Sacrifice in Pagan and Christian Antiquity

Robert J. Daly S.J. is Professor Emeritus of Theology at Boston College, USA, and is the author of Sacrifice Unveiled (T&T Clark, 2009).

• ForewordPart I: Introduction, Methodological and Hermeneutical IssuesPreliminary NotesThe History of ReligionsPostmodern ApproachesThe Elites in Antiquity and ChristianityWhat Is Sacrifice?The Sacrificial World Confronting Ancient ChristianitySacrifice in Human HistoryThe Unity of the Ancient World of SacrificeThe “End” of Paganism?Part II: The Greco-Roman TrajectoryFrom Homer and Hesiod up to Heraclitus and PlatoAnaximenesTheophrastusPhilo of AlexandriaApollonius of TyanaHeliodorus of EmesaPlutarchLucianPorphyryIamblichusSallustSymmachusMacrobius and the “End” of PaganismPart III: The Jewish-Christian TrajectoryPreliminary Note: The Many Meanings of SacrificeTransitional NoteThe Hebrew ScripturesExcursus 1: “Leave your gift there before the altar” (Matthew 5:24) Excursus 2: SpiritualizationThe Christian Scriptures (New Testament)Early ChristianityPreliminary Note: the General SituationExcursus 3: A Trinitarian View of SacrificeExcursus 4: The Eucharist as SacrificePart IV: Select Points of Comparison and ContrastPrayer and SacrificeDivination and SacrificeEthics, Morality, and SacrificeThe Purpose of SacrificeThe Rhetoric of SacrificeThe “Economics” of SacrificeHeroes and SaintsPart V: Concluding Summary and Looking AheadIndex of NamesSubject Index

During his long career Robert Daly has written extensively on the subject of sacrifice in the ancient Christian world, and the primary strength of this latest volume is to provide a digest of recent studies on the subject, and especially of pagan concepts of sacrifice that will be unfamiliar to most readers. He also draws a helpful distinction between elite and non-elite adherents of both pagan and Christian religions that is not usually made. This is an enormously valuable work.