If our son was born Friday 28 Oct at 6.44 pm, what day shall he be
cirmcusised? When is the 8th day? If Friday counted as the first day or
Saturday?

I am assuming that you are a believer in Jesus, and will give you my
response based on that assumption. First, there is absolutely no
requirement or even suggestion in the New Testament that you should
circumcise your child. In fact, Paul said to some disciples who were
influenced by Jewish Christians, “I, Paul tell you that if you let
yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.” Of
course, you should read this in its context. Some Jews were teaching that
Jewish circumcision was required for followers of Jesus Christ. Paul
condemned this teaching in the strongest possible terms. He said that if
the followers of Jesus went back to requiring people to obey the Law of
Moses, they would forfeit the grace of Jesus. Like he said, “for if
righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.”
(Galatians 2:21). Paul also said in Colossians 2:13-14, “When you were
dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God
made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled
teh written code, with its regulations, that was against us and th at
stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” He then
went on to list a number of Jewish laws which are not required for
followers of Jesus.
Paul taught (and the apostles in Jerusalem fully supported him, as in Acts
15), that circumcision is definitely not required for disciples of Jesus.

Having said all that, it is up to you. If you choose to circumcise your
male child, there is nothing in the Bible which precludes it. There are
some possible health benefits to circumcision (see my book Reasons for
Belief in the chapter on the Bible and Science, www.ipibooks.com. You can
also do a word search on circumcision at the web site. I have a few
articles on the subject). Some prefer to circumcise their male children
because it is a norm for male children in many cultures. Some feel their
child will feel awkward later in life if he is not circumcised. This is a
matter of personal decision. Either way, it is not a matter of obeying
the command to Abraham and his seed to be circumcise on the eighth day.
Most who have their children circumcised do so during the first two or
three days for the sake of convenience. There is absolutely no
biblical reason to wait until the eighth day.

Now, you may choose to follow the Jewish tradition for personal reasons.
You are certainly free to do this, but bear in mind that this is a Jewish
tradition, not a Christian tradition. If you do so, you should make sure
that you do not give the impression to people that this is a “Christian”
circumcision. If for some reason you want to use a Jewish tradition in
circumcising your son, I can think of no reason you would be doing
anything unbiblical. For your information, the Jews counted days from
sunset to sunset. Therefore, you can count forward to the eighth day from
the time of birth, keeping in mind that the “day” in question began in the
evening before the birth and ended the evening after the birth.
Interestingly, your son was born very close to sunset. In fact, whether
it was before or after sunset will depend on where you live!!! I believe
you will have to look it up. If he was born before sunset, you should
have it done on the 4th of November. If he was born after sunset, it
should be done on the 5th.

Whatever you decide, I pray that you will enjoy one of the greatest and
most profound gifts God can give any of us, which is the gift of a child
to raise. I have three teens, and they are the greatest blessing in my
life.

John Oakes

PS our son was circumcised on the second day!