the law, lived according to the gospel.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Enoch lived in a Christian way; Abraham received circumcision only as a sign for his physical descendants.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Before circumcision Abraham already lived in a Christian way.
Demonstration 11.1Aphrahat · 337-345 · Abraham was made father of many nations; the prophets called unfaithful Israel Sodom and Gomorrah, so physical descent and circumcision do not make one Abraham's heir.
Demonstration 11.2Aphrahat · 337-345 · Circumcision is a seal following faith and profits only with obedience; it did not save Jeroboam or Manasseh.
Demonstration 11.3Aphrahat · 337-345 · God gave different commands in different generations; Enoch, Noah, and Abraham were accepted for their faith, not circumcision, and the uncircumcised Melchizedek blessed Abraham.
Demonstration 11.4Aphrahat · 337-345 · Circumcision was given late in Abraham's life, just before Isaac's birth, as a mark to keep his descendants apart from the nations; others also practised it as a custom.
Demonstration 11.5Aphrahat · 337-345 · Many idolatrous peoples were circumcised; Jeremiah sets Judah among them, showing that without circumcision of heart physical circumcision does not save.
Demonstration 11.6Aphrahat · 337-345 · Circumcision was a mark distinguishing Abraham's seed among the nations, which is why Israel was not circumcised in the wilderness; Joshua's 'second' circumcision presupposes a first, of the heart.
Demonstration 11.7Aphrahat · 337-345 · The circumcised generation died in the wilderness for unbelief, while the uncircumcised who believed entered the land.
Demonstration 11.8Aphrahat · 337-345 · The Egyptians learned circumcision from Israel and Joseph; Pharaoh's daughter knew Moses was Hebrew not by circumcision but by where she found him.
Demonstration 11.10Aphrahat · 337-345 · The circumcised neighbours of Israel were idolaters; without faith circumcision profits nothing, but the believer circumcised in heart is Abraham's son.
Demonstration 11.11Aphrahat · 337-345 · God gave a succession of covenants; the new covenant replaces fleshly circumcision with circumcision of the heart in baptism, and Joshua's deeds prefigure those of Jesus.
Demonstration 15.9Aphrahat · 337-345 · Aphrahat closes his three demonstrations on circumcision, sabbath, and food laws, the chief boasts of the Jews of his day.
Catechetical Lecture 5.6Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Abraham is father of all believers through the likeness of faith; baptism is the spiritual circumcision of the heart.
On the Trinity 9.9Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Col 2:11–12 describes the circumcision of Christ as dying and rising with him in baptism.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 42Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's forty-second rule, that the Lord came to fulfil the law and the prophets, with Rule 43 on how the gospel goes beyond the law, whose heading the scan lost.
On the Holy Spirit 57Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · "Spirit" also means a person's will and, above all, the higher spiritual sense of Scripture as opposed to the letter.
Treatise on the Mysteries 2.6.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–366 · Joshua's circumcision with stone knives and division of the Jordan prefigure Christ's spiritual circumcision and division of peoples.
Commentary on Ephesians 2.11Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Gentiles called “uncircumcision” by those with circumcision made by hand need not be ashamed, since the truer circumcision is that of mind and spirit cutting away the sins of the flesh.
Commentary on Galatians 1.7Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · There is no other gospel; those who urge sabbath, new moons, and circumcision understood in a fleshly way pervert the gospel of Christ, though these things understood spiritually belong to it.
Commentary on Galatians 2.2Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Paul went up to Jerusalem by revelation and set out his gospel privately to the leading apostles, who agreed with it, showing that nothing may be added to it, for if circumcision or sabbath were needed, salvation would not be by Christ’s grace.
Commentary on Galatians 2.3Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Titus, a Gentile, was not compelled to be circumcised, showing that the Jerusalem leaders agreed with Paul’s gospel against the false apostles.
Commentary on Galatians 2.4Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Victorinus defends the reading “we yielded for an hour” in Gal 2:5, holding that Paul, like one perfect in faith, could accommodate for a time, as in circumcising Timothy or conceding second marriages and certain foods, in order to lead others to the true rule.
Commentary on Galatians 5.2Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Those who seek salvation in circumcision show that they think Christ insufficient, which is to lack faith in him, so Christ will profit them nothing.
Commentary on Galatians 5.3Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Whoever is circumcised is bound to the whole law, including its food rules, observances, and marriage laws such as levirate marriage, which Victorinus calls unfitting for a chaste Christian, so taking only part of it makes the Galatians sinners even by the law.
Commentary on Galatians 5.9Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The small addition of circumcision is like leaven that corrupts the whole lump of the gospel, for whoever hopes in anything beside Christ lacks faith.
Commentary on Galatians 5.11Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · That the Jews persecute Paul shows he does not preach circumcision, and preaching it would empty the offense of the cross.
Commentary on Galatians 6.12Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Those urging circumcision want to make a good showing in the flesh and avoid persecution for the cross, wrongly adding circumcision to hope in Christ.
Commentary on Galatians 6.13Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The circumcisers do not keep the law, rightly understood, but want to boast in the Galatians’ circumcised flesh as proof that Christ alone does not suffice.
Commentary on Philippians 3.1Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Paul warns against the “dogs” and evil workers, whom Victorinus identifies with the Jews relying on works and on a circumcision that is mere cutting, while Christians are the true circumcision of the heart, serving God by the Spirit.
Tractates 1.13.1Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno begins a sermon on circumcision, defining it as a mere scar and comparing Jewish pride in it with the self-castration of the priests of Cybele.
Tractates 1.13.2Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno argues that circumcision cannot profit the soul and conflicts with the sabbath law when a child is born on the sabbath.
Tractates 1.13.4Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno argues from Romans 4 that Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision, which was a sign for the Jewish people.
Tractates 1.13.5Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno argues that circumcision marks the place of Adam's sin but cannot heal women or the heart, which needs spiritual circumcision.
Tractates 1.13.6Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno cites the prophets and Moses against the Jews to show that God requires circumcision of the heart.
Tractates 1.13.11Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno contrasts the carnal circumcision of the Jews with the spiritual circumcision of baptism, given to both sexes at every age.
Homilies 13.2Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Opening of section 2: the goodness of the Lord must be tasted to be known.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:18Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Converted Jews need not regret circumcision and gentiles need not seek it; Abraham's sons are preferred only if they believe.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:19Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Circumcision is indifferent; faith shown in good works pleases God.
Commentary on Colossians 2:11–12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Baptism is the true circumcision of the heart, in which believers die and rise with Christ and renounce the devil, who seeks worship under the guise of the elements.
Commentary on Ephesians 3:5–6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The newly revealed mystery is that gentiles share the promise in Christ without circumcision or the Law's observances.
Prologue to the Commentary on GalatiansAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster's prologue: Christians who keep the works of the law, like the Symmachians, deny Christ's divinity; the law ceased with John, faith alone saves, and circumcision gave way to the circumcision of the heart.
Commentary on Galatians 1:6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul marvels that the Galatians so quickly left grace for the slavery of the law, misled by false apostles who claimed his gospel differed from the other apostles'.
Commentary on Galatians 2:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Titus was not compelled by the apostles to be circumcised, so neither should the Galatians be.
Commentary on Galatians 2:4–5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster reads Paul as yielding 'for an hour' by circumcising Timothy to avert Jewish sedition, and argues at length against the Greek reading 'we did not yield even for an hour'.
Commentary on Galatians 2:14Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Peter's fault was not withdrawing from gentiles but compelling them to judaize, which confused them; Paul's own concession over Timothy did not urge the law on anyone.
Commentary on Galatians 4:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The 'elements' are new moons and sabbaths; Christ, born under the law and circumcised as Abraham's promised son, ended the need for circumcision and made believers adopted sons.
Commentary on Galatians 5:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Circumcision now nullifies Christ for the believer, since the law gave way to the gospel and old and new must not be mixed.
Commentary on Galatians 5:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Gentiles could keep parts of the law uncircumcised, but circumcision binds one to the whole law; those who seek justification by it after faith have fallen from grace.
Commentary on Galatians 5:11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's persecution by the Jews, which drove him to appeal to Caesar, shows he did not preach circumcision; the cross offends because it ends sabbath and circumcision.
Commentary on Galatians 6:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The false apostles urged circumcision to avoid Jewish persecution, unlike Paul, who was ready to die for Christ.
Commentary on Galatians 6:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The circumcisers did not keep the law themselves but boasted in the Galatians' circumcision, mocking them.
Commentary on Philippians 3:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The 'dogs' are those who persuaded gentile converts to be circumcised, to be avoided entirely.
Commentary on Philippians 3:3–4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Believers are the true circumcision of the heart; Paul could boast of fleshly circumcision but rejects it as empty.
Commentary on Philippians 3:5–7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul surpassed others in Jewish privilege and zeal for the Law but counts it loss for Christ; Ambrosiaster derives 'Hebrew' from Abraham rather than Heber.
Commentary on Romans 2:25Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster takes “circumcision” for descent from Abraham, which profits only if one keeps the law by believing in the Christ it promised.
Commentary on Romans 2:28–29Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · True circumcision is of the heart, the acknowledgment of the Creator and the Trinity by faith, whose praise is from God.
Commentary on Romans 4:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Abraham was reckoned righteous before circumcision, which he received only as a sign of his faith, so that he is father of believing gentiles; the promised seed is Christ, of whom Isaac was a figure.
Commentary on Romans 4:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Abraham is father of all who believe, circumcised or not; the promise that he would inherit the world came through faith, and its heir is Christ, who receives the nations.
Commentary on Romans 15:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Believers should receive one another as Christ received them; Christ served the circumcised to fulfil God’s promises to the fathers, preaching circumcision of the heart.
Commentary on Titus 1:5–11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Titus is to appoint holy and able presbyter-bishops who can refute the judaizing teachers, who seek both money and converts to circumcision.
Question 12, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Abraham received circumcision in the organ of generation because of the promised holy offspring; far from a disfigurement, it was a glory, as Achior’s voluntary circumcision and the scars of confessors show.
Question 12, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Circumcision was a sign of Abraham’s faith and spiritually signified the removal of fleshly darkness from the heart through faith in Christ, his promised descendant.
Question 16, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · The angel threatened Moses because, sent by the God of Abraham, he had left his sons uncircumcised, a grave fault in so prominent a man.
Question 29, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Circumcision on the eighth day, which is the first day after the sabbath, prefigured the salvation by faith confirmed by Christ’s resurrection on the Lord’s day.
Question 44, section 6Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Enoch, Noah, and Abraham were righteous without the law; Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision, which marks only his physical descendants.
Question 44, section 7Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Circumcision of the flesh is worthless without circumcision of the heart, which alone makes one a child of God and heir of Abraham’s righteousness.
Question 44, section 10Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Circumcision, though older than Moses, belonged to its time; the new covenant has its own sign and name, so that believers are called Christians after Christ as Hebrews were named after Abraham.
Question 50, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Circumcision was the sign of the promised seed, Christ; he received it to show he was the promised one, and after him only circumcision of the heart remains.
Question 81, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Answering why Jews are born Jews but Christians are not born Christians, Ambrosiaster says Jewishness passes by birth under devotion to the Creator, while one becomes a Christian only by faith, which adds a real dignity to nature.
Letter 112.7Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome cites Acts 10–11 and 15 to show that Peter was the first to hold that Gentiles are free from the law.
Letter 112.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome points out that Paul himself circumcised Timothy and took a Nazirite vow at Cenchreae out of regard for the Jews.
Letter 116.12Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine explains that Paul circumcised Timothy to show that circumcision was not idolatry, but refused to circumcise Titus so as not to concede that it was necessary for salvation.
Letter 116.19Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine answers Jerome's use of Gal 5:2 and 5:4 by arguing that Paul condemned circumcision only when sought as necessary for salvation.
Ancoratus 116.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The true sabbath and the heavenly circumcision.
Ancoratus 116.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Baptism circumcises the whole person.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 4.1.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Abraham's circumcision at ninety-nine begins Judaism.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 8.4.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision was given to Abraham's seed as a reminder to remain faithful.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 8.4.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Isaac's circumcision was commanded by God but was a type.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 8.6.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision foreshadowed baptism.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 13.1.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The Dositheans keep circumcision, sabbath, fasts, and avoid touching others.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 18.1.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The Nasaraeans keep circumcision, sabbath, and festivals.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Cerinthus incited the circumcision party against Peter.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.2.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Cerinthus used circumcision against Gentile believers.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.4.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Paul's refusal to circumcise Titus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.4.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision served until the washing of regeneration replaced it.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.4.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The false apostles demanded circumcision of Gentile believers.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 28.5.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · They argue for circumcision from Christ's own circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.26.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · They boast of circumcision as the patriarchs' seal.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.26.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · They argue from Christ's circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.26.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ did not circumcise himself.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.26.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · If Christ was a mere infant, his circumcision was not his own act.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.26.10Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Infants are not responsible for their circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.27.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Zipporah's words foreshadow the end of circumcision in Christ.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.27.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The angel withdrew at a word pointing to the coming child.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.27.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ's glory brings the spiritual circumcision of the Gentiles.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Why Christ was circumcised.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ's circumcision leaves the Jews no excuse.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ confirmed the sign he gave Abraham.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision was given because of Abraham's doubt.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision guarded Israel from forgetting God in Egypt.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.28.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ was circumcised in order to abolish circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.33.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision was a sign and figure, not perfection.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.33.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Holy women were saved without circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.33.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The saying did not concern circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.34.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Imitating Christ in circumcision profits nothing.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.34.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ's seal, given to men and women alike, is the perfect circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 33.5.11Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Circumcision is of the heart, and the sabbath is kept spiritually.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.16.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The ark's eight, David, and eighth-day circumcision are made signs of the ogdoad.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Abraham honored an uncircumcised priest, humbling the later circumcised priesthood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The church’s priesthood has baptism, the greater circumcision.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.12.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Men from Judea taught the Gentile believers at Antioch that they must be circumcised to be saved.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.12.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The church at Antioch sent men to the apostles in Jerusalem about circumcision.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.14.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Believers need only the circumcision of the heart.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.23.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ fulfilled and ended circumcision and forbade oaths.
Theological Oration 5 (Or. 31), On the Holy Spirit 25Gregory of Nazianzus · 380 · God led humanity gradually, from idols to the Law and from the Law to the gospel, persuading rather than forcing.
Book of Heresies 36.2Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Cerinthus taught circumcision and denied that Christ had yet risen.
Book of Heresies 36.5Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · The apostles freed gentile believers from circumcision.
Book of Heresies 118.2Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · The fault for the uncircumcised child lay with the parents.
Book of Heresies 118.3Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · The mother circumcised the child and the angel withdrew.
Book of Heresies 118.4Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · It was Moses's son, not Moses, who was circumcised.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 67Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Spiritual circumcision of the heart replaces fleshly circumcision.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 33Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Simon asks why Christians forbid circumcision, which God commanded and Christ received.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 34Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Theophilus argues from Abraham’s faith before circumcision that circumcision is a sign of descent, not of salvation.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 35Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Simon cites Zipporah’s circumcision of Moses’ son as proof of its necessity.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 36Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Theophilus reads Zipporah as the synagogue and the altar of uncut stones as the church built from the uncircumcised.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 37Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Simon asks for proof that Christ circumcised no one.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 38Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Theophilus argues that Christ calls the uncircumcised, that the younger people supersedes the elder, and that the prophets foretold a new covenant and circumcision of the heart.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 39Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Simon asks what circumcision of the heart is.
Altercatio, chapter 2, speech 40Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Theophilus defines circumcision of the heart as cutting away the vices, kept by Enoch, Noah, Job and Melchizedek before the law.
Exposition of Psalm 118 5.25.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · True circumcision is of the heart, done by Christ, the rock, and the sword of his word.
Exposition of Psalm 118 5.37.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Fear of God must be according to knowledge; Ambrose says the Jews keep circumcision and sabbath literally without grasping their spiritual sense.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.6.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The piercing of the ear and circumcision are signs; the spiritual meaning is purification of the heart.
Letter 23.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the one baptism in the name of the Trinity must be recognized wherever it is found, comparing it with circumcision, which was never repeated even for a Samaritan becoming a Jew.
Letter 75.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Jerome recounts from Acts how Peter was first taught that Gentiles are clean and led the Jerusalem council in freeing them from the law.
Letter 75.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Jerome points out that Paul himself circumcised Timothy and shaved his head under a vow, and so should pardon Peter.
Letter 75.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Jerome challenges Augustine to let a converted Jew keep circumcision, sabbath, food laws, and Passover, and quotes Augustine’s account of the Jews’ ‘evil’ that Paul abandoned.
Letter 82.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Peter wrongly implied the old rites were needed for salvation, while Paul kept them only to show they were not idolatry but God-given shadows of what was to come.
Letter 82.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that Peter shared Paul’s view, and that Paul rebuked not his belief but his pretence, which implied that circumcision was necessary for salvation.
Letter 82.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Paul circumcised Timothy to show circumcision was not idolatry, but refused to circumcise Titus so as not to imply it was necessary for salvation.
Letter 82.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that Paul’s warning against circumcision in Galatians applies to those who thought it necessary for salvation, not to Timothy’s case.
Letter 149.26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Colossians 2:11–15 warns against the 'shadows' of Judaism: in baptism believers share Christ's circumcision and resurrection, and Christ triumphed over the evil powers.
Letter 157.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The righteous of the Old Testament were saved by the same faith in Christ's incarnation as Christians; the sacraments changed but the faith did not.
Letter 196.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Christians are Jews spiritually as they are Abraham's offspring by faith, as Paul argues in Romans 4 and Galatians 3.
Sermon 10.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The two harlots are the Synagogue and the Church: the Synagogue killed Christ, and Judaizers tried to substitute the dead rite of circumcision for the Gentile Church's living faith, until Paul woke her up.
Sermon 160.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Circumcision, a hidden sign foreshadowing Christ (the stone knife, the eighth day), gives way to the open sign of the cross on the forehead, as the veil over the Old Testament is removed in Christ.
Sermon 210.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ's baptism by John is inferior to Christian baptism, as circumcision and the old Passover are to their fulfilments; his fast after baptism teaches us to fast in times of temptation.
Sermon 231.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ, free of sin, shared our punishment of death to cancel both guilt and punishment; his resurrection on the eighth day, prefigured by circumcision, is our new life, as we die to evil and rise to good living.
Sermon 252.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The two boats are the Jewish and Gentile peoples joined in Christ the cornerstone; Jewish believers who demanded circumcision of Gentiles weighed the ship down by stirring up dissension.
Sermon 260.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To the newly baptized at the Easter octave: keep chastity, married or vowed; the unmarried may marry only partners whose former spouses are no longer living; those vowed to continence must keep their vow.
Sermon 294.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To the objection that baptized parents should bear sinless children, Augustine answers that parents beget by carnal generation, not by their regeneration, as cleaned grain still produces chaff and the circumcised beget uncircumcised children.
Against Jovinianus 1.11Jerome · 393 · Jerome interprets Paul's sayings about circumcision and slavery in 1 Cor 7:17–24 as figures for the married and the unmarried.
Against Jovinianus 1.18Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues that meat-eating, divorce, and circumcision were later concessions, and that Christ restores the order of the beginning, in which there was no divorce.
Against Jovinianus 1.21Jerome · 393 · Jerome reads Joshua's crossing of the Jordan, the circumcision at Gilgal, and the conquest as figures of the Gospel's victory over marriage and the senses.
Against Adimantus, a Disciple of Mani 16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 394 · Augustine answers Adimantus's use of Matt 23:15, 1 Cor 7:19 and Gal 4:10 against the Sabbath and circumcision: these were shadows rightly imposed and now understood spiritually, and Christ condemned the Pharisees' conduct, not the law.
On Lying 8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 395 · The New Testament offers no example of lying to imitate: Peter's pretense at Antioch was rebuked, while Paul's circumcising Timothy and keeping Jewish rites came from freedom, not pretense.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 6.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Faustus argues that catholics, like Manichaeans, do not keep the Old Testament’s ceremonial laws, and accuses them of praising what they do not observe.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 6.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine defends circumcision as a fitting figure of the circumcision of the heart and turns the charge of impurity against the Manichaean belief that God’s substance is bound in human flesh.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 16.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Faustus argues that Christ's teaching on the Sabbath, circumcision and clean foods contradicts Moses, so that Jews who believed Moses could not believe Christ.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 16.29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine reads Christ's Sabbath rest in the tomb and his rising on the eighth day as fulfilling the Sabbath and circumcision, which signifies the stripping off of mortality, and explains the woe on the proselyte as about imitating the Pharisees.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 18.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Faustus asks whether Catholics would take up circumcision, the Sabbath, sacrifices and food laws, and concludes that Matthew 5:17 either means something else or was never said.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 19.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Faustus says only Jewish Christians who keep circumcision, sabbath, and food laws could press this text on him, and the catholic Christian keeps none of them.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 19.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine explains that Christians do not practise circumcision or sabbath rest because Christ fulfilled what they prefigured: circumcision in his resurrection and baptism, the sabbath in the rest he gives.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 19.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine explains that the apostles let Jewish believers keep their ancestral rites for a time but forbade imposing them on Gentiles, and identifies the Nazarenes as those who refused this settlement.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 25.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine refuses to debate God’s finitude with those who think only in bodily terms, and turns the mockery of circumcision back on the Manichaean belief that God is mixed with all flesh.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 32.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Faustus argues that Catholics do not really believe Old Testament curses on the hanged, the childless, the uncircumcised, and sabbath-breakers, which would condemn Christ and Christians.
Tractates 11Gaudentius of Brescia · ca. 397-410 · On John 7:21 ('I have done one work'): healing the paralytic on the Sabbath fulfilled the Law, which permits work 'done for every soul' as circumcision does; 'judge a just judgment' forbids flattering the rich, admiring outward beauty, and judging Christ only as a man.
On the Work of Monks 12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul's becoming all things to all, including his observances at Jerusalem and his refusal of support, was compassion for the weak, not pretense.
Questions and Answers to the Orthodox 102Anonymous · 5th century (disputed) · Circumcision was given to Abraham as a seal of his faith that his aged body would beget a son, and passed to his descendants as a memorial; Christians receive instead the circumcision of Christ in baptism, putting off Adam and putting on Christ.
1 Corinthians 7:18Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The circumcised need not regret it; the apostles let some keep the law's works for a time.
1 Corinthians 7:19Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Circumcision now neither helps nor harms.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 30.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · If the Jews circumcise on the sabbath for the sake of a sign of salvation, they should not be angry that Christ made a whole man well on the sabbath.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 30.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Circumcision on the eighth day signified Christ, the stone knife, whose resurrection on the eighth day strips us of the fault of birth and of our sins.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 2.40Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · Circumcision, though given only once, was given to each child of circumcised parents; likewise the children of the baptized must themselves be baptized.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 3.16Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · The objection that children of the baptized should be born free of sin is answered by analogy: the circumcised beget uncircumcised sons, and winnowed wheat grows grain with chaff.
On the Spirit and the Letter 13Augustine of Hippo · 412 · Paul's rebuke of the Jew who boasts in the law shows that true circumcision is of the heart, given by the Spirit, and praise comes from God, not from works done out of fear.
On the Spirit and the Letter 46Augustine of Hippo · 412 · The gentiles of Rom 2:14–15 are believing gentiles, grafted into God's people, in whose hearts the Spirit writes the law, as Jeremiah promised.
City of God 16.23Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · God promised Abraham descendants like the stars; Abraham believed and was justified by faith before circumcision, as Paul argues.
City of God 16.26Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · In Gen 17 God promises Isaac, renames Abraham and Sarah, and institutes circumcision, which signifies regeneration, and the eighth day Christ's resurrection.
City of God 16.27Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · An uncircumcised infant 'perishes' not for his own fault but because all broke God's first covenant in Adam; circumcision signified the regeneration that frees from original sin.
Commentary on Jeremiah 1.70Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Judah must clear the thorns from its heart and be circumcised inwardly; the church must take refuge in Christ against the heretics, and the lion from the north is the devil.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.15Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The people cannot hear because they would not circumcise their ears; this willed inability turns God's saving word into their condemnation.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.82Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Jerusalem's dead will lie unburied; true glory is only in knowing the Lord, whose providence governs all; circumcision of the flesh profits nothing without circumcision of the heart.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.35Augustine of Hippo · 418 · God's threat that an uncircumcised infant would perish from his people cannot be just unless infants inherit guilt, since they have committed no sin of their own.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.36Augustine of Hippo · 418 · The penalty cannot be for sins in a previous life, as Platonists suggest, since the unborn have done nothing; it is for Adam's debt, and circumcision on the eighth day with a stone knife prefigured Christ.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · The penalty for an uncircumcised infant shows original sin; circumcision, like baptism later, signified cleansing from it through faith in the coming Mediator.
The Conferences 21.36John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Theonas praises their concern for inner purity rather than outward continence and postpones the question to a later conference because the night is nearly over.
On 1 Cor 7:7.18Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision should be changed, since what matters is keeping God's commandments.
Part 1, chapter 14Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Circumcision, set in the part of the body where lust entered after the fall, figures the circumcision of the heart and the continence of the New Testament.
Part 2, chapter 14Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Joshua’s two spies, Rahab with her scarlet cord, the crossing of the Jordan with the twelve stones, and circumcision with stone knives figure John and Zechariah, the Gentile Church saved by Christ’s blood, the apostles, and baptism.