Abraham and the Covenant, the ritual of circumcision, Sophia

Abraham and the Covenant, the ritual of circumcision, Sophia [Video]

James Hastings, ed., Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 3, p. 680.

According to George Barton

In the beginning…Semitic circumcision was apparently a sacrifice to the goddess of fertility. Whether it was intended to ensure the blessing of the goddess, and so to secure more abundant offspring, or whether it was considered as the sacrifice of a part instead of the whole person, we may not clearly determine.