Christianity and human sacrifice . . .?

Question

In the OT, as was common in many ancient religions, animal sacrifice was seen as a way to appease god and cleanse sin, and the greater the value of the animal, the greater the value of the appeasement or cleansing gained by its sacrifice. Human sacrifice was practiced by many cultures since humans were viewed as more important than animals, and therefore their sacrifice was worth more. So the sacrifice of a child of god itself would be worth the most. Is the story of the sacrifice of Jesus therefore akin to human sacrifice?

death from above, how is my logic convoluted?

Answer 1

That actually sounds logical. Never really thought about it that way before.

Answer 2

You are correct in that many of the religions that were around during the O.T.times DID sacrifice their son & daughters to their "gods". However, that is one of the reasons that the Lord wanted the Hebrews to "destroy" these other religious cultures...before they (the Hebrews) were to dwell in the land. God did not want His precious people to be "infected" with that kind of thinking process, and behavior. Or to "associate" what God wanted them (the hebrews) to do regarding animal sacrifice, to that of what these other cultures did regarding their children!
However, as one of your responders already said, Jesus Christ was a WILLING sacrifice.
The only sacrifice that God COULD accept, had to be pure & sinless. Man is born in sin, and therefore he cannot "become" sinless & pure & holy..no matter how hard he may try. Since animals are not truly "self-aware" they are in concept..pure & sinless, and though they do not "know" they are sacrifices..it is their "innocence" that is being "offered" to the Lord, on behalf of the guilty.
The animals are NOT something God wants or desires, but rather just as the O.T. Law is a "teacher" of the way we SHOULD be, so too the animal sacrifice is a "teacher" of the "greater sacrificial Lamb" that was to come.

Heb 10:8 - First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made).

1Sa 15:22 - So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Ho 6:6 - For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Answer 3

Maybe I don't really understand the question, but of course it is "akin" to a human sacrifice. Jesus was both human and God and his Father provided him as a sacrifice for my sins. Remember also, he was born of a virgin, not conceived with the same inherent sin nature all other humans have though. therefore, he was a "perfect" sacrifice made to atone for the sins of the world. "it is finished" were his last words. There were no more sacrifices required. All we need to do is acknowledge and accept the perfect sacrifice already made.

I'm still not sure I understand the question though.

Answer 4

No. In the Bible, animal sacrifice did not cleanse sin, it provided atonement. And more important animals (calf instead of a dove) did not bring more atonement. Whatever animal it was had to be the best but, as long as it was, all animals provided complete atonement.

Jesus was sacrificed because the animal sacrifices did not provide cleansing. Jesus, being perfect and without sin, did provide the necessary cleansing.

Answer 5

Many people have never actual read the rules by which the Old Testament sacrifices where done. When a animal was brough before the temple, it was slain (for large animals by cutting its throat - same as done in slaughter houses today). The animal was gutted, and some of the "unediable" parts, such as the intestines, kidneys, and cavity fat, burn as a sacrifice to God.

The rest of the animal was then butchered, and a portion was set aside for the priest. That was their payment for perform the duties of a priest. They could either eat it, or sell it in the market to purchase other items.

The remaining meat was then cooked by the person, and used to give a feast. The poor, widowed, orphaned and crippled who often begged around the temple would be invited to join the person and his family and friends.

Other then we usually do not butcher our own meat, it was not much different that what is done today when a family gathers for Thanksgiving spend time in honor of God and with their family and friends. (And hopefully in some way helping others in need.) This were very different from most culture, where the entire animal was destroyed.

As for human sacrifice, it is very common in religions, because most of them are getting their information from the same source - God. He knew that he would be sending his Son as a sacrifice, and was trying to convey that to mankind. Unfortunately, to many took it to mean they had to do the same - sacrifices their sons, daughters, enemies, servants, etc.

It is an issue that even Abraham in the Bible wrestled with. Having been raised around human sacrifice, it appears that he still wondered if it should be done. So God called him to take his son to a mountain as a sacrifice (the same one that 1500+ years later Jesus would die on), but then stopped him before the deed could be done.

By taking him that far, Abraham knew that his not sacrificing Issac was not because he chickened out or refuses. He was fully prepared to do it. Rather it was becasue God stopped him. The event was so important to Abraham, that it appears to have impressed on him (who impressed on his choldren) that God did NOT want human sacrifice. It was so strong that you will not find any incidences of human sacrifice within the Jewish religion. (There are mentions of it being done by Jews who followed other religions.) That single act stopped the practice of human sacrifice for all time for the Jews. (And also gave a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus would one day perform when God "would provide himself the lamb", as Abraham said.)

Because of the penalty of sin - anyone who sins most die - death still awaited everyone. Unless someone who was totally innocent was willing to take that death for them.

God so hated human sacrifice that he refused to alone any to do that. Rather, he did it himself. He took on human form and became the sacrifice needed to pay the penalty for sin. That way no human would have to do it.

Just as the sacrifice of animals was shared with family, friends and those in need, so also is the sacrifice of Jesus made available for all who would come and partake of it.

Answer 6

Yes, it is the ultimate sacrifice, after which no further blood was needed to be spilled as a part of worship to God or in repentance of sin.
In addition, Jesus was the only human who God asked for as a blood sacrifice.

Answer 7

In the OT it was a sacrifice to give up an animal to God because animals were valuable. If you sacrificed your goat to appease God, then you basically went w/o the food that the goat would've provided for you.

Since we presume that all parents cherish their children above and beyond anything else, maybe those cultures who sacrifice humans were just upping the ante.

Blood sacrifice is something the Jewish people/Hebrews of the NT would've understood. They didn't sacrifice humans, as they would've seen that as too extreme.

I don't believe that God sent Jesus specifically to die a gruesome death for humanity's salvation, but that's another Yahoo! question. But as it happened, the idea of a cherished, innocent life in exchange for salvation was a part of their ethos, and so it made sense to many of them that Jesus died as a sacrifice for us.

It showed the extreme God would go to to show us how much He loves us and wanted our hearts and minds.

Answer 8

You have many thoughtful and descriptive answers, but I just wanted to touch on one thing. God was teaching people things in the Old Testament. It is only there for reference purposes now. The death of Jesus fulfilled all of these old laws, and we are no longer subject to them. (Yes, even the famed 10 commandments.) All new laws that Christians are subject to can be found in the New Testament scriptures. Some are repeats of a few of the 10 commandments, others are newer and simpler rules to follow.

Back in the Garden of Eden, God started the lessons. He knew that Humans would eventually discover Sin, but He had a plan to teach them how to overcome it.

So, the concept of Sin was introduced, and some humans had quite a lot of fun with that. There were some who were righteous, however. When things got to the point of nearly no redemption, God stepped in to save off the few who could be redeemed, and started intense training.

These folks still held to some of their sinful ways, but God waited until the time was right, and Abraham and Sarah had their propehsied son.

The concept of sacrifice was already around in human minds, but God clarified it with Abraham. God loves us humans far too much to have us used as sacrifices. The animals were placed here for our use.

When the descendants of Israel, known now as the Hebrews (or Jews) were rescued from Egypt, they were ready for the next lesson - that of atonement. When a human sinned, the sin needed some sort of atonement, and that was defined to be done by shedding blood from an animal. The concept was that blood, the very symbol of life on Earth, would cover the sin so God would not see it any more.

But animal blood was not strong enough to cover human sins forever. The best it could do was to temporarily keep the sins out of God's sight. Remember too, that the animals used for the sacrifices had to be as perfect as possible. No blemishes, etc. would be tolerated.

No human being would ever qualify as a sacrifice as we are all guilty of sin. We are all "blemished" in the sight of God.

As people came to realize this, they grew hopeless. But then, the time was right to announce that there was still hope, that God had a plan. He promised a savior.

Jesus was that savior. He was God, in a human body. Because He was indeed God, He had no sin. He lived as a child, and grew to a man just like we do, yet he did not sin. He taught us things contrary to popular belief of the times, yet He still did not sin.

He was the one and only perfect human being, unblemished in the sight of God. He was the only possible sacrifice that could atone for all human sins once and for all.

His death and shed blood were powerful enough to wipe all sin away from every human being past, present, and future.

When we obey God, and stand with Jesus, God cannot see our sins, and we are welcome in His sight.

If we choose to go it alone, and refuse the gift of atonement, there is nothing covering our sins, nothing to wipe them away, and we are a severe disappointment to God. He just cannot look at us, and we are no longer welcome in His presence.

Answer 9

If the devil knew he was helping the process of sacrificing the Spotless Lamb, the Redeemer of All Sins of All Time, then he wouldn't have allowed the Romans to crucify Jesus. But the enemy is so dumb and the Romans thought that they were just getting rid of a pompous prophet. Little did any of them know, especially the devil, that they were aiding God in His overall plan to bridge the spiritually broken relationship between mankind and Himself!!! Once that Roman soldier took one last stab at Jesus on the Cross, the first drop of blood that fell marked VICTORY over death and the devil! At that moment, just like the OT High Priest says when the last remnant of the sacrificial lamb is burned, Jesus, both the Sacrificial Spotless Lamb AND the High Priest for all mankind, said "IT IS FINISHED".

Hebrews 9

Answer 10

Christianity is Not into human sacrifice. And it never was. The ancient Aztecs sacrificed humans to their 'gods' to please those gods. But, they did NOT use any of their own people for these sacrifices, they used their captured enemies. In the animal sacrifices in the OT, a purely innocent lamb of God's choosing was used as the sacrifice. In the case of Jesus' death on the cross, He willingly " laid down " His life , thereby paying the price for us, so we needn't all die for our sins. Jesus was not sacrificed by His Father. His Father asked Jesus to lay down His life for mankind, and Jesus agreed to do it. The Romans, nor the Jews killed Jesus, but rather He laid down His life of His own free will. He became the purely innocent substitute for you and I , and He was of God's choosing.

Answer 11

It is akin to it in a sense, and it is not akin to it in another sense.

Christ's self-sacrifice consisted of a God-made-man who sacrificed Himself in obedience to the will of the Father. Unlike human sacrifice, as it is typically practiced among non-Abrahamic religions, it was voluntary, even collaborational between God and the victim.

In another important sense, it was not akin to human sacrifice, which was always forbidden to the people of God. And God Himself could not perform or desire that which He has forbidden. Yet as Christ He participated in His own sacrifice. Therefore in that sense, it was not akin.