New Study Confirms Benefits of Circumcision
One of the most amazing things about the Bible is how much modern science you can find in its pages. Many of the regulations that God gave to the people of Israel can be understood in terms of the latest advances in medical science. One classic example that I have been discussing for years is the ritual of circumcision.
In Genesis 17:10-12, God commands His people to circumcise their male children on the eighth day of the child's life outside of the womb. In the early 1950's several convincing studies were done which indicated that the practice of circumcision makes it easier for a man to keep himself clean, which reduces the risk of sexually transmitted disease for the man's sexual partners, including the disease of cervical cancer. Studies done in the 1950's indicated that millions of Jewish women were saved from the devastating disease of cervical cancer because Jewish men were circumcised.
Over the years, however, it has become the rage in the scientific community to question the conclusions of these studies. Several medical websites, as well as many self-proclaimed "experts," have stated that the studies done in the 1950's were flawed, and that male circumcision does not protect women from cervical cancer.
In the April 11, 2002 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 346:1105-1112), a study was published that should put this nonsense to rest. In this study, a host of authors examined more than 1,000 men and found that those who were not circumcised were almost 3 TIMES more likely to be infected with the human papillomavirus than those who were circumcised. Since this virus plays an important role in the development of cervical cancer, we now have a direct link between men not being circumcised and the development of cervical cancer in women.
Interestingly enough, the fact that male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of cervical cancer in women is not the most amazing aspect of Genesis 17:10-12. The most amazing thing is that God commands the Jews to perform this ritual on the eighth day of the baby's life. Medical science (see, for example, Martin C. Rosenthal, Journal of the American Medical Association, February 13, p. 436, 1947) has confirmed that the blood clotting agents in a baby are at their maximum level on the baby's eighth day of life outside the womb. Thus, modern medical science tells us that this is the very best time for the baby to be cut.
Of course, for those who believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, none of this should be surprising!