Sacrifice Unveiled »

Offers a new understanding of sacrifice as a response to love and an entering into the self-giving life of God.

Foreword xiii

Part 1 To Unveil Sacrifice 1

I The Many Meanings of Sacrifice 1

A Secular meaning 1

B General religious meaning 2

C Sacrifice in the Hebrew scriptures 2

D General Christian meaning 3

E Specifically Catholic understanding 4

F Authentic Christian sacrifice 5

II A Trinitarian View of Sacrifice 6

A The self-offering of the Father 10

B The self-offering 'response' of the Son 11

C The self-offering of believers 14

III The Sacrifice of the Mass 14

A Who is doing what? 15

B Who is saying what? 16

C What is taking place? 18

IV Conclusion 23

Bridge 1 The Origins and Early Development of the Idea of Christian Sacrifice 25

Bridge 1 A Sacrifice in the Ancient World and in the Hebrew Scriptures 26

I Sacrifice in the Ancient World 26

II General Theory of Sacrifice 27

III Sacrifice in the Hebrew Scriptures 29

A The problem and the method 30

Excursus 1 The Sources of the Pentateuch and Source Criticism of the Hebrew Bible 30

B The burnt offering and the divine acceptance of sacrifice 32

1 The divine acceptance of sacrifice 32

Excursus 2 The Prophetic Critique of Sacrifice 33

C Sin offering and atonement 35

1 The process of atonement 36

2 The sin offering 37

3 Sacrificial blood 37

4 Leviticus 17.11 and the significance of sacrificial blood 38

5 Passover 39

6 Vicarious suffering and death 39

7 Martyrdom 40

IV From the Old Testament to the New 40

A The Septuagint 41

B Covenant sacrifice 41

C The passover 42

D The blood of circumcision 43

E Qumran: The community as temple 45

F The Akedah (sacrifice of Isaac) 46

1 Clear references to the Akedah in the New Testament 48

2 Probable references to the Akedah inthe New Testament 48

3 Possible references to the Akedah in the New Testament 49

4 The Akedah: A full expression of Jewish sacrificial soteriology 49

V Conclusion 50

Bridge 1 B Sacrifice in the New Testament 51

I The Synoptic Gospels 52

II The Acts of the Apostles 54

III The Pauline Theology of Sacrifice 54

A The sacrifice of Christ 55

B Christians as the new temple 56

C Sacrifice of (i.e. by) the Christians 57

IV The Temple as Community in Qumran and the New Testament 59

V The Epistle to the Hebrews 60

A The sacrifice of Christ the high priest 61

B The sacrifice of/by the Christian 62

VI The Gospel and First Letter of John 64

A Temple themes 64

B Sacrificial self-giving 65

C Sin offering and atonement themes 65

VII The History-of-Religions Context of 'Worship in Spirit and in Truth' 66

VIII The Book of Revelation 66

A The throne of God 67

B The lamb 67

C The incense offering 68

IX Summary of New Testament Teaching on Christian Sacrifice 68

Excursus 3 Spiritualization and Institutionalization 69

A Spiritualization in the early Church 70

B Institutionalization in the early Church 73

Bridge 1 C Sacrifice in the Fathers of the Church 75

I The Early Writings 75

II The Apologists: Justin and Athenagoras 77

III Irenaeus of Lyons 79

IV Hippolytus of Rome 81

V The Early Treatises on the Passover 82

VI The Second-Century Acts of the Martyrs 84

VII The Alexandrian Tradition I: The Antecedents: Philo and Barnabas 85

A Philo of Alexandria 85

B Epistle of Barnabas 87

VIII The Alexandrian Tradition II: Christianity Coming of Age: Clement and Origen 88

A Clement of Alexandria 89

B Origen: Christian life as sacrifice 93

IX Augustine of Hippo 95

A Sacrifice of Christ 95

B Temple themes 96

C Sacrifice by Christians 96

D Conclusion 97

X Conclusion 98

Part 2 Atonement and Sacrifice: The Distorting Veils 99

I Paul and Problems with Sacrificial Atonement 99

A Problems 99

B Incarnation and atonement theories 100

C Metaphor and doctrine 102

Excursus 4 Trinitarian Theology 102

D Divine violence 104

E Sacrifice and cult 106

F Legal and judicial thinking 107

G Provisional conclusions 108

II Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, and Julian of Norwich 110

A Anselm of Canterbury (ca. 1033-1109) 110

B Peter Abelard (1079-1142/3) 113

C Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-74) 114

D Julian of Norwich (ca. 1342-after 1416) 116

III The Sacrifice of the Mass 118

A ICEL's EP I translation/adaptation of the Canon Missae 119

B The third anaphora of St. Peter (Sharar) 125

1 Commentary on Sharar 129

Excursus 5 Sharar and the Maronite Rite 132

2 Conclusion of commentary on Sharar 134

C The prayers of Sarapion 135

D Provisional summary conclusions, with schematic table 136

IV Sacrifice and the Reformation 141

A Background medieval problems 141

1 Sacrifice and atonement 141

2 Loss of contact with the Bible 142

3 Loss of contact with the tradition 142

4 Lack of a sense of the 'Shape of the Liturgy' 142

5 The private Mass 144

6 Emphasizing the Christological to the detriment of the ecclesiological 144

7 The limitations of a schoolbook theology 144

B Catholic abuses 146

C The reaction of the Reformers 147

D The Catholic reaction against the Protestant reaction 148

E Eucharistic sacrifice and the 'destruction of a victim' 150

1 Modern average Catholic theology of the Eucharist 151

2 The sixteenth-century antecedents 158

Theory I 159

Theory II 160

Theory III 161

Theory IV 163

3 Bellarmine and the 'modern average Catholic theology of the Eucharist' 166

Bridge 2 From the Aftermath of the Reformation to the Present 169

Bridge 2 A Post-Reformation and Modernity: Two Contrasting Poles 169

I Sacrifice among the Writers of Late (Post-Enlightenment) Modernity 174

A Sacrifice in secular modernity 174

B The Christian scene 175

C Distorting mirrors 176

D Comment on the distortions 179

II Moment-of-Consecration Theology 181

III Mass-Stipend Theology: Theology in Transition 184

Bridge 2 B Liturgical Renewal and Ecumenism 189

I The Monasteries 191

II Mystery Theology 192

A Odo Casel and mystery theology 194

III Liturgical Conferences, Institutes, Academies, and Societies 196

IV A High Point of Restorationism: The New Worship Books 198

V The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II 199

VI Liturgical Work in an Ecumenical Context 200

Bridge 2 C Sacrifice and Girardian Mimetic Theory: The End of Sacrifice? 202

I General Introduction to Girardian Mimetic Theory 202

II Grand Narratives in a Postmodern Age 206

III Desire 207

IV Original Sin as Disordered Desire 209

V Original Sin: A Scientific View 213

VI Rene Girard as Christian Theorist 217

VII A Phenomenology of Redemption: Imitate the Desire of Jesus 219

VIII A Post-Scientific Epilogue 221

Part 3 Unveiling Sacrifice: A Journey of Discovery 223

I Beginnings 223

II Early Work on Christian Sacrifice 225

III Christian Sacrifice: Liturgical and Phenomenological 227

IV The Trinitarian Insight 228

V The Final Turning 230

VI The Journey Ahead 232

Biblical Index 239

Subject Index 241

Index of Names 257