Sacrifice (religious ritual)

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Ritual - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Religious rituals have also included animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, ritual suicide, and ritual murder. Ritual lamentation -- song performed with weeping -- in many societies ...
Sacrifice (religious ritual) - MSN Encarta
Sacrifice religious ritual Latin sacrificium, originally something made holy, a ritual act in which a consecrated offering is made to a god or...
Religious Rituals, Festivals, Sacrifices: Connecting Ancient Greek ...
Although it may be common to speak of a Greek 'religion,' in fact the Greeks themselves didn't use such a term and might not have recognized it had someone else attempted to apply ...

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Introduction; Ancient and Eastern Religions; Judaism; Christian Concept of Sacrifice; Explanatory Theories

Introduction

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Sacrifice (religious ritual) (Latin sacrificium, originally “something made holy”), a ritual act in which a consecrated offering is made to a god or other spiritual being in order to establish, perpetuate, or restore a sacred bond between humanity and the divine. Offerings may consist of humans or animals (blood offerings) or fruits, crops, flowers, and wine (bloodless offerings).

Ancient and Eastern Religions

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Sacrifice played a central role in many ancient religions. The ancient Greeks sacrificed animals (such as goats, sheep, horses, dogs, and cattle), sometimes consuming part of the offerings in a celebratory meal as a way of establishing communion with the gods. In Mexico before the Spanish conquest of the 16th century, the Aztecs offered human sacrifices to the sun god, a practice that took as many as 20,000 lives a year (see Aztec Empire). During the earliest period of Hinduism, the Vedic period, Hindu priests offered humans, animals, and plants in sacrifice at certain stipulated times. The ancient Chinese also practiced human sacrifice and made offerings of domestic animals and of food to gods and to ancestors. Sacrifice has never been practiced in Buddhism, although devotional offerings of incense, lighted candles, and flowers are made to the Buddha.

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Judaism

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Sacrifice was an essential and elaborately prescribed part of Judaism until the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in ad 70. Among the many sacrificial rites of ancient Judaism were those for thanksgiving and for expiation of sins (Atonement).

Christian Concept of Sacrifice

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In Christianity the death of Christ on the cross is considered an exemplary and perfected sacrifice offered to expiate the sins of humanity. Throughout the writings of St. Paul, Christ is identified as a sacrificial victim (see 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephresians 5:2; Hebrews 10:12-13). The Eucharist has been associated from the beginning of the Christian church with the sacrifice of Christ, and in some Christian churches, notably the Roman Catholic church, the Eucharist is interpreted as a form of participation in Christ's sacrifice.