Christian Positions on Animal Sacrifice

Abstract

This chapter analyzes Christian positions on sacrifice from Paul (ca. 50 CE) to Cyprian of Carthage (mid 3rd century). This analysis shows that a rejection of animal sacrifice is not present in the earliest Christian texts (Paul and the New Testament Gospels). Furthermore, a sacrificial interpretation of the death of Jesus is not present in these early texts. Christian positions on sacrifice were slow to develop and developed in various directions simultaneously. The early Christian evidence is compared to the evidence from chapter three in order to show that early Christian cultural producers were engaged in the same competition to define the meaning and purpose of sacrifice. Christian debate over animal sacrifice was part of ongoing cultural competition that long predated Christianity.