God declared to Abraham, “And I will establish a covenant of circumcision with thee, and it shall be my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations; that thou mayest know for ever that children are not accountable before me until they are eight years old” (JST, Genesis 17:11). God further declared to Abraham that circumcision was “a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:11). The spirit of apostasy, however, led many people in ancient times to believe that circumcision was necessary to make male children holy.
The law of circumcision was not intended to last forever. The Savior’s words were revealed to Mormon: “The law of circumcision is done away in me” (Moroni 8:8). The Doctrine and Covenants explains why the law of circumcision was ended (see D&C 74:2–7).