Hi Bernie,
I reckon that sacrifice (or more broadly, offerings to the gods) is one of those intrinsically religious things that humans do - like prayer, worship, fasting, etc.
I'd personally put it down to the fact that human beings are spiritual - that we all have an awareness that there is a spiritual order to which we need to respond.
That, I think, is about all that is needed to account for the fact that religions the world over have a cluster of similar practices.
Blessings,
Murray
Dehler, Bernie wrote:
> Murray said:
> "Here the old maxim "similarity does not prove copying" applies. That the ancients widely practice animal sacrifice is recognized. It does not follow that all cultures - or even any culture - practising animal sacrifice borrowed it from elsewhere. All a similarity between the OT/NT and surrounding cultures proves is that there is a similarity."
>
> If there is this similarity, then the question is 'why?'
>
> Take the ancient pagan idea of killing someone to appease the gods to end a drought. 1. Is that of God? 2. Of Satan? 3. Of human imagination? Any other ideas?
>
> 1. It can't be of God. Why would the Christian God want pagan's to kill others to appease pagan gods?
>
> 2. Maybe the idea is of Satan- but then it looks like God is doing something similar with the sacrifical system... not too unique, and God's method follows the pagan method, as if God saw it and thought it was a good idea so He should command it too?
>
> 3. Of human imagination... sounds reasonable... unfortunately, it looks like Dawkins' meme idea for the generation of religion. This would mean the God of the OT/NT is a god made in man's image.
>
> ...Bernie
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Received on Sat Aug 29 02:54:26 2009
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