Nudity to Romans was an accepted tradition. They adopted the Greek style of open gymnasiums of men in the nude, there they discussed business, politics, and religion.
In Roman bath houses and gymnasiums alike to have a circumcised penis in public was socially unacceptable and in effect excluded any circumcised men from social advancement. Thus the appearance of a circumcised member was a serious disadvantage in men in ancient Rome.
This is why some Jews in the second century BC opted in for a procedure, epispasm, to restore their manhood’s covering. This was against the Law of Moses and extremely painful.
The epispasm procedure involved the following steps:
- Two incisions are made in the penis, one above the tip and one below. These loosen up skin which is used to create an arbitrary fold.
- Plaster was placed under the loose skin on the top of the penis and bottom to prevent the folds from sticking to the tip.
Circumcision
For Jews living under the Law of Moses, circumcision was required.
“Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised on the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” So said God to Abraham, establishing the covenant of circumcision, a covenant “between me and you and your descendents after you” (Genesis 17:10,14)
While Jews were not allowed to forgo the removal of their foreskin, the Gentiles were not as concerned with the Law of Moses. Based on the laws of the New Covenant given by Jesus Christ one’s manhood could remain intact.
Even though many new Christians were remarkably devoted to their living God, Jesus did profess to be more than a moral teacher, some Gentiles did fall into the tempation to cut their member.
As a result one of the early influential Christians sent a letter to his flock in Corinth, now southern Greece, admonishing this behavior.
Paul Writes To Condemn Epispasm
1 Corinthians 7:18, NIV: “Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.”
Paul writes in Corinthians about the new covenant through Jesus Christ. Living in faith under Jesus no longer required the Law of Moses, and therefore circumcision.
In fact Paul makes it clear, he essentially says do not get circumcised if you are not. Paul also says that Jews should not become uncircumcised. These idiosyncrasies were not important what mattered was obedience to God.
“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.” Further confirms what Paul was saying about circumcision being a spiritual matter and not to focus on the physical aspects.
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