The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice

The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice

Author: Daniel C. Ullucci

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2011-12-27

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0199791708

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Sacrifice dominated the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean world for millennia, but its role and meaning changed dramatically with the rise of Christianity. Ullucci explores this transformation, in the process demonstrating the complexity of the concept of sacrifice in Roman, Greek, and Jewish religion.


Book Synopsis The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice by : Daniel C. Ullucci

Download or read book The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice written by Daniel C. Ullucci and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2011-12-27 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacrifice dominated the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean world for millennia, but its role and meaning changed dramatically with the rise of Christianity. Ullucci explores this transformation, in the process demonstrating the complexity of the concept of sacrifice in Roman, Greek, and Jewish religion.


The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice

The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice

Author: Daniel C. Ullucci

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 0199791724

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Sacrifice dominated the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean world for millennia, but its role and meaning changed dramatically in the fourth and fifth centuries with the rise of Christianity. Daniel Ullucci offers a new explanation of this remarkable transformation, in the process demonstrating the complexity of the concept of sacrifice in Roman, Greek, and Jewish religion. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice challenges the predominant scholarly model, which posits a connection between so-called critiques of sacrifice in non-Christian Greek, Latin, and Hebrew texts and the Christian rejection of animal sacrifice. According to this model, pre-Christian authors attacked the propriety of animal sacrifice as a religious practice, and Christians responded by replacing animal sacrifice with a pure, ''spiritual'' 'worship. This historical construction influences prevailing views of animal sacrifice even today, casting it as barbaric, backward, and primitive despite the fact that it is still practiced in such contemporary religions as Islam and Santeria. Rather than interpret the entire history of animal sacrifice through the lens of the Christian master narrative, Ullucci shows that the ancient texts must be seen not simply as critiques but as part of an ongoing competition between elite cultural producers to define the meaning and purpose of sacrifice. He reveals that Christian authors were not merely purveyors of pure spiritual religion, but a cultural elite vying for legitimacy and influence in societies that long predated them. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice is a crucial reinterpretation of the history of one of humanity's oldest and most fascinating rituals.


Book Synopsis The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice by : Daniel C. Ullucci

Download or read book The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice written by Daniel C. Ullucci and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacrifice dominated the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean world for millennia, but its role and meaning changed dramatically in the fourth and fifth centuries with the rise of Christianity. Daniel Ullucci offers a new explanation of this remarkable transformation, in the process demonstrating the complexity of the concept of sacrifice in Roman, Greek, and Jewish religion. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice challenges the predominant scholarly model, which posits a connection between so-called critiques of sacrifice in non-Christian Greek, Latin, and Hebrew texts and the Christian rejection of animal sacrifice. According to this model, pre-Christian authors attacked the propriety of animal sacrifice as a religious practice, and Christians responded by replacing animal sacrifice with a pure, ''spiritual'' 'worship. This historical construction influences prevailing views of animal sacrifice even today, casting it as barbaric, backward, and primitive despite the fact that it is still practiced in such contemporary religions as Islam and Santeria. Rather than interpret the entire history of animal sacrifice through the lens of the Christian master narrative, Ullucci shows that the ancient texts must be seen not simply as critiques but as part of an ongoing competition between elite cultural producers to define the meaning and purpose of sacrifice. He reveals that Christian authors were not merely purveyors of pure spiritual religion, but a cultural elite vying for legitimacy and influence in societies that long predated them. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice is a crucial reinterpretation of the history of one of humanity's oldest and most fascinating rituals.


Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice

Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice

Author: Jennifer Wright Knust

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-08-05

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0199876401

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An investigation of the multiple meanings and functions of sacrifice in diverse religious texts and practices from the late Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods.


Book Synopsis Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice by : Jennifer Wright Knust

Download or read book Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice written by Jennifer Wright Knust and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-05 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation of the multiple meanings and functions of sacrifice in diverse religious texts and practices from the late Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods.


Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam

Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam

Author: Brannon Wheeler

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-06-23

Total Pages: 483

ISBN-13: 100906312X

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Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Indeed, every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and the significance of the ritual. Brannon Wheeler uses both textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam. He provides a 'thick description' of the elaborate camel sacrifice performed by Muhammad, which serves as the model for future Hajj sacrifices. Wheeler integrates biblical and classical Arabic sources with evidence from zooarchaeology and the rock art of ancient Arabia to gain insight into an event that reportedly occurred 1400 years ago. His book encourages a more nuanced and expansive conception of “sacrifice” in the history of religion.


Book Synopsis Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam by : Brannon Wheeler

Download or read book Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam written by Brannon Wheeler and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-23 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Indeed, every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and the significance of the ritual. Brannon Wheeler uses both textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam. He provides a 'thick description' of the elaborate camel sacrifice performed by Muhammad, which serves as the model for future Hajj sacrifices. Wheeler integrates biblical and classical Arabic sources with evidence from zooarchaeology and the rock art of ancient Arabia to gain insight into an event that reportedly occurred 1400 years ago. His book encourages a more nuanced and expansive conception of “sacrifice” in the history of religion.


Radical Sacrifice

Radical Sacrifice

Author: Terry Eagleton

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2018-01-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0300233353

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A trenchant analysis of sacrifice as the foundation of the modern, as well as the ancient, social order The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude, were at odds. In this analysis, Terry Eagleton makes a compelling argument that the idea of sacrifice has long been misunderstood. Pursuing the complex lineage of sacrifice in a lyrical discourse, Eagleton focuses on the Old and New Testaments, offering a virtuosic analysis of the crucifixion, while drawing together a host of philosophers, theologians, and texts--from Hegel, Nietzsche, and Derrida to the Aeneid and The Wings of the Dove. Brilliant meditations on death and eros, Shakespeare and St. Paul, irony and hybridity explore the meaning of sacrifice in modernity, casting off misperceptions of barbarity to reconnect the radical idea to politics and revolution.


Book Synopsis Radical Sacrifice by : Terry Eagleton

Download or read book Radical Sacrifice written by Terry Eagleton and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trenchant analysis of sacrifice as the foundation of the modern, as well as the ancient, social order The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude, were at odds. In this analysis, Terry Eagleton makes a compelling argument that the idea of sacrifice has long been misunderstood. Pursuing the complex lineage of sacrifice in a lyrical discourse, Eagleton focuses on the Old and New Testaments, offering a virtuosic analysis of the crucifixion, while drawing together a host of philosophers, theologians, and texts--from Hegel, Nietzsche, and Derrida to the Aeneid and The Wings of the Dove. Brilliant meditations on death and eros, Shakespeare and St. Paul, irony and hybridity explore the meaning of sacrifice in modernity, casting off misperceptions of barbarity to reconnect the radical idea to politics and revolution.


Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice

Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice

Author: Giosue Ghisalberti

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2018-08-24

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1532652062

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Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice traces the historically sustained critique of animal sacrifice in both the Jewish prophets and Greek philosophers and offers a reinterpretation of the fundamental expression of piety in both cultures. The Jewish prophets, such as Isaiah, and Greek philosophers beginning with Pythagoras, provided not only an unequivocal denunciation of animal sacrifice as a religious ritual. Equally important, they also offered an alternative conception of piety in and through a language dedicated to the therapeutic health and well-being of others. In the philosophies of Socrates and Epicurus in the Greek world and in the teaching and healing of Jesus in the Jewish world of first-century Palestine, we reach a decisive moment in the revolution of religion in the ancient world. The practice of animal sacrifice in the temples of Greece and Jerusalem begins to be reconceived and eventually abolished and replaced by a soteriology or healing wholly dedicated to the well-being of individuals no less than entire societies. The replacement of animal sacrifice with soteriological speech is the single most important revolution in the religions of antiquity.


Book Synopsis Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice by : Giosue Ghisalberti

Download or read book Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice written by Giosue Ghisalberti and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-08-24 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soteriology and the End of Animal Sacrifice traces the historically sustained critique of animal sacrifice in both the Jewish prophets and Greek philosophers and offers a reinterpretation of the fundamental expression of piety in both cultures. The Jewish prophets, such as Isaiah, and Greek philosophers beginning with Pythagoras, provided not only an unequivocal denunciation of animal sacrifice as a religious ritual. Equally important, they also offered an alternative conception of piety in and through a language dedicated to the therapeutic health and well-being of others. In the philosophies of Socrates and Epicurus in the Greek world and in the teaching and healing of Jesus in the Jewish world of first-century Palestine, we reach a decisive moment in the revolution of religion in the ancient world. The practice of animal sacrifice in the temples of Greece and Jerusalem begins to be reconceived and eventually abolished and replaced by a soteriology or healing wholly dedicated to the well-being of individuals no less than entire societies. The replacement of animal sacrifice with soteriological speech is the single most important revolution in the religions of antiquity.


Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice

Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice

Author: Jennifer Wright Knust

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2011-10-14

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0199738963

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An investigation of the multiple meanings and functions of sacrifice in diverse religious texts and practices from the late Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods.


Book Synopsis Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice by : Jennifer Wright Knust

Download or read book Ancient Mediterranean Sacrifice written by Jennifer Wright Knust and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2011-10-14 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation of the multiple meanings and functions of sacrifice in diverse religious texts and practices from the late Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods.


Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 Bce-395 Ce)

Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 Bce-395 Ce)

Author: J. B. Rives

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-04-02

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 0197648916

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For over a thousand years, the practice of animal sacrifice held a central place in ancient Graeco-Roman culture as a means of both demonstrating piety to the gods and structuring social relationships. As Christianity took root in Rome in the third century CE, the cultural role of this practice changed dramatically. In Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 BCE-395 CE), J. B. Rives explores the shifting socio-economic, political, and cultural significance of animal sacrifice in this crucial period of change. Drawing on literary, epigraphic, archaeological, art historical, philosophical, and scriptural evidence, this volume provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the central role of animal sacrifice in the ancient Mediterranean world and traces the changes in its social function and cultural significance during the period when that world became Christianized. By focusing on the evolution of this specific cultural practice, Rives illustrates the larger phenomenon of the religious and cultural transformation taking place in the Graeco-Roman world in the third and fourth centuries CE, providing a unique perspective which will appeal to scholars across religious and classical studies.


Book Synopsis Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 Bce-395 Ce) by : J. B. Rives

Download or read book Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 Bce-395 Ce) written by J. B. Rives and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-04-02 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over a thousand years, the practice of animal sacrifice held a central place in ancient Graeco-Roman culture as a means of both demonstrating piety to the gods and structuring social relationships. As Christianity took root in Rome in the third century CE, the cultural role of this practice changed dramatically. In Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 BCE-395 CE), J. B. Rives explores the shifting socio-economic, political, and cultural significance of animal sacrifice in this crucial period of change. Drawing on literary, epigraphic, archaeological, art historical, philosophical, and scriptural evidence, this volume provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the central role of animal sacrifice in the ancient Mediterranean world and traces the changes in its social function and cultural significance during the period when that world became Christianized. By focusing on the evolution of this specific cultural practice, Rives illustrates the larger phenomenon of the religious and cultural transformation taking place in the Graeco-Roman world in the third and fourth centuries CE, providing a unique perspective which will appeal to scholars across religious and classical studies.


On Sacrifice

On Sacrifice

Author: Moshe Halbertal

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2012-02-26

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1400842352

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The idea and practice of sacrifice play a profound role in religion, ethics, and politics. In this brief book, philosopher Moshe Halbertal explores the meaning and implications of sacrifice, developing a theory of sacrifice as an offering and examining the relationship between sacrifice, ritual, violence, and love. On Sacrifice also looks at the place of self-sacrifice within ethical life and at the complex role of sacrifice as both a noble and destructive political ideal. In the religious domain, Halbertal argues, sacrifice is an offering, a gift given in the context of a hierarchical relationship. As such it is vulnerable to rejection, a trauma at the root of both ritual and violence. An offering is also an ambiguous gesture torn between a genuine expression of gratitude and love and an instrument of exchange, a tension that haunts the practice of sacrifice. In the moral and political domains, sacrifice is tied to the idea of self-transcendence, in which an individual sacrifices his or her self-interest for the sake of higher values and commitments. While self-sacrifice has great potential moral value, it can also be used to justify the most brutal acts. Halbertal attempts to unravel the relationship between self-sacrifice and violence, arguing that misguided self-sacrifice is far more problematic than exaggerated self-love. In his exploration of the positive and negative dimensions of self-sacrifice, Halbertal also addresses the role of past sacrifice in obligating future generations and in creating a bond for political associations, and considers the function of the modern state as a sacrificial community.


Book Synopsis On Sacrifice by : Moshe Halbertal

Download or read book On Sacrifice written by Moshe Halbertal and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-26 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea and practice of sacrifice play a profound role in religion, ethics, and politics. In this brief book, philosopher Moshe Halbertal explores the meaning and implications of sacrifice, developing a theory of sacrifice as an offering and examining the relationship between sacrifice, ritual, violence, and love. On Sacrifice also looks at the place of self-sacrifice within ethical life and at the complex role of sacrifice as both a noble and destructive political ideal. In the religious domain, Halbertal argues, sacrifice is an offering, a gift given in the context of a hierarchical relationship. As such it is vulnerable to rejection, a trauma at the root of both ritual and violence. An offering is also an ambiguous gesture torn between a genuine expression of gratitude and love and an instrument of exchange, a tension that haunts the practice of sacrifice. In the moral and political domains, sacrifice is tied to the idea of self-transcendence, in which an individual sacrifices his or her self-interest for the sake of higher values and commitments. While self-sacrifice has great potential moral value, it can also be used to justify the most brutal acts. Halbertal attempts to unravel the relationship between self-sacrifice and violence, arguing that misguided self-sacrifice is far more problematic than exaggerated self-love. In his exploration of the positive and negative dimensions of self-sacrifice, Halbertal also addresses the role of past sacrifice in obligating future generations and in creating a bond for political associations, and considers the function of the modern state as a sacrificial community.


Religious Violence in the Ancient World

Religious Violence in the Ancient World

Author: Jitse H. F. Dijkstra

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-10

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 1108494900

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A comparative examination and interpretation of religious violence in the Graeco-Roman world and Late Antiquity.


Book Synopsis Religious Violence in the Ancient World by : Jitse H. F. Dijkstra

Download or read book Religious Violence in the Ancient World written by Jitse H. F. Dijkstra and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comparative examination and interpretation of religious violence in the Graeco-Roman world and Late Antiquity.