Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice - Hardcover

Ullucci, Daniel C

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199791708 ISBN 13: 9780199791705

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Sacrifice dominated the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean world for millennia, but its role and meaning changed dramatically in the fourth and fifth centuries with the rise of Christianity. Daniel Ullucci offers a new explanation of this remarkable transformation, in the process demonstrating the complexity of the concept of sacrifice in Roman, Greek, and Jewish religion.

The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice challenges the predominant scholarly model, which posits a connection between so-called critiques of sacrifice in non-Christian Greek, Latin, and Hebrew texts and the Christian rejection of animal sacrifice. According to this model, pre-Christian authors attacked the propriety of animal sacrifice as a religious practice, and Christians responded by replacing animal sacrifice with a pure, ''spiritual'' 'worship. This historical construction influences prevailing views of animal sacrifice even today, casting it as barbaric, backward, and primitive despite the fact that it is still practiced in such contemporary religions as Islam and Santeria.

Rather than interpret the entire history of animal sacrifice through the lens of the Christian master narrative, Ullucci shows that the ancient texts must be seen not simply as critiques but as part of an ongoing competition between elite cultural producers to define the meaning and purpose of sacrifice. He reveals that Christian authors were not merely purveyors of pure spiritual religion, but a cultural elite vying for legitimacy and influence in societies that long predated them. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice is a crucial reinterpretation of the history of one of humanity's oldest and most fascinating rituals.

About this title

Review:

Much in this book is to be applauded. (Frances Young, Theology Vol. 116)

it must be concluded that Ullucciâs work is a valuable contribution, not only to the study of early Christianity, but also for historians and religious studies scholars more generally. His critique of a giant narrative and his careful approach to the evidence have created a nuanced and diverse picture, and he has met the problems and challenges of teleological reasoning, historicizing evidence, and identifying critical nuances in argumentation in ways that may be inspiring to scholars of various disciplines[...]Ullucciâs study is built around a convincing argument which is lucidly argued and contextualized within a long historiographical tradition, and contributes much to the study of early Christianity. (Martin Pjecha, International Political Anthtropology)

About the Author:

Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199791708
• ISBN 13: 9780199791705
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 238