Sacrifice is an action or item given to a god or goddess. A sacrifice may be used to gain favor from a deity, or it may be a way to show thanks or praise.

Proof of ritual animal sacrifice has been found as far back as ancient Hebrew and Greek times, and may have happened even earlier. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice has also been discovered in pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and in European civilizations. Today, many religions still practice different types of ritual sacrifices that do not involve humans.

Terminology

The Latin word sacrificium, meaning "a sacrifice," came from sacrificus, which combined sacra (sacred things) and facere (to make or do). Over time, sacrificium was used to describe the Christian Eucharist, often called a "bloodless sacrifice" to show it is different from sacrifices that involve blood. In other religions, words similar to "sacrifice" include yajna in Indian traditions, thusia in Greek culture, blōtan in Germanic traditions, qorban or qurban in Semitic traditions, and żertwa in Slavic traditions.

The word "sacrifice" often means "giving up something" or "letting go of something." It is also used in a different way to describe helping others or giving up something small to gain something bigger, like in a game of chess.

Theories of sacrifice

There is no agreement among scholars about the origins or purpose of sacrifice. However, many scholars have proposed different theories to explain it.

E.B. Tylor believed that sacrifice could be seen as a gift given to gods. This gift might be valued because it is good or important, because it shows respect, or because it is difficult to give.

William Robertson Smith, in The Religion of the Semites, argued that the main purpose of sacrifice was to help humans connect with gods. He based this idea on the sacrificial practices in the Hebrew Bible, where priests ate offerings to get closer to God. He also compared Ancient Hebrew sacrifices to rituals involving totem animals, but later scholars disagreed with this comparison.

Émile Durkheim, influenced by Robertson Smith, wrote in The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life that sacrifice had two purposes: to bring people together in a community and to connect humans with gods. He used research about Aboriginal Australians by Walter Baldwin Spencer and Francis James Gillen to say that sacrifices during social gatherings helped strengthen relationships among people. Later scholars have questioned both Durkheim’s ideas and the accuracy of the research he used.

Marcel Mauss, Durkheim’s nephew and student, and historian Henri Hubert argued that sacrifice is a type of gift given to gods. They believed that gods were expected to return a greater gift in the future.

Sigmund Freud, inspired by Robertson Smith’s ideas and Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, wrote in Totem and Taboo that sacrificing a totem animal was a symbolic act. He believed it represented the killing and eating of a first father, and that sacrifice was a way to deal with guilt from repressed emotions tied to the Oedipal Complex.

René Girard argued that sacrifice helped people deal with the desire to take what others have. He believed it acted as a way to redirect anger toward an innocent person, not because the person was guilty. He disagreed with Freud’s view that the victim was a symbol of guilt.

Nancy Jay said that sacrifice helped create and support family structures where men passed down power and wealth. She noted that men mostly performed sacrifices, while women were not involved in these rituals. She argued that the blood from sacrifices by men was seen as "pure," unlike the blood from childbirth or menstruation by women, which was considered "impure." This helped justify male control over inheritance.

Georges Bataille, in The Accursed Share, argued that in ancient societies, sacrifice was a way to use extra resources in a showy and wasteful manner.

Animal sacrifice

Animal sacrifice is the act of killing an animal as part of a religious ceremony. Many religions use this practice to try to please a god or change natural events. In some cultures, the food from the sacrificed animal was shared among people present during the ceremony. This practice has been found in many cultures, including those of the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans (like the purification ceremony called Lustratio), Egyptians (such as in the worship of the god Apis), and the Aztecs and Yoruba. Ancient Egyptian religion only allowed the sacrifice of certain animals, such as sheep, bulls, calves, male calves, and geese.

Today, some followers of Santería and other religions based on Yoruba traditions still perform animal sacrifices to heal the sick or thank the Oriṣa (deities). However, in Santería, these sacrifices make up only a small part of religious rituals called ebos, which also include giving offerings, praying, and performing good deeds. In some villages in Greece, Christians also sacrifice animals to honor Orthodox saints in a practice called kourbánia. While this practice is officially not allowed, it is sometimes accepted in certain areas.

Human sacrifice

Human sacrifice was practiced by many ancient cultures. People were killed in special ceremonies to try to make gods or spirits happy or calm them.

Some reasons for human sacrifice found in many cultures around the world include:

There is evidence that ancient Minoan cultures before the Greek period practiced human sacrifice. Bones of people were found at sites in Knossos, Crete. In one building at Knossos, the bones of children showed signs of being cut. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur (set in the labyrinth at Knossos) describes Athens sending seven young men and seven young women to Crete as sacrifices to the Minotaur. This matches the evidence that many sacrifices involved young adults or children.

The Phoenicians in Carthage were said to practice child sacrifice. Though some ancient writers may have exaggerated the number of sacrifices for political or religious reasons, archaeologists found many children's bones buried with animals used in sacrifices. Plutarch (about 46–120 AD) and other writers like Tertullian, Orosius, Diodorus Siculus, and Philo described children being burned alive while still conscious on a hot bronze statue.

Many ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica, such as the Aztecs, practiced human sacrifice. Experts estimate that the Aztecs performed between a few thousand and twenty thousand sacrifices each year. Some sacrifices were to help the sun rise, others to bring rain, and some were to celebrate the expansion of the Templo Mayor, a major temple in Tenochtitlán (the capital of the Aztec Empire). Some accounts mention Spanish soldiers being sacrificed during the wars of the Spanish invasion of Mexico.

In Scandinavia, old Norse religious traditions included human sacrifice, as described in Norse sagas and by German historians. Examples include the Temple at Uppsala and the practice of Blót.

In the Aeneid by Virgil, a character named Sinon falsely claims he was going to be sacrificed to Poseidon to calm the sea.

Today, human sacrifice is not officially allowed in any country. Any cases that occur are considered murder.

By religion

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the ruling class had a complex and organized sacrificial system. Nobles had a duty to sacrifice to their ancestors. Emperors could organize hunts, start wars, or gather royal family members to collect resources for sacrifices. These actions helped unite states under a shared goal and showed the power of the emperor’s rule. In his book Art, Myth and Ritual: the Path to Political Authority in Ancient China (1983), archaeologist Kwang-chih Chang explains that the sacrificial system strengthened the authority of ancient China’s rulers and supported production, such as by casting ritual bronzes.

Confucius supported restoring the Zhou sacrificial system, which avoided human sacrifice. His goal was to keep society orderly and teach people proper behavior. Mohism believed all types of sacrifice were too wasteful for society.

In Chinese folk religions, people often use pork, chicken, duck, fish, squid, or shrimp in sacrifices. Some altars have two levels: one for vegetarian food for high deities and one for animal sacrifices for the deities’ soldiers. Ceremonies for spirits and ghosts, such as the Ghost Festival, sometimes use whole goats or pigs. In Taiwan and Teochew, there are competitions to raise the heaviest pig for sacrifice.

In Nicene Christianity, God became human as Jesus, who sacrificed himself to reconcile God and humanity. Humanity had separated from God through sin (original sin). Western theology teaches that God’s justice required a way for humans to be restored to their place in creation and avoid punishment. However, humans could not make enough atonement for their sins because the offense to God was infinite. God made a covenant with Abraham, which he fulfilled by sending his only Son to be the sacrifice for the broken agreement. This theology says that Christ’s sacrifice replaced the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant. Christ, called the “Lamb of God,” replaced the lambs used in the ancient Korban Todah (the Rite of Thanksgiving), which included the Passover in the Mosaic law.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Lutheran Churches, Methodist Churches, and Irvingian Churches, the Eucharist or Mass, as well as the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, is seen as a sacrifice. Both Lutheran and Orthodox Christians teach that the Eucharist is a sacrifice because: 1) Christ, not the priest, offers and is offered as the sacrifice, 2) Christ’s sacrifice was completed once and for all, and 3) the sacrifice is reenacted so its benefits reach believers each time the Eucharist is celebrated. Both groups also see the Eucharist as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise (Hebrews 13:15).

Among Anglicans, the Eucharist is described as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, with words like “with these thy holy gifts which we now offer unto Thee” (1789 BCP) or “presenting to you from the gifts you have given us we offer you these gifts” (Prayer D BCP 1976). The United Methodist Church teaches that Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice that re-presents, rather than repeats, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. It also says that believers offer themselves as a sacrifice in union with Christ to help God’s work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. The United Methodist Church’s liturgy includes the words: “Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.”

A formal statement by the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) says that Methodists and Catholics agree that the Eucharist refers to “the sacrifice of Christ once-for-all,” “our pleading of that sacrifice here and now,” “our offering of the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving,” and “our sacrifice of ourselves in union with Christ.”

Roman Catholic theology teaches that the Eucharist is not a separate or additional sacrifice to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. It is the same sacrifice, which exists beyond time and space (“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” – Revelation 13:8). The sacrifice is made present without Christ dying or being crucified again. It is a re-presentation of Christ’s “once and for all” sacrifice on the cross by the risen Christ, who continues to offer himself and his work on the cross to the Father. The bread and wine, which were used in sacrifice in the Old Covenant (Genesis 14:18; Psalm 110:4), are transformed into Christ’s body and blood during the Mass (see transubstantiation). The offering becomes one with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. In the Mass, as on the cross, Christ is both priest (offering the sacrifice) and victim (the sacrifice he offers is himself). However, in the Mass, Christ works through a human priest joined to him through the sacrament of Holy Orders. All baptized people share in Christ’s priesthood. Through the Mass, the effects of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross help redeem those present, assist with their prayers, and help souls in purgatory. For Catholics, the theology of sacrifice has changed over time due to historical and scriptural studies. Lutherans see the Eucharist as a “sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise…in that by giving thanks a person acknowledges that he or she is in need of the gift and that his or her situation will change only by receiving the gift.” Lutherans and Catholics agree that the Mass is a sacrifice and that it remits sins. However, Roman Catholics see the priest as offering Christ’s body and blood as a sacrifice to God the Father, while Lutherans believe Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was complete, and in the Eucharist, Christ comes to humanity in, with, and under bread and wine for the forgiveness of sin (sacramental union).

The Irvingian Churches teach that in Holy Communion, not only is the body and blood of Christ present, but also His sacrifice itself. However, this sacrifice was completed once and is not repeated in Holy Communion. Holy Communion is not merely a reminder of the sacrifice.