My understanding is the ancient Jewish circumcision was in fact much
different than modern circumcision.  The ancient circumcision rite was
called milah.  It basically involved stretching the foreskin forward and
cutting off the "tag" of skin that protrudes beyond the foreskin--a very
small amount of skin.  It did not involve forcibly retracting the
foreskin or breaking the frenulum.
Modern circumcision (periah) didn't start until after the time of
Christ, and included everything we associate with circumcision
--stripping back the inner lining, removing the entire foreskin and
frenulum.
There is some speculation that the more radical periah was introduced
because milah was too easy to disguise/undo (by elongating the remaining
foreskin.)  Rabbis in the church felt that milah did not effectively
bind men to "the seal of the covenant."
Most of this information is from a book entitled "Say No to
Circumcision" by Thomas J. Ritter and George C. Denniston (both M.D.s).
The book (with references) is available from an organization called
NOCIRC, but I can't find their address/phone.
Hope this helps.
Millie Adelsheim
http://www.peapods.com
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