Animal sacrifice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Tauroctony of Mithras (British Museum, London)
Tauroctony of Mithras (British Museum, London)
A sheep is led to the altar, 6th century BC Corinthian fresco.
A sheep is led to the altar, 6th century BC Corinthian fresco.
1652 illustration of the Ashvamedha of Kaushalya in the Ramayana epic.
1652 illustration of the Ashvamedha of Kaushalya in the Ramayana epic.

Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature. Animal sacrifice has turned up in almost all cultures, from the Hebrews to the Greeks and Romans and from the Aztecs to the Yoruba.

Remnants of ancient rituals of animal sacrifice are apparent in many cultures, for example the Spanish bullfights, or kapparos in Judaism, or ritual prescriptions for slaughtering procedures like shechita or ḏabīḥah. Slaughtering lambs is a common practice in Islam (but their meat is always eaten or distributed to the poor afterwards, never burned). Walter Burkert in Homo necans argues that animal sacrifices reenact paleolithic hunting rituals, and that they are fundamentally identical in motivation to human sacrifices.

Contents

[edit] Ancient world

Animal sacrifices were common throughout the Ancient Near East, as well as some of the Mediterranean islands. For example the Minoan culture of Phaistos on Crete reveals basins for animal sacrifice dating to the period 2000 to 1700 BC.[1]

[edit] Indo-European cultures

Further information: Proto-Indo-European religion and Horse sacrifice

[edit] Judaism

See main article: Korban

In Judaism, animal sacrifice was practiced up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.

The Torah distinguishes five kinds of sacrifice or korban, of which four involve animal sacrifice:

  • Olah (עלה), or whole-offering
  • Shlamim (זבח שלמים), or peace-offering
  • Chattat (חטאת), or sin-offering, and
  • Asham (אשם), or guilt-offering.

Many Jewish sources discuss the deeper meaning behind korbanot. For example, Sefer Hachinuch explains that an individual bringing an animal sacrifice for a sin understands that he personally should have been sacrificed as punishment for the rebellion against God inherent his the sin, but God mercifully accepts the sacrifice in his or her place. Furthermore, it is fitting that an animal is used as a sacrifice because at the moment of sin, the individual in question disregarded his elevated human soul, effectively acting as an animal.

[edit] Christianity

Further information: Lamb of God

References to animal sacrifice appear in the New Testament, such as the parents of Jesus sacrificing two doves (Luke 2:24) and the Apostle Paul performing a Nazirite vow even after the death of Christ (Acts 21:23-26).

The Christ is refered to by his apostles as "the Lamb of God," the one to whom all sacrifices pointed (Hebrews 10).

Among contemporary Christian churches, animal sacrifice has been replaced by a ritual function of the Christian priest in slaughter ceremonies in various rural societies, especially in Eastern Christianity.[citation needed]

[edit] Islam

Some Muslims will sacrifice an animal during the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid ul-Adha). Usually a sheep or goat (sometimes cattle or even camel) is sacrificed then distributed to the poor, in commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah.

Animal sacrifices are also offered by the Muslim pilgrims during (Hajj)(Pilgrimage to Mecca) for the same reason of commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael when ordered by God to do so.

[edit] Strangites

Animal sacrifice was instituted in the Book of the Law of the Lord, a scripture accepted by apostate mormons called Strangites, founded by James J. Strang in 1844. Strang was a lawyer and newspaper editor from New York who had converted to Mormonism just prior to Joseph Smith's murder, and he claimed to have been appointed by Smith to succeed him as the Church President. Although the majority of Latter Day Saints rejected his claims, Strang managed to gain a sizable following before being murdered in 1856.[2]

In 1851, Strang announced publication of the Book of the Law of the Lord, purported to be a translation of the "Plates of Laban" that figure prominently in parts of The Book of Mormon. Chapters 7 and 40 dealt with animal sacrifices, for forgiveness of sins[3] and as a part of Strangite celebration rituals.[4]

Given the prohibition on sacrifices for sin contained in III Nephi 9:19-20,[5] Strang did not require sin offerings. Rather, he focused on sacrifice as an element of religious celebrations,[6] especially the commemmoration of his own coronation as king (July 8, 1850).[7] The head of every house, from the king to his lowest subject, was to offer "a heifer, or a lamb, or a dove. Every man a clean beast, or a clean fowl, according to his household."[8]

The killing of sacrifices was a prerogative of Strangite Priests,[9] but female Priests were specifically barred from participating in this aspect of the Priestly office.[10]

"Firstfruits" offerings were also demanded of all Strangite agricultural harvests.[11] Animal sacrifices are no longer practiced by the Strangites, though belief in their correctness is still required:)

[edit] African diasporic religions

Animal sacrifice is still practised today by the followers of Santería and other "lineages of Orisa", as a means of curing the sick and giving thanks to the Orisa (Gods). However in Santeria, such animal offerings constitute an extremely small portion of what are termed "ebos" – ritual activities that include offerings, prayer and deeds. Some villages in Greece also sacrifice animals to Orthodox saints in a practise known as kourbània. The practise, while publicly condemned, is often tolerated for the benefits it provides to the church and the sense of community it engenders.

[edit] References

  1. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Knossos Fieldnotes, The Modern Antiquarian (2007)
  2. ^ http://www.strangite.org/History.htm.
  3. ^ Book of the Law of the Lord: Being a Translation From the Egyptian of the Law Given to Moses in Sinai. (St. James, 1851), pp. 106-09. This article uses the expanded Edition of 1856: http://www.mormonbeliefs.com/book_of_the_law.htm. The 1851 edition is at http://www.strangite.org/Law.htm.
  4. ^ Book of the Law, pp. 291-98.
  5. ^ Book of Mormon.
  6. ^ Book of the Law, pp. 293-97. See also http://www.strangite.org/Offering.htm.
  7. ^ Book of the Law, pg. 293.
  8. ^ Book of the Law, pp. 293-94.
  9. ^ Book of the Law, pg. 199, note 2.
  10. ^ Book of the Law, pg. 199.
  11. ^ Book of the Law, pp. 295-97.

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Death and related topics
In medicine Autopsy · Brain death · Clinical death · Euthanasia · Persistent vegetative state · Terminal illness
Lists Causes of death by rate · People by cause of death · Notable deaths in 2007 · 2008
Mortality Immortality · Infant mortality · Legal death · Maternal death · Mortality rate
After death Afterlife · Burial · Cremation · Decomposition · Funeral · Grief · Mourning · Promession · Resomation · Séance · Customs  · Last Judgment
Research Cryonics · Near-death experience · Near-death studies · Reincarnation research
Other Genocide · Fascination with death · Martyrdom · Sacrifices (Human · Animal) · Suicide · War · Personification of Death · Death and culture · Death by country
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sacrifice"
Personal tools