sooda
Veteran Member
That's what Muslims tell me. They say the Abraham-Isaac (or Ishmael) story is the end of blood sacrifice.
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Gods and blood
- Thread starter David1967
- Start date
That's what Muslims tell me. They say the Abraham-Isaac (or Ishmael) story is the end of blood sacrifice.
Worship of the gods is not necessarily about what the gods get out of it. It is about humans showing respect to the gods and honoring the nature of their relationship with them. For the most part, gods are powers far greater and grander than humans. Voluntary sacrifices - especially of something as symbolically potent as blood - serve as a ritualistic method of acknowledging that.
There are also gods whose domains specifically include things like warfare, violence, and pain... for whom bloodshed acts as an appeasement or way of honoring them. All of this hearkens to a general principle that is pretty universal in human cultures worldwide and that's reciprocity. Give-and-take is part of every relationship and we must engage in reciprocal exchange. This is often especially important in polytheistic traditions, because the gods are quite literally the various forces around us. The gods give freely and without that we simply do not exist. A bloodletting is a trivial show of sacrifice compared to what the gods provide, but it is among the most potent form of sacrifice we tiny humans can engage in.
There are also gods whose domains specifically include things like warfare, violence, and pain... for whom bloodshed acts as an appeasement or way of honoring them. All of this hearkens to a general principle that is pretty universal in human cultures worldwide and that's reciprocity. Give-and-take is part of every relationship and we must engage in reciprocal exchange. This is often especially important in polytheistic traditions, because the gods are quite literally the various forces around us. The gods give freely and without that we simply do not exist. A bloodletting is a trivial show of sacrifice compared to what the gods provide, but it is among the most potent form of sacrifice we tiny humans can engage in.
Bloodshed is a human concept of serious paying back, or vengeance. God use this to illustrate the justification that a serious crime demands death. Christ suffering (you may consider it a bloodshed by conception) is the justification for humans who committed crimes to be saved.
I'm not sure how this is relevant to my question regarding why gods require blood. My question is not about law, rather why a spiritual, non-physical being would desire blood.