In this report: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msacrifice.html Cecil did mention that Christians might be puzzled at Jewish prayers that recall the Temple sacrifices.
Perhaps it’s because I was raised Roman Catholic and am now Orthodox, but I was not at all puzzled. Every Sunday, Communion includes prayer and exposition that recalls the Last Supper as a sacrifice.
'Twasn’t a report by Cecil, 'twas a Staff Report.
Interesting perspective, Dog, thanks.
I would just like to commend SDSTAFF Dex for an excellent report. This is why I come to The Straight Dope, to get the basic answer and also to get the expanded answer. Kudos!
Very nice report, Dex. I sent the link to my ex-wife, who has just converted to Judaism. Having a masters degree in history, and taking religion(among other things) seriously, she read your report and offered an addenda.
The early priest were not workers, and sacrifices served to keep them alive, much as later? medicant priests in other religions were also supported by their followers.
While I’m sure you knew that, it wasn’t clear in the article.
I, too, thought it was a great article, Dex. I will probably end up using part of it in my Sunday School class this weekend.
There was a quote that I found a bit lacking, though – the one from Max Dimont about the challenges to the sacrificial system that came about during the time of the prophets:
*“What they said was remarkable for their time: that ritual and cult in themselves were of no value to God. Humanity, justice, and morality were superior to any cult. They said God did not want rituals; He wanted higher moral standards from mankind. They said that God abhorred sacrifice [without heartfelt repentance], that it was no sin not to offer sacrifice, that the sin was corruption and the perversion of justice. These were fantastic and daring notions in those days when sacrifice and ritual were religion itself.” *
While that is true for the most part, I think it is worth pointing out that these notions were not particularly new; indeed, Samuel stated:
Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Samuel 15:22
Terrific work, Dex!
RR
samclem, you suggest that the priests were not “workers.” I guess it depends on what you mean by workers – in a society where religious law was identical to civil law, the priests performed critical roles in the social structure. However, their work was not “productive” in the sense of farming or crafts or trades that could earn money. Hence, the sacrifices were partly their “wages”, if you will. I thought I’d made that clear in the Report… ?
River, well, OK, certainly for Sunday School. But frankly, there’s a lot that hinges on your perspective of when things were written. (a) TRADITIONAL VIEW: Many scholars view the texts as literal and historical truth, written more or less at the time the events happened. In that case, your correction of the Staff Report is correct, the prophets didn’t make up the notion out of whole cloth, they developed ideas expressed earlier. That is, if you believe that the words in attributed to Samuel in the Book of Samuel were actually uttered by Samuel (say around 1000 BC), then sure, the prophets severl centuries later like Isaiah and Jeremiah embellished and expanded the ideas that were available earlier.
However (b) SCHOLARLY VIEW: Most modern scientists (archaeologists and such) think the book of Samuel was written much later, and many believe by Jeremiah, around 500 years after Samuel’s death. Hence, putting Jeremiah’s ideas into Samuel’s words was just recasting old stories in contemporary lights.
I didn’t want to get into that, so I just used Dimont’s over-simplification.
Thanks for the kind words!