The Blood

 

The mental leap from the word sacrifice to blood is not a hard one to make. From their beginning, religious sacrifices tended to include bloodshed. But the Christian notion of sacrifice moved away from this tradition toward a spiritual sacrifice. However, blood still remains a key component in the understanding of Christian sacrifice. Jesus' crucifixion is regarded by Christians as the "perfect sacrifice." He spilled his blood on the cross for the sins of the world.

In its early years, Christianity struggled to distinguish itself from Judaism and mystery cults as the ‘correct’ religion. Although they took many ideas from these traditions, Christians developed a unique sacrificial tradition. The idea of sacrifice as a spiritual, self-directed act instead of the offering of animals was one such distinction. The body itself, with its links to the body of Christ, remained very important to Christians. Their forms of sacrifice focused on the bodies of its members as a living sacrifice.