Burning flesh

FCN Hicks writes in his 1946 book on sacrifice that the burning of an animal on the altar was not destructive but transforming: “The offering is not destroyed but transformed, sublimated, etherealised, so that it can ascend in smoke to the heaven above, to the dwelling-place of God.” He cites Elijah’s sacrifice on Carmel to make the point that the burning was “God’s acceptance of that which is offered. In accepting, he transforms it into a condition in which it can enter into His life.”

He also states matter-of-factly that “To atone is kipper , to cover,” citing Psalm 73:38 and 79:9. He adds that sin offends the holy God who demands righteousness, and that the sinner himself needs to be covered, cleansed, forgiven. Throughout his discussion of atonement, though, he reverts to the basic notion of “covering.”