Gods and blood

Deeje · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
But it also bleeds (pardon the pun) over into Abrahamic religion. Man did a no no, now something must die a bloody death to appease God. I find this quite curious.

From my study of the Bible, it is clear that blood represents life itself. Every sentient creature has blood that keeps the soul alive.

In God's law, perfect balance meant that 'like for like' was the rule.....i.e. "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for a life."

Since blood represented life, it was offered to balance the scales of justice. Sin warranted death, so instead of every sin being a death sentence, blood was offered as a recognition of the sin and was a constant reminder of the need for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ whose blood would cancel out all animal sacrifices forever. We are covered now by his once and for all time sacrifice......his blood paid for the sins of mankind and is why God has never required a blood sacrifice since then.

David T · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Depends on what the voices are telling you to do.

I only respond to which ever voice agrees with me. Since we have books movies experts, up the a$$ its a proverble smorgass board of voices i choose from to from to fit my fancy!!!! Heck i dont even have to actually have my own thoughts!

Which btw i go back to my avatar analogy as being the best analogy of the blood sacrifice. Totally different than all the other posts here and its correct. .

Enoch07 · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

Blood equates to life itself. So to sacrifice blood is to sacrifice that which is most precious (more valuable than livestock, gems, etc). At least that's my understanding of it. I could be wrong though, I'm no expert in this area.

The Hammer · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

It's about reverence for life/death, IMO. The loss of blood, via bloodletting can induce euphoria (a religious feeling of sorts), and eventually lead to death if enough is drained. Blood was seen as essential to life in the same way as breath is.

Evangelicalhumanist · Jun 6, 2019

InChrist said:
I think from the biblical perspective the blood is the reminder God chose because, as the scriptures say "life is in the blood" and this is an important reminder of the deadly consequence if sin. All the other religions and/or gods which require blood are in my view copy-cat, perverted imitations of the message the Creator wanted to get across and of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus who paid for the sins of the world.

Any particular reason so many of the "copy-cat, perverted imitations" happened before Christianity? I always find the notion of somebody plagiarizing my work before I even wrote it to be at least slightly fanciful.

sooda · Jun 6, 2019

Evangelicalhumanist said:
Any particular reason so many of the "copy-cat, perverted imitations" happened before Christianity? I always find the notion of somebody plagiarizing my work before I even wrote it to be at least slightly fanciful.

This is old and primitive...……...

Yet another interesting parallel between Israel and Ugarit is the yearly ritual known as the sending out of the scapegoats ; one for god and one for a demon.

The Biblical text which relates this procedure is Leviticus 16:1-34. In this text a goat is sent into the wilderness for Azazel (a demon) and one is sent into the wilderness for Yahweh.

This rite is known as a eliminatory rite; that is, a contagion (in this case communal sin) is placed on the head of the goat and it is sent away. In this way it was believed that (magically) the sinful material was removed from the community.

Quartz Hill School of Theology

shmogie · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

In the Bible God states that blood is the life, the very essence of life. Almost a sacred thing.

The sacrificial system, actually beginning when God spilled blood to provide animal skins for our first parents and ending with Christs blood shows how very serious sin is, the blood of an innocent ( itś very life) must be shed to atone for it.

To God, who gave life, a big, big deal indeed. To me, Christs blood is the only way to salvation, the ultimate gift, life itself extinguished, for you and I

David1967 · Jun 6, 2019

David T said:
I only respond to which ever voice agrees with me. Since we have books movies experts, up the a$$ its a proverble smorgass board of voices i choose from to from to fit my fancy!!!! Heck i dont even have to actually have my own thoughts!

Which btw i go back to my avatar analogy as being the best analogy of the blood sacrifice. Totally different than all the other posts here and its correct. .

It was a good one, and Avatar was a great movie imho. I am aware of what my religion says the reason for the Abrahamic God requiring blood is, I was hoping to get a broad range of views which you've given an interesting take on the subject.

shunyadragon · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

I do not believe it is God who makes the demands for blood or sacrifices. It is ancient world views of fallible humans, who believed sacrifices were a way of appeasing Go or God(s) for human failings, or natural catatrophies, which they had no explanation.

Most cultures that become civilized beyond the Iron Age give up the belief that blood sacrifice as a way to redeem their sins.

David T · Jun 6, 2019

Evangelicalhumanist said:
Any particular reason so many of the "copy-cat, perverted imitations" happened before Christianity? I always find the notion of somebody plagiarizing my work before I even wrote it to be at least slightly fanciful.

Forum infraction, out of alignment you are being reasonable.

I will show you how you are suppose to think here in such a thread. The documentary is extremely clear, you are suppose to be a magistrate.

David1967 · Jun 6, 2019

David T said:
Forum infraction, out of alignment you are being reasonable.

I will show you how you are suppose to think here in such a thread. The documentary is extremely clear, you are suppose to be a magistrate.

Stop trying to derail my thread. I'm helpless before the mighty Monte Python.

sooda · Jun 6, 2019

shunyadragon said:
I do not believe it is God who makes the demands for blood or sacrifices. It is ancient world views of fallible humans, who believed sacrifices were a way of appeasing Go or God(s) for human failings, or natural catatrophies, which they had no explanation.

Most cultures that become civilized beyond the Iron Age give up the belief that blood sacrifice as a way to redeem their sins.

I am so glad you said that.

David T · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
It was a good one, and Avatar was a great movie imho. I am aware of what my religion says the reason for the Abrahamic God requiring blood is, I was hoping to get a broad range of views which you've given an interesting take on the subject.

A lot of our religious things are extremely old. How we understand them today probably is extremely different than when they were written. And when they were written it wasnt always clear even then i suspect. Like an archetype pipping into existence only later to see that it exists in other stories.

LightofTruth · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

Would it be better if there were no laws to govern a society?

arthra · Jun 6, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

I recently wrote a piece on Quora that I'll share with you:

Human sacrifice was an ancient and widespread practice:

“Human sacrifice has been practiced in various cultures throughout history. Victims were typically ritually killed in a manner that was supposed to please or appease gods, spirits or the deceased, for example, as a propitiatory offeringor as a retainer sacrifice when a king's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life.”

Human sacrifice - Wikipedia

If we consider the story of the “sacrifice” of the son of Abraham there are in my view some interesting features that appear. It was more a test or a trial than an actual sacrifice.

In the story as reported in Genesis the Angel of the Lord intervenes:

“And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

Genesis 22:12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him," said the Angel, "for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me."

In the Qur’anic version of the story Abraham’s son is fully aware of the sacrifice and urges his Father to carry it out:

“Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: ‘O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!’ (The son) said: ‘O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if God so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy!’ So when they had both submitted their wills (to God), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him ‘O Abraham! Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!’ - thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For this was obviously a trial- …”

“…For this was obviously a trial…”

STORIES OF THE HOLY QUR'AN

In an age when human sacrifice was carried out the story of the “sacrifice” of Abraham was a trial… a symbol and an advance for the time over the shedding of blood.

Terry Sampson · Jun 6, 2019

LightofTruth said:
Would it be better if there were no laws to govern a society?

I used to be a theoretical "anarchist lite" and was when the wife and I moved to Los Angeles in 1986. Then one morning, while driving to work on Whittier Boulevard, in East Los Angeles, I was in a
column of cars approaching an intersection. Traffic was heavy and moving slowly on the street, stop and go, stop and go, when an earthquake rolled through from the East (behind me) to the West (in front of me. My car rose up in the rear and dropped then the front rose up and dropped, as the earthquake wave passed me. Ahead, street traffic in both directions stopped and frantic drivers jumped out of their cars, in search of some safe place to go. I just stayed in my car. Nobody got hurt as far as I could tell. Took several minutes for drivers to regain their composure, get back in their cars, and begin moving down the streets.

Finally, I reached the last intersection on Whittier that had traffic lights, just before the 6th Street Bridge heading into "the City." The quake had knocked out the lamps and they weren't working. Without the lamps, no one cared, all were scared. Crossing that intersection and getting onto the bridge that day was the most frightening thing I've ever experienced. When I arrived safely at work, I went to the bathroom and said a prayer of thanks to God. I gave up my belief that laws are an undesirable and unnecessary evil. And I've been a devout advocate of them ever since.

LightofTruth · Jun 6, 2019

Terry Sampson said:
I used to be a theoretical "anarchist lite" and was when the wife and I moved to Los Angeles in 1986. Then one morning, while driving to work on Whittier Boulevard, in East Los Angeles, I was in a
column of cars approaching an intersection. Traffic was heavy and moving slowly on the street, stop and go, stop and go, when an earthquake rolled through from the East (behind me) to the West (in front of me. My car rose up in the rear and dropped then the front rose up and dropped, as the earthquake wave passed me. Ahead, street traffic in both directions stopped and frantic drivers jumped out of their cars, in search of some safe place to go. I just stayed in my car. Nobody got hurt as far as I could tell. Took several minutes for drivers to regain their composure, get back in their cars, and begin moving down the streets.

Finally, I reached the last intersection on Whittier that had traffic lights, just before the 6th Street Bridge heading into "the City." The quake had knocked out the lamps and they weren't working. Without the lamps, no one cared, all were scared. Crossing that intersection and getting onto the bridge that day was the most frightening thing I've ever experienced. When I arrived safely at work, I went to the bathroom and said a prayer of thanks to God. I gave up my belief that laws are an undesirable and unnecessary evil. And I've been a devout advocate of them ever since.

We all need to fear God.

InChrist · Jun 7, 2019

Evangelicalhumanist said:
Any particular reason so many of the "copy-cat, perverted imitations" happened before Christianity? I always find the notion of somebody plagiarizing my work before I even wrote it to be at least slightly fanciful.

Satan, has been around since before human history perverting God's truth and initiating imitations from the beginning.

exchemist · Jun 7, 2019

David1967 said:
Something that I have been curious about. What is it with Gods and blood? Some gods demanded human blood be shed as a sacrifice. Some demanded the blood of animals. In Christianity (the religion of my upbringing) God required that His son shed blood and die for the sins of mankind. So my question is not simply aimed at Abrahamic religions but in general. If God is a spirit (Spirits if you are polytheistic), what good does blood spilled on the ground do a god?

You'd need to ask an anthropologist. All this dates from sacrificial practices thousands of years ago. In many even older religions it was human sacrifice.

sooda · Jun 7, 2019

David1967 said:
It was a good one, and Avatar was a great movie imho. I am aware of what my religion says the reason for the Abrahamic God requiring blood is, I was hoping to get a broad range of views which you've given an interesting take on the subject.

Lots of pagans gods required blood.. Consider the Mayans and Aztecs...

Gods and blood

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It's all a sick freaking joke.

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"Truth" isn't a thing...

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