2024.10.07 | Ryan D. Collman. The Apostle to the Foreskin: Circumcision in the Letters of Paul. BZNW 259. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2023.
Review article by Paul T. Sloan, Houston Christian University.
“Foreskin” stretches across Paul’s letters as a part of various discourses concerning proper Law-keeping and the relation of Jews and gentiles to one another, to Abraham, and to God. The topic of circumcision naturally cuts across the same arguments. Often scholars only survey the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these topics, but Ryan Collman has provided a detailed study on the related passages. While Pauline scholars have routinely claimed that Paul “redefined” or “spiritualized” circumcision such that physical circumcision of Jews is made “redundant and obsolete” (p. 6) and that “the circumcision” as a usual metonymy for Jews is instead employed by Paul to refer to the Jew/gentile Christian community, Collman argues that Paul “held none of these views about circumcision” (p. 6). Instead, Paul “upholds the practice and value of circumcision for Jews. He does not redefine it, replace it, declare its irrelevance, or expand its application to non-Jews – metaphorically or otherwise” (p. 6). Collman’s work has much to commend it, and I find much of it persuasive, including, significantly, his overall thesis regarding Paul’s upholding of the practice of circumcision for Jews and the notion that Paul does not redefine it, replace it, or apply it to non-Jews. Disagreements, especially on matters as complex as Paul’s letters, are of course inevitable, though I am eager to clarify that any enumerated below are offered in overall appreciation of Collman’s well-argued and important thesis, which deserves a wide readership.
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Biblical and Early Christian Studies 