16. So many medieval churches claimed to own the foreskin of Jesus (yes, really) that specimens were subjected to a taste test.
Medieval theologians raged and spat at one another until they were red in the face about the question of whether Jesus was circumcised. On the one hand, he was Jewish, and so presumably underwent the mutilation, but then he was the Image of God (Imago Dei), and so many countered that his body would have to be whole. Moreover, medieval Catholicism detested the Jewish people, and wanted as few reminders of the Saviour’s Semitic origins as possible, and many thought it best to ignore the explicit testimony of the Gospel of Luke 2:22 about the whole event.
But despite, or perhaps because of, the controversy, no fewer than 12 churches across Europe had foreskins on display that they said came from the Son of God’s own phallus. These Holy Prepuces – or foreskins – fetched big money on the relics market, and the various churches claiming to have the real one invented fantastic legends about how they came to own this particular piece of history. Incredibly, competition amongst foreskin-owners was so hot that some Holy Prepuces were verified as real by ‘qualified persons’, who would chew them to determine their authenticity… let’s leave it there.
