Several people have suggested we study the topic of "sacrifice" in Judeo-Christianity next semester. In ancient Jewish tradition, sacrifice was necessary to make oneself right with God. Think of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, first fruits and umblemished kids, etc. In Christianity, Jesus has been called the "sacrificial Lamb" and the way to salvation. Paul says Jesus fulfilled the letter of the law. What is the current Jewish teaching about sacrifice? In what way do Christians interpret Jesus' sacrifice today?
Grad Study will put together our own study on "sacrifice." Use this space to suggest readings, either Scriptural or published. I'll sort through them and take care of making up said packet. I hope to bequeath a copy of this study to the Wesley library.
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10 comments:
Some Scriptural suggestions:
Genesis 4-- Cain and Abel
Genesis 22-- Abraham and Isaac
Leviticus 21-22-- animal sacrifice
Romans 2:12-8:17-- on the law and righteous (pair with Matthew 5:17-19)
Romans 12-- "living sacrifice"
Anthony suggests
Walter Brueggemann, “Sacrifice”, in Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old
Testament Themes. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002.
and
Stephen Patterson, Beyond the Passion: Rethinking the Death and Life of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004.
Anne has suggested the part in Fear and Trembling, by Soren Kierkegaard, that deals with Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac.
Josh suggests Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004), which we can watch perhaps around/during Holy Week.
We could take from this list:
http://www.textweek.com/pentateuch/gen22b.htm
Among them is Fear and Trembling, which I recommend as well.
Also, Wesley's Old Testament study is using a video series from Amy-Jill Levine. Perhaps we could borrow it for the Hebrew texts.
Furthermore, in looking at Jesus' death, we could read from Anselm's Cur Deus homo, read some Abelard who offers a response to Anselm (described a bit here), and a friend from seminary recently started a blog (Fat Pastor) and responded to substituionary atonement here. We need a Christus Victor view of sacrifice since it was predominant among the desert fathers and patristics.
I also feel like we need to read some of Wesley's notes on scriptures related to sacrifice. Maybe also sing or at least read a couple Charles Wesley hymns.
Sorry this is so long!
Anthony also suggests:
So the following book seems to pop up here and there in bibliographies, but it's hard to find copies of. It might be useful next semester if we could copy parts, but I don't know.
https://i-share.carli.illinois.edu/uiu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&v1=1&BBRecID=1199896
I feel bad I haven't found a wealth of feminist authors discussing this. Maybe I should do that next.
Anthony
Following up on that:
Jonathan Klawans (2001). PURE VIOLENCE: SACRIFICE AND DEFILEMENT IN ANCIENT ISRAEL. Harvard Theological Review, 94 , pp 135-157
The goal of this investigation may be stated simply. We present here some preliminary reflections on the dynamic between two sets 1 of biblical ritual structures that are intricately interrelated: defilement and sacrifice. 2
Footnotes
1 I use the word “sets” here advisedly. Much of my own work has argued that the Hebrew Bible presents us with two purity systems: the “ritual” one, which is concerned with natural and unavoidable defilements, and the “moral” one, which is concerned with the defiling force of sexual transgression, idolatry, and murder. See Kawans, “The Impurity of Immorality in Ancient Judaism,” JJS 48 (1997) 1–16, and Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). The plural, “systems,” also may well apply to sacrifices: some sacrifices are performed inside the sanctuary (e.g., burnt offerings), and some sacrifices are performed outside (e.g., the Passover offering [Exod 12]). Moreover, some offerings are performed daily, and some are performed seasonally; some are obligatory and some are optional. It ought not to be assumed that any theory or explanation could account for all of these types of sacrifices and offerings, not all of which even involve blood or altars. Hence, we will speak here provisionally of sacrificial systems, while particular attention will be paid to certain types of animal sacrifice.
2 The bibliography on sacrifice in ancient Israel is too vast to be surveyed briefly, to say nothing of the literature concerned with sacrifice in other religious traditions. We note here some works with a particularly useful, important, or distinctive approach. On sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible in general, see Gary A. Anderson, “Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings (OT),” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (ed. David Noel Freedman; 6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992) 5:870–86, and H. H. Rowley, “The Meaning of Sacrifice in the Old Testament,” in From Moses to Qumran (New York: Association Press, 1963) 67–107. A more detailed survey of biblical sacrificial rituals can be found in Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961) 415–56 and Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1964). The classic theories of E. B. Tyler, J. G. Frazer, and W. Robertson Smith are discussed in the works by Anderson and de Vaux cited above. Perhaps the most enduring of the older works on sacrifice is Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Functions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964). For surveys of recent works on sacrifice in general, see Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, René Girard, and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation (ed. Robert G. Hamerton-Kelly; Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987); Richard D. Hecht, “Studies on Sacrifice, 1970–1980,” Religious Studies Review 8 (1982) 253–59; and Ivan Strenski, “Between Theory and Speciality: Sacrifice in the 90's,” Religious Studies Review 22 (1996) 10–20. A convenient discussion of many biblical sacrificial rituals within the context of their physical and social setting can be found in Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel: An Inquiry into Biblical Cult Phenomena and the Historical Setting of the Priestly School (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1985). For a sensitive treatment of priestly rituals building largely on the work of Victor Turner, see Frank H. Gorman, Jr., The Ideology of Ritual: Space, Time and Status in the Priestly Theology (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990). Important discussions of the terminology of sacrificial rituals and texts can be found in Gary A. Anderson, Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel: Studies in their Social and Political Importance (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987) and Baruch A. Levine, In the Presence of the Lord: A Study of Cult and Some Cultic Terms in Ancient Israel (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974). For an analysis of ancient Israelite sacrifice through the lens of gender studies, see Nancy Jay, Throughout Your Generations Forever: Sacrifice, Religion, and Paternity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). But compare the critique in Strenski, “Sacrifice in the 90's,” 13–14. Useful discussions of sacrifice can also be found in some recent commentaries on Leviticus, including, in particular, Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 3; New York: Doubleday, 1992) and Gordon J. Wanham, The Book of Leviticus (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1979). The bibliography that informs my understanding of purity in ancient Israel can be found in my articles devoted to that subject, including “The Impurity of Immorality,” and my book, Impurity and Sin.
http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2008/11/amos-and-hosea-northern-prophets-of-anger-and-love.html
I think something about the suffering of God might be appropo for the study.
The Suffering of God: An Old Testament Perspective
Terence Fretheim
Also a couple APM Speaking of Faith eps might be useful:
Jewish Roots of the Christian Story
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jewishroots/index.shtml
Speaking of Faith, "Children of Abraham"
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/abraham/index.shtml
A little music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXh1AunAI08
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