Interpreting Child Sacrifice Narratives: Horror and Redemption (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781350236769)

Examining the theme of child sacrifice as a psychological challenge, this book applies a unique approach to religious ideas by looking at beliefs and practices that are considered deviant, but also make up part of mainstream religious discourse in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Ancient religious mythology, which survives through living traditions and transmitted narratives, rituals, and writings, is filled with violent stories, often involving the targeting of children as ritual victims. Christianity offers Abraham's sacrifice and assures us that the "only begotten son" has died, and then been resurrected. This version of the sacrifice myth has dominated the West. It is celebrated in an act of fantasy cannibalism, in which the believers share the divine son's flesh and blood.

This book makes the connection between Satanism stories in the 1980s, the Blood Libel in Europe, The Eucharist, and Eastern Mediterranean narratives of child sacrifice.

Author: Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
ISBN-10: 1350236764
ISBN-13: 9781350236769
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Language: English
Published: 10/31/2024
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.57d