Why male circumcision in the Old Testament? (Answer: It marks the member of procreation)

[Taylor: The spectacles being worn by the rabbi in this painting are awesome!]

Did you ever wonder why God chose circumcision as the sign of the Abrahamaic covenant? It is a rather odd symbol. Saint Thomas Aquinas explains why God chose the removal of the male foreskin as the sign of faith.

Nevertheless in the Old Law the remedy against original sin was affixed to the member of procreation; because He through Whom original sin was to be removed, was yet to be born of the seed of Abraham, whose faith was signified by circumcision according to Romans 4:11 (Summa theologiae III, q. 66, a. 7, ad 3).

In other words, the promise of the Redeemer Seed (cf. Gen 3:15) is signified by a sign affixed to the male member of procreation. Once this Seed comes into the world, circumcision ceases.

Comments Policy: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic. If your comment contains a hyperlink to another site, your comment automatically goes into "Comments Purgatory" where it waits for release by way of moderation.