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Jesus was born into a Jewish family in Israel, where Judaism was the prevailing religion, so he was circumcised on the eighth day.<ref name="luke2:21>{{REFweb |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A21&version=NASB |title=Gospel of Luke |trans-title= |language= |last=Luke |first= |author-link= |publisher=NASB |website=Bible Gateway |date= |accessdate=2019-11-10 |format= |quote=And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.}}</ref> The first Christians had been born Jewish, so a question arose whether one must be circumcised to be a Christian. When Christian leaders met at the Council at Jerusalem in the First Century to decide what was required to be a Christian, a letter was written to explain the requirements, but circumcision was omitted from the requirements.<ref>{{REFweb

Though the practice of ritual circumcision of males, both consenting and non-consenting, has existed for millenia, the search for "potential medical benefits" began relatively recently. The discussion of circumcision in the Ninth Edition of the ''Encyclopǽdia Britannica'' (1876) made no mention of any prophylactic, medical, or therapeutic value or function.<ref>{{REFweb |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/history/encyclopaediabritannica1876/ |title=Circumcision |trans-title= |language= |last=Cheyne |first=T. K. |author-link= |publisher=Encyclopǽdia Brittanica |website=Circumcision Reference Library |date=1876 |accessdate=2019-11-10 |format= |quote=}}</ref> Initially, circumcision was adopted as a way to stop boys and men from masturbating, where masturbation was seen as the cause for many diseases. As the myth that circumcision prevented [[masturbation]] became debunked, advocates of circumcision began the great search to find the "medical benefits" of circumcision.

</ref> but this notion has no validity because the prepuce is ubiquitous in primates and because it provides functional advantages.<refname="cold-mcgrath1995">{{REFbook

In the 1920s it was penile cancer<ref>. Abraham L. Wolbarst (1926) claims that circumcision can prevent penile cancer. <ref name="wolbarst1926">{{REFjournal

}}</ref>, in the 1940 1940s, prostate- and tongue cancer as well as STDs<ref>. Eugene H. Hand (1949) falsely explains that circumcision somehow protects against venereal diseases and tongue cancer. <ref name="hand1949">{{REFjournal

}}</ref>.  In the 1950s it was cervical cancer<ref>. Abraham Ravich (1951) invents the myth that circumcision reduces the risk of women getting cervical cancer. <ref name="ravich1951">{{REFjournal

}}</ref></ref>, in the late 1960s it was neuroses<ref>. Morris Fishbein (1969) calls for circumcision to prevent nervousness and, of course, [[masturbation]]. {{REFbook

}}</ref></ref>, in the 1970s bladder- and rectal cancer<ref>. Abraham Ravich (1971) claims that circumcision would prevent bladder cancer and rectal cancer. {{REFjournal

}}</ref>, and in </ref>  In the 1980s , UTIs<ref>. Thomas E. Wiswell (1985) claims that circumcision , using a methodologically flawed report, reduces the risk of urinary tract infections. <ref name="wiswell1985">{{REFjournal

}}</ref> and AIDS<ref> Aaron J. Fink (1986) claims that circumcision protects against AIDS. <ref name="fink1986">{{REFjournal

|accessdate=2019-11-20}}</ref></ref> followed. Retrospectively, circumcision was always advertised as a cure for whatever disease was in the public spotlight at the time.