Whence sacrifice? Whither sacrifice?

What are the chances that someone sometime in nearly every ancient culture decided that killing animals was a good way to worship their gods? What are the chances that this would be a near-universal practice without any tradition, any traditio /handing-over, of sacrificial rites? Aren’t the facts much better explained if we assume that there was mutual interaction, cross-fertilization, borrowing and mimicry, perhaps an Ur-sacrifice and an Ur-sacrificer?

And then what are the chances that over the course of some centuries animal sacrifice, the near-universal ancient practice, was dramatically reduced, so that it is unheard-of in large parts of our world?

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Moral Certitude and the Iran War

Steven A. Long

The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…

The Slow Death of England: New and Notable Books

Mark Bauerlein

The fate of England is much in the news as popular resistance to mass immigration grows, limits…

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…