Will we be circumcised in heaven?

Will men be circumcised after the Resurrection?

We truly do not know what the afterlife holds for us, but the answer seems to be "no". At least for Christians. In regards to those of the Hebrew race that lived and died before Christ and are in heaven, it may be more possible.

In heaven our earthly bodies will be restored to their former manner and then some. The wounds of the glorified Martyrs will shine in heaven for all to see, yet amputated limbs will also be restored. Yet at the same time we shall see on the bodies of the Martyrs the traces of the wounds which they bore for Christ’s name. This is the Catholic perspective we will see in our heavenly bodies.

It was fitting for Christ’s soul at His Resurrection to resume the body with its scars. In the first place, for Christ’s own glory. For Bede says on Luke 24:40 that He kept His scars not from inability to heal them, “but to wear them as an everlasting trophy of His victory.” Hence Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xxii): “Perhaps in that kingdom we shall see on the bodies of the Martyrs the traces of the wounds which they bore for Christ’s name: because it will not be a deformity, but a dignity in them; and a certain kind of beauty will shine in them, in the body, though not of the body.” - Why Jesus’ Resurrected Body Still Had Wounds

Thus our being circumcised will be negated in heaven and our male members will once again have their foreskin returned to its' proper place on the human body.

Whether this will be a universal matter in heaven may not be all that clear. Although Christians who make the Pearly Gates with their foreskin returned to its' natural spot. the possibility that those who are in heaven and belong to the Hebrew nation before the advent of Christ may in fact remain circumcised in heaven. However we may not know the answer to this until we get to Heaven to witness this reality one way or another.

Circumcision for the Jews was more than simply an external act of Hebrew devotion. The removal of one's foreskin made you part of the covenant with God and the descendants of Abraham. In other words, circumcision made the Jewish people part of God's chosen people.

The Jews were proud of their descent from Abraham, but did not always "do the works of Abraham" (John 8:39). They attached so much importance to the external act, that while attending to the letter they neglected the spirit of the law. Jeremias (iv, 4; ix, 25, 26) calls their attention to the necessity of circumcision of the heart, as all important. Even in Deuteronomy 10:16 and 30:6, this spiritual circumcision is set forth in no uncertain language. As uncircumcision means profane, unclean, imperfect, "I am of uncircumcised lips" (Exodus 6:12), "their ears are uncircumcised" (Jeremiah 6:10), and was applied to inanimate things also, as in Lev., xix, 23, "the fruit that cometh forth shall be unclean [Hebrew uncircumcised] to you", so to circumcise the heart (Romans 2:29) means to reform the inner man, by cutting off the vices and correcting the disorders that make him displeasing in the sight of God. To leave the synagogue was to give up that which more than anything else characterized it (see Galatians 2:7-8). Yet St. Paul, while showing his freedom from the legalities of the Old Dispensation by not circumcising Titus (Galatians 2:3), wished to bury the synagogue with honour by subjecting Timothy to the law of circumcision (Acts 16:3). Even though Christ Himself, as a true son of Abraham, submitted to the law, His followers were to be children of Abraham by faith, and were to "adore the Father in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23). The Council of Jerusalem decided against the necessity of the rite, and St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, condemns the teachers that wished to make the Church of Christ only a continuation of the synagogue: "Behold, I Paul tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing" (v, 2). Here he refers to the supposed efficacy and necessity of circumcision, rather than to the mere ceremony; for he did not consider it wrong to circumcise Timothy. It was wrong, however, for the Galatians, having been baptized, and having taken upon themselves the obligations of the law of Christ with all its privileges, to be circumcised as a necessary means of salvation, since, by going for salvation from the Church to the Synagogue, they virtually denied the sufficiency of the merits of Christ (cf. Piconio, "Trip. Exp. in Gal.", v, 2). The Apostle gives the essence of Christianity when he says: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by charity" (Galatians 5:6). In Romans 4, he shows that Abraham was justified by faith, before circumcision was given as a sign of the covenant; so that the uncircumcision of the New Law is the continuation of the first ages of faith upon the earth. The gentile church of uncircumcision, according to St. Gregory the Great, is composed of men from the time of Abel the Just to the end of ages (Hom. xix in Evan.). St. Justin also says that as Henoch and the just of old received the spiritual circumcision, so do we receive it in the Sacrament of Baptism (Dialogue with Trypho 43). - Circumcision (Catholic Encyclopedia)

St. Thomas Aquinas goes much more profoundly on the illusion that circumcision for the Jews was a figure of Christian baptism.

St. Thomas holds that circumcision was a figure of baptism: this retrenches and restrains the animal man as that removed a part of his body — which physical act indicated the spiritual effect of the sacrament (De Sac., Summa, III, Q. lxx, a. 1). He gives three reasons why the organ of generation rather than any other was to be circumcised:

•Abraham was to be blessed in his seed;

•The rite was to take away original sin, which comes by generation;

•It was to restrain concupiscence, which is found especially in the generative organs (III, Q. lxx, a. 3).

According to his teaching, as baptism remits original sin and actual sins committed before its reception, so circumcision remitted both, but ex opere operantis, i.e. by the faith of the recipient, or, in the case of infants, by the faith of the parents. Infants that died before being circumcised could be saved, as were those who lived prior to the institution of circumcision, and as females were even after its institution, by some sign — the parents' prayer, for instance — expressive of faith. Adults did not receive the remission of all the temporal punishment due to sin as in baptism: — "Adulti, quando circumcidebantur, consequebantur remissionem, non solum originalis peccati, sed etiam actualium peccatorum; non tamen ita quod liberarentur ab omni reatu p næ, Sicut in baptismo, in quo confertur copiosior gratia" (III, Q. lxx, a. 4). The main points of the teaching of the Angelic Doctor were commonly held in the Church, even before the days of St. Augustine, who with other Fathers maintained that circumcision was not a mere ceremony, but a sacramental rite. (Cf. City of God XVI.27) - Circumcision (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Whether or not those Hebrew saints that lived before Christ and are in heaven will remain circumcised as a sign that they belonged to God's first covenant and part of thus his chosen people remains to be seen. For the rest of us, our bodies will be restored to its' perfect natural body, while at the same time they will be endowed with special gifts of the resurrected bodies.

We will find out in eternity!

There might be different opinions on this, depending how one sees and values circumcision. In general though, resurrection is meant as restoration and perfection of the whole body. Christ still having wounds to show afterwards is an exception, the rule is that everything is restored to the perfect form (so also no misfigurations, missing limbs etc. that one might be born with). I suppose this is going to apply to most denominations who believe in a resurrection of the body.

Please add comments if there is a denomination that sees resurrection differently, that I am not aware of.

Jesus said of the resurrected body :

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. [Matthew 22:30 KJV]

If those who are resurrected (to the resurrection of the just, Acts 24:15)

And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Acts 24:15 KJV

. . . are resurrected in such a way that none marries and none is given in marriage then there must be something altogether different about the resurrected body in regard to gender.

If you say 'will we be circumcised ?' you are assuming something that, I think, cannot be assumed.

All of 'we' who are resurrected to be with the Lord for ever will all be the same - there will no longer be any difference.

But we cannot know what exactly that body will be like.

Not yet . . .

Will we be circumcised in heaven?

The answer is NO!

Will people who were circumcised in this life (like myself) be circumcised in the next life?

The answer again is NO!

Or will we be whole in heaven? Because I really don't want to spend all of eternity missing a body part.

Body part,really? you want to bring your whole body including it's body part and particularly put emphasis on the circumcised part in Heaven? really what for? A circumcised body part has no means to glorified God in Heaven, it has no purpose in the Heavenly Realm.

The answer is, according to God's Holy Decree is NO!, why? We belong to Adam descendants having a fallen human nature that was corruptible and subject to death and scriptures clearly stated;

"...nothing defiled shall enter the Kingdom of God."

Can our mortal bodies subject to concupiscence or inclination to sin can go to the glorious presence of God in Heaven?

“Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean. Who desires not what is vain.” (Ps.24:3).

We are mistaken if we think our mortal bodies can enter the presence of God as the physical and natural realities is, our bodies will decompose and all of it including the circumcised part will turn to dust.

In fact Jesus stated following the essence of His teaching "if your circumcised part cause you to commit sin cut-it off, it better for you to enter heaven without that important part that to perish in hell. "

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.(matthew5:29-30)

My answer isn't scriptural, but simply based on logic. One of the arguments I use with people in regard to abortion is that at conception, a brand new DNA pattern is created. A brand new human being comes into existence. That's one of the things that makes us different than God. God has no beginning or end, we have a beginning. When women say that it's their body, it's not about their bodies. The newly created child has a different DNA pattern than the mother. The child is hosted by the mother, but not the same as the mother.

The reason God can resurrect a body, is that He knows all the DNA patterns of all the people who have ever existed. Since the body, from a purely physical point of view, is basically just dirt, it's the DNA pattern that makes you who you are as separate from who I am. Not only does God know our DNA pattern, He knows our perfect DNA pattern. He knows us how we were meant to be. In heaven, we will be perfect, and I believe that includes our foreskins. Being circumcised, like having an arm amputated, doesn't change our DNA.

In the words of St. Paul:

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

1 Corinthians 7:19

The original circumcision what supposed to be symbolizing what was happening in the heart. It was supposed to be a mark of being part of the People of God. Nevertheless, it became a ritual that meant nothing in practice. This is why God Himself said:

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

Deuteronomy 10:12-17

Read also, Leviticus 26:41; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 9:26; Ezekiel 44:7–9

All of these verses have to do with circumcision of the heart. It is to obey God's commandments, all of them.

In heaven this circumcision of the flesh will no longer be necessary because every one there will be a child of God and have perfect obedience, out of love to their Creator, or else they wouldn't be there.