This is Spiritual Studies session 67.

The ancient past can often be criticized for an apparent "savagery" when pointing to the ubiquity of murder, i.e. sacrifice. As we do in the course, through this session, we seek to better understand this part of our history. We learn that this was absolutely universal, and the reasons for it are many, multilayered, and at the very least comprehensible.

Through all of this, we get to see the history of human thought, the why of it all and why it all changed. But in this we come to ask, what is the relationship between religion and sacrifice? How does this speak to us in the modern day?


Links:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacr...
https://www.britannica.com/topic/preh...
https://www.ancientorigins.net/histo...

Scholarly Articles:

Balberg, Mira, 'Conclusion: The End of Sacrifice, Revisited', Blood for Thought: The Reinvention of Sacrifice in Early Rabbinic Literature (Oakland, CA, 2017; online edn, California Scholarship Online, 24 May 2018), https://doiorg.ezproxy.library.ewu.e... 19 July 2023.

Crosby, Robert G., et al. “Motives for Religious Sacrifice: Classification, Measurement, and Longitudinal Association With Psychospiritual WellBeing.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000162.

Dollahite, David C., et al. “Giving Up Something Good for Something Better: Sacred Sacrifices Made by Religious Youth.” Journal of Adolescent Research, vol. 24, no. 6, 2009, pp. 691–725, https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558409343463.

Koci, Katerina. “Introduction: Sacrifice and SelfSacrifice: A Religious Concept Under Transformation.” Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (Online), vol. 8, no. 2, 2022, pp. 225–33, https://doi.org/10.30965/23642807bja....

Soh, Esmond Chuah Meng. “Practicing Salvation: MeatEating, Martyrdom, and Sacrifice as Religious Ideals in the Zhenkongjiao.” Journal of Chinese Religions, vol. 50, no. 1, 2022, pp. 77–114, https://doi.org/10.1353/jcr.2022.0003.


Images:
https://cdn2.picryl.com/photo/1655/01...

https://img.rawpixel.com/s3fsprivate...

https://c.pxhere.com/photos/d0/2a/mon...
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/a...