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Sacrificial offerings

I need help with writing an essay on "It is not reasonable that god should demand sacrificial offerings"

Consider the following:

what religions do sacrificial offerings?

what role does religion play in the lives of people

how does it affect them?

Answers
Hi,what period of human history is this related to and part of the world (as in geographic location / nation)? this is important, please get back and I can assist in this. Also, what level of study is it for?
svetlapopova
06 March 2016
Hi , I can answer it very well. Please let me know if you want me to. Thanks,Anusha
Anusha D.
09 March 2016
Hello, I'v answered this question before, if you are interested contact me :).
Mohamad F.
09 March 2016
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of ownership.  While sacrifice often implies ritual killing the term offering (Latin oblatio ) can be used for bloodless sacrifices of food or artifacts. For offerings of liquids (beverages) by pouring, the term libation. is used.The importance of bloodshed in sacrifice did not originate in the Christian tradition. Sacrifice was a major part of the ancient world. The ideas of sacrifice as an atonemnt found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) form much of the basis for Christian conceptions of sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the God-given means of expiation was the sacrificial blood (Young 27-28). The idea of a dying God whose sacrifice results in eternal life for followers is also found in roman mystey religions.for more discussion and help you can contact me. I specialise in GCSE and higher education Religious education.
Jodie M.
09 March 2016
Hi KittycatThere is a lot of useful information from the very respectable Encyclopaedia Britannica here: http://www.britannica.com/topic/sacrifice-religion and a summary of religions and a conclusion here: http://www.britannica.com/topic/sacrifice-religion/Sacrifice-in-the-religions-of-the-worldPersonally I can't see any other way to answer the statement than of course it is reasonable that God should demand sacrificial offerings - claiming it is unreasonable would be claiming that you know better than God, which is blasphemy.In terms of the Bible, all sin (wrongdoing in the sight of God) must be punished. In the old testament God demanded sacrificial offerings to punish sin. Because people are naturally sinful and cannot live to God's perfect standards, this meant they had to sacrifice - a lot, and they still could not pay for all their sin. But God's perfect plan involved his son, Jesus Christ who came to Earth (new testament) to be the perfect single sacrifice, having lived the perfect life to pay for all the sin of all people by dying on a cross. For Christians the evidence that this sacrifice worked was Jesus rising back to life after 3 days and the point of all of this sacrifice was so that you may be able to have a relationship with God the Father, if you trust in Jesus' sacrifice.Hope my explanation helps from the Christian perspective, and the links above for other religions.
Sam P.
10 March 2016
The core of sacrifice is that God would want his people to suffer, and that they do so willfully to appease him.You would have to make a case on what God would/should be like, and what behavioral traits he should have. 
Rob O.
28 March 2016
Asking for sacrifice does not mean that God wants his people to suffer. For example in Christianity the reason that sacrifices were needed was so that God's people can atone for their sin (disobeying God, e.g. by doing whatever they want with no care for God). God demanding sacrifice actually shows God's righteousness (fairness) in not letting sin go unpunished, but this does not mean that God wants people to suffer - in fact God sent his son to suffer in our place, with all sin past, present and future defeated and paid for at the cross for everyone who accepts and trusts in Jesus' sacrifice, as stated in the famous verse of the Bible, John 3:16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Sam P.
30 March 2016
Hi I don't have a lot to offer on this question, but I would recommend looking up how the Ancient Mayans saw sacrifice as part of their religion. I recently went to Chichen Itza and it's fascinating.
edlaw_cancerscience_phd
28 April 2016
According to the Christian perspective, sacrifice is a way of atoning for ones sins in the Old Testament, Numbers‬ ‭29:7-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬ ““Ten days later, on the tenth day of the same month, you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work. You must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. These offerings must be accompanied by the prescribed grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts of choice flour with the bull, four quarts of choice flour with the ram, and two quarts of choice flour with each of the seven lambs. You must also sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and their accompanying liquid offerings.” Ezekiel 43:22 & Exodus 29: 38. - you can also find more reference here. ‭God saw that this act of atonement is not working because people of old was purposefully sinning so they can offer sacrifices and their sacrifice is becoming a burden and a curse so God abolished it ( Isaiah 1:2-20 ) emphasis verse 11. and sent His only begotten son Jesus as a Lamb to die once and for all for the whole world. This can be found in John 3:16 & Romans 5:1-21.
Stephen Abiodun Ayodele
11 October 2020
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