Health Benefits of Circumcision

One of the divisions of the Institute in Basic Life Principles is the Medical Training Institute. Its purpose is to provide information, assisting doctors and families in making wise medical decisions.

In response to many questions, a booklet was published explaining the health benefits of circumcision. Circumcision is certainly not required for salvation or for achieving righteousness as a believer. However, it has medical benefits that were recently affirmed in a new study published by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

In the first century, false teachers told believers that in order for them to be saved they must be circumcised. The Apostle Paul firmly rebuked those who taught this. However, he also affirmed that there are benefits of circumcision and used it as a positive analogy of removing the impurities that we conceal in our hearts. (See Colossians 2:11; Romans 2:25, 28–29, 3:1–2.) Some health benefits of circumcision are as follows:

1. Protection from urinary tract infection (UTI)

Since 1980, at least ten research studies have been published linking urinary tract infections to a lack of circumcision. ^1–10 These studies found a minimum twelve-fold increased risk for urinary tract infections among uncircumcised males one to sixteen years of age, as well as among adult males. There is no data that contradicts these findings.

In 1997 a team of pediatric surgeons at Wolfson Hospital, Holon, Israel, conducted a study that established a relationship between failure to circumcise and increased urinary tract infection in infants. The team concluded that “streptococci, strict anaerobes, and genital mycoplasmas were found almost exclusively in uncircumcised males of more than fifteen years of age.” They further stated, “Our results also support the role of the prepuce [uncircumcised foreskin] as a reservoir for sexually transmitted organisms.” ¹¹

2. Guarding against cervical cancer

In an important study done on the cause of cervical cancer, it was discovered that there was a 2,000% greater incidence of cervical cancer among non-Jewish women whose husbands were uncircumcised. A New England Journal of Medicine article, published in April 2002, affirms the relationship between cervical cancer and men who are not circumcised. ¹² In reporting on this study, The Wall Street Journal notes the long-standing debate over the merits of circumcision in combating sexually transmitted diseases: “The results come at a time when public opinion is turning away from circumcision, which many doctors have increasingly come to view as painful and unnecessary.” ¹³

According to the Journal, “uncircumcised men are more likely to harbor human papilloma virus (HPV).” HPV, a sexually transmitted virus, is believed to cause nearly all cervical cancer. The article also states that if all men were circumcised, it could “reduce the incidence of cervical cancer world-wide by as much as 43%.”

3. Avoidance of penile cancer

After reviewing the data from 50,000 cases in the past half-century, Dr. Thomas Wiswell concluded that “circumcision categorically prevents penile cancer.” ¹⁴ Out of 50,000 cancer cases, only ten had occurred in circumcised men. These men had all been circumcised later in life. Thus, none of the men diagnosed with penile cancer had been circumcised during infancy. ^15,16

4. Reduction of harmful bacteria

Circumcision unquestionably facilitates better hygiene and the avoidance of conditions that result from uncleanliness. However, the most compelling reasons for circumcision among pediatric surgeons and urologists are balanitis (inflammation of the glans) and phimosis (stricture of the foreskin, resulting from recurrent infections). These painful conditions almost always occur in uncircumcised males. In babies, balanitis is caused by soiled diapers, as well as by playing or sitting in dirty areas. ¹⁷

Circumcision in the Lives of New Testament Believers

Circumcision is not required of believers for salvation. To make this profoundly clear, Paul—who circumcised Timothy—refused to circumcise Titus because to do so would be to confirm the claims of false teachers that circumcision was necessary for salvation.

Neither is circumcision required for achieving the righteousness of the Law or the sanctification of the believer. Cleansing from sin is accomplished through the blood of Christ, daily confession, and the cleansing of the Word of God. (See I John 1:7, 9; John 15:3, 17:17.) Circumcision does have health benefits that must be considered, but of far more importance is the circumcision of the heart.

May 2002