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The Bible and Sacrifice

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René Girard makes a number of claims with his mimetic scapegoat theory of human culture that have great import for a Christian reading of Scripture. One of his basic claims is that the Judeo-Christian scriptures are pre-eminent in their revealing the sacrificial, scapegoating structure that lies behind all religions and cultures. The most common response to this claim, which has been a point of deep frustration to Girard and his followers, begins with the true observation that most other scriptures and religious writings speak far less about sacrificial violence, if at all, than do the Judeo-Christian scriptures. The conclusion most often drawn from this, however, is that, far from being revelatory, the Judeo-Christian scriptures seem much more steeped in that violence. Especially when compared to the writings of surviving modern religions like Buddhism -- where talk of sacrifice is virtually absent and the positive emphasis on peace thus seems so much more prominent -- a claim for the

René Girard makes a number of claims with his mimetic scapegoat theory of human culture that have great import for a Christian reading of Scripture. One of his basic claims is that the Judeo-Christian scriptures are pre-eminent in their revealing the sacrificial, scapegoating structure that lies behind all religions and cultures. The most common response to this claim, which has been a point of deep frustration to Girard and his followers, begins with the true observation that most other scriptures and religious writings speak far less about sacrificial violence, if at all, than do the Judeo-C

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