Welcoming Gifts: Sacrifice in the Bible and Christian Life

by Jeremy Davis

The word sacrifice conjures images of suffering, loss, and even martyrdom. But sacrifice as practiced in the Old Testament and throughout the ancient world was most often the occasion of joyous celebration - a way of drawing near to God and to the other members of the community. Welcoming Gifts explores the history of sacrifice, the meaning of Christ's sacrifice, and what the concept should mean for Christians today - a way of expressing and cementing our relationship with God.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Spirituality, Christian, Christianity

320 pages, Paperback

Published May 24, 2022

Reviews

[Alex of Yoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind the glass; my worldview has shattered once again. Seriously, if you consider yourself a Christian in any way, shape, or form, you MUST read this book. Absolutely MUST.

Sacrifice is a word loaded with meaning in both our religious and secular life. It brings to mind images of blood, violence, and self-destructive bartering. But is that how the ancients viewed it, the people whose lives revolved around sacrificing to one or multiple gods? What did the ancient Jewish culture think of sacrifice? And what does that mean for our understanding of Christ and the Cross? Or even how we live our modern life? In a succinct and accessible way, Fr. Jeremy leads us on a journey to discover the answers to all of these questions and more!

Never, ever, in my entire career of studying theology (which spans most of my life) have I read a book that describes the rationale and reasoning behind the Old Testament sacrifice system in such a clear, concise, and complete way. Things have clicked for me that never made sense before! The author's use of cultural context and supporting examples from the people groups surrounding Israel was fascinating and eye-opening. Not only that, he goes on to clearly link that same rationale to the New Testament sacrifice of Christ and beyond to our calling as the Church. From the beginning of time to today (literally), this book tells a complete story arguing that what we Westerners think we know about God and His reasoning is wrong. In fact, our modern day usage of the very word "sacrifice" is completely foreign to the people who lived in the day of regular animal sacrifices and offerings. They understood it in a way we have lost.

The writing in this book is fantastic. It's rare that a good theology book also be a page-turner, but I flew through this one. It's not overly technical or verbose, and it explains any quotations from authors who are harder to understand. This is truly an accessible book for the average Christian reader. The tone is respectful and understanding, and the argument is extremely well-thought out. As soon as I would think of a question or counter-argument, Fr. Jeremy was addressing it, oftentimes in the very next paragraph! The appendix on substitutionary atonement was especially helpful. Don't skip that part!

Above all, what makes this book stand apart to me isn't just the strength of the argument but that it takes its conclusions further and shows the reader how to apply the concepts to their lives. More theology books need to do this! It isn't enough to know what the ancients thought of sacrifice or what that does to Christian doctrine: I need to know what this means for how I live my ordinary, Christian life, and Fr. Jeremy spends a quarter of the book explaining just that! His Epilogue even describes three principles that he hopes the reader will take to heart and apply as they finish the book. This is everything I want from my theology books: a good concept explained precisely and simply with guidance on what I should do about what I just read. Fr. Jeremy knocked it out of the park!

I truly did not go into this book expecting to love it as much as I did. It's easily become one of my top 5 must-reads for Orthodox theology. HOWEVER, I do not think it should be limited to the Orthodox. Even though one chapter is devoted to explaining the Divine Liturgy (which will make the most sense to Orthodox Christians), it is written for every Christian everywhere, and every Christian SHOULD read it. My entire perception of God, the faith, and my role in life has changed from reading this, and I do not say that lightly! If you are a Christian, buy this book, tell your library to get it for you, or ask to borrow it from someone RIGHT NOW.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This deep dive into Old Testament sacrifice totally transformed how I understand the Orthodox Christian eucharistic sacrifice. This work brought me into a deeper understanding of God and my reading of scripture. It changed the way that I think of and approach the Divine Liturgy and partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ.

[Kevin Godinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those paradigm-shifting books.

In the ancient world, sacrifice meant "offering," and offering meant "gift." This means that the ancient understanding of sacrifice was not closely associated with suffering the way we think of a sacrifice today. Sure, killing an animal was part of some Mosaic rituals, but the killing wasn't the focal point. There were plenty of sacrifices that didn't require killing at all. Grain, oil, and incense offerings, for example. The law was given to the people as a tutor so they could learn how to be in relationship with God. The offerings and various rituals in the law were relational ceremonies the people participated in as gestures of devotion to God, in one form or another. Whether that was a whole burnt offering, devoting one's "whole" self to God, a peace offering to express thanks, devotion, fulfillment of an oath, sharing table fellowship with God, or a sin offering as a dedication of godly sorrow and a recommitment of one's life to the Lord, all of the sacrifices were centered around hospitality and table fellowship; relationship, or covenant. Understanding this really brings to life what Christ did by offering Himself and His life as a gift to the world.

The life, or "soul," is in the blood. When blood is being offered, life is being offered. When life is received and life is offered in return, a relationship, or "oneness," is born. This is what the blood of animals represented, a giving of one’s life to God. Atonement is not merely a legal idea. Neither is justification. Justification is primarily integrity before God. It is a result of righteous living, or obedience to God. Atonement is the "putting away" of something. In the case of Christ and humanity, it is the putting away of sin. How did Christ atone for, or "put away," sin? By becoming a man, living a righteous life, and never sinning, He "put away," or atoned for sin, by never experientially knowing sin or partaking of it Himself. In doing this and being the only man to have ever done it, He removed sin from the human experience, bringing humanity back to the Garden before the first human transgression. How does this remove sin from those who believe in Him? By following the pattern of Christ and putting away sin ourselves through the power of the Spirit and God's grace, humanity has now been given a Way that hadn’t been revealed under the law prior to His advent. The mystery of Christ is now revealed.

Christ causes sin to be removed from our lives by revealing within human history the Way that had previously never been experienced before by any man. This experience has entered into humanity and is the chief cause of sin being removed from our lives, as we are doers of the word and not hearers only. For the first time, humanity has been given an example of sinlessness to follow. By following this sinless example, sin is also removed from our lives as we refrain from temptation and persevere, desiring to be like Christ. This is what it means to be holy, righteous, and blameless before God. This is what it means to be one with the Father in Christ by the power of the Spirit. This is the communion and unity we are called to: the obedience of faith.

The life is in the blood. Christ showed us the Way and paid the price for it. He suffered and died at the hands of sinful men for the sole purpose of becoming Man in order to show us the Way. By humbling Himself into a human existence, He made Himself vulnerable. He demonstrated how the Kingdom is made manifest, doesn't operate according to wordly principles, and is not from this world. His vulnerability and faithfulness ultimately got Him killed because evil men hated what the Way looked like. But He was faithful to stand for Truth all the way to the end, no matter what it cost. In becoming a baby in a manger and growing up into adulthood, maturing, and learning obedience and submission to the Father, He offered His entire life. When His blood was spilled, His soul was poured out for the life of the world. As we partake of the cup, we drink that same life, pledging our allegiance to Him in response to His offering.

Why do we love? Because He first loved us.

[Jamey Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an interesting thing that something so important to the identity of a dominant religious faith could be so poorly understood by the masses. And such it is with the idea of sacrifice in Jewish and Christian history and teaching, and Welcoming Gifts offers a helpful, accessible corrective to this problem. Ancient sacrifice is often seen in exclusively violent terms, and modern sacrifice tends to be defined almost entirely as “giving something up.”

But what if a “violence-based definition of sacrifice is indeed inauthentic?” (32), as Fr. Jeremy Davis asks. “To begin with, the most common ancient terms for sacrifice did not focus on killing or death…. the Latin sacrificare refers to devoting something to a god, the Greek thyein literally means ‘to turn into smoke,’ and the Hebrew qorban means ‘present’ or ‘gift’” (36). “Biblical sacrifices weren’t limited to animal sacrifices,” writes Davis, and “vegetal or grain offerings existed as well” (36).

Davis leans heavily on the teachings of the Early Church Fathers, which is the main thing that makes this book particularly valuable to me. Over and over, citations from Chrysostom and Cyprian illumine the classical Christian understanding of sacrifice and its role in the life of the Christian. It’s also notable that Davis is an Orthodox priest, and as such is committed to upholding the ancient teachings of the early Church. Many Christians have a limited place for sacrifice in the life of the believer except as a theological description of what happened in the past. But this is not how the Fathers saw it, nor is it how the Orthodox Church understands things. Also notable is his use of Philo, who is an important Jewish source contemporaneous to the New Testament.

This book is a must-read for anyone (but especially for the serious Christian) who wants to understand what all this sacrificial language in scripture is all about—from the Old Testament practice to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to our modern conception of sacrifice, Davis covers it all. The book is divided into four sections, and each section has three to four chapters each, for a total of 14 chapters. The Epilogue and Appendix that follow are also worth your time.

Part 1 serves as a basic introduction to the topic, with particular attention to orienting the modern reader. Davis explains the approach to sacrifice of the ancients, rescuing it from the accretions and distortions that have filled the popular imagination over time. “In the ancient world, sacrifice exuded a fragrance of exuberant joy, spontaneous gratitude, and even seductive charm; today it reeks of violence and suffering” (23). And so when moderns look at the ancient world’s idea, we tend to only see violence. Our own vision of sacrifice is “primarily a metaphor,” and so we fail to appreciate the centerpiece of sacrifice, which would have been a ritual as part of the maintenance of a relationship. “Offerings were burned or poured out on an altar. Sometimes, instead of being burned, food offerings were ceremonially displayed before being eaten by priests. Such rituals were practiced throughout the ancient world” (25).

Food. Aroma. Gift. These metaphors help us to understand what the sacrifice is for, and what its significance is. So sacrifice is obviously a form of food, but it is not merely the food that is the point. Indeed, “Sacrifices were often big events on public holidays” in the ancient world, and even when pagan sacrifices ended in the Roman empire, “sacrifice has remained an essential term in [Christian] teaching and practice” (28).

In the second section, Davis discusses the Biblical foundation of sacrifice, from its primordial roots in the offerings of Cain and Abel, to the Mosaic revelation of communion with God through sacrifice, and then finally the other ways Scripture describes sacrifice for the faithful Hebrew. And while he situates Hebrew sacrifice in its ancient Mesopotamian context, he is also careful to contrast Biblical sacrifice with its pagan counterparts.

The Mosaic covenant is one of the most important aspects of a Christian theology of sacrifice, but it’s also widely misunderstood. Davis adeptly explains the progression from tabernacle to temple, as well as the selection and role of the priests and their assistants, and the procedure of preparation and offering the gifts. In this process, he’s able to give a sort of “behind the scenes” look at the types and purpose of sacrifices offered to God by the Jewish cult. The author is also careful to explain several aspects of the Jewish cult that have participated in no small amount of confusion in the popular imagination. He clarifies the unblemished sacrifice, the scapegoat ritual of the Day of Atonement, and other related matters that could come up in studying the Jewish sacrificial cult.

Christ’s sacrifice fills out the third part of the book. He lays out what he describes as the “failure and fulfillment” of Mosaic sacrifice in Christ. Christians have always understood Christ as the ultimate fulfillment and perfection of every kind of sacrifice—because Christ is the perfect temple, the perfect priest, and of course, he is himself the spotless offering. Characterized as the “offered Son and the delivering lamb,” Davis unpacks the Biblical vision of Christ as the perfect passover lamb, and the Father’s ultimate sacrifice.

Davis explains the theological understanding of how Christ’s sacrifice saves us, what atonement means, and how our consciences can be both purified and perfected through a life lived in repentance. It is ultimately through his sacrifice on the cross that we too can be transformed into pure, living sacrifices. And as living sacrifices, we offer ourselves to God through Christ.

This is what the fourth section focuses on. So what are our sacrifices? Martyrdom. Asceticism. Removing sin. Cultivating virtue. Fasting. Giving of ourselves, with joy. This is the living sacrifice of obedience! And of course there is also sacrificial giving—to support the ministry and the giving of alms. Sharing the faith, personally, can also be a form of sacrifice.

Toward the end, Davis gets into what it means to say that Christians offer sacrificial worship on this side of the cross in history. I won’t spoil it, but our sacrifice is made with our prayers of praise and thanksgiving, the offering of incense and candles, and of course, the great participation in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross that is appropriated, re-enacted, and partaken of with the Body and Blood of Christ present as Eucharist.

And for Orthodox Christians, this is one of the most valuable parts of the book—understanding that in Christ giving himself to us, he does so in the bloodless sacrifice in the Eucharist. This sacrifice is whole and entire, and includes the preparation stages and other liturgical actions performed during the Divine Liturgy. An entire chapter dedicated to the Divine Liturgy connects various aspects of our worship to the concepts he has just covered in the book.

Finally, in an appendix, Davis addresses the theological distortion of penal substitutionary atonement that has captivated the West for a millennium now. A careful reading of his book will leave little room for penal substitution, but it is helpful that at the end of the book he makes explicit what is more implicit earlier in the book.

I should leave more of the book for the reader. Bottom line: This is an excellent book, and worth reading. I am a Sunday School teacher and catechist with an MA in Biblical Studies and am currently studying for a Masters in Orthodox theology—this book was instantly helpful for me. The only thing I wish is that it came out 15 years ago. Get this book.

I have this book on Kindle and Audible. The audible download was provided for me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, but I paid for the Kindle book. I will be recommending this to any and all of my students who ask about Biblical sacrifice.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quotes:

The end of traditional ritual sacrifice caused the shared memory of sacrifice’s significance to fade, thus undermining the metaphor of spiritual sacrifice. It left interpretive gaps in our faith’s authoritative texts, which assume familiarity with a practice that is now alien to us. Although the Eucharist remained as a distinctly Christian sacrifice, its sacrificial symbolism and significance has also gone out of focus without this larger frame of reference.

“Charity funded by injustice is not charity but savagery and inhumanity. For what is the benefit of stripping one person and then clothing another?” St. John Chrysostom

Penal substitution violates the logic of sacrificial purity. It envisions the sacrificial victim being symbolically loaded with the guilt of the offeror, so that its death might expunge that guilt. Yet all sacrifices must be pure and unblemished. Imputing guilt to the victim would constitute a major blemish, making the sacrifice unacceptable to God. Moreover, if the sin offerings were thus loaded with guilt, how is it that their remainder was eaten by the priests as a “most holy thing? [Leviticus 6:22 or 6:29]” How could meat loaded with guilt be called most holy?... Only in the case of the scapegoat ritual were sins confessed over an animal, but that ritual bears no resemblance to sacrifice. The scapegoat ritual was not a sacrifice at all, since the animal was not offered on the altar, but instead sent away into the desert. Being laden with guilt, it was no longer fit to be offered to God… Penal substitution is not plausible as a rationale for Old Testament sacrifice. Therefore, it cannot be the rationale for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, since the cross was the fulfillment of those Old Testament sacrifices, sharing their rationale and basic significance and only transcending them as the universal actualization of that rationale and significance.

[Ben Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly an outstanding book on the theology of sacrifice — a topic little known or studied today, alas, but one which has enormous biblical significance and real implications for the lives of Christians. I especially enjoyed how the author shows that, far from being resigned to a small, obscure corner in Leviticus, the idea or practice of sacrifice is shot-through the entirety of Scripture — from Genesis to St. John’s Revelation. While written by a talented priest in the Greek Orthodox tradition, this is a book for the whole Church catholic. It deserves — and thus I pray it gets — a wide readership among the faithful.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I recommend this book to all my friends and enemies.
The modern project has distorted the meaning of sacrifice, this book helps clarify what is meant in the Old Testament and the death of Christ for our salvation.
Read on!

[Nat (Photini) C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read this book, especially if you’re a Christian. It will challenge your view of sacrifice, reframe, and redeem it. This will then help to properly u destined what Christ did on the Cross. Absolutely incredible!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcoming Gifts, Sacrifice in the Bible and Christian Life, basically uprooted my entire theology about Sacrifice --- including Old Testament sacrifices, Christ’s death on the cross and the Eucharist that we continue to celebrate in modern times. Fr. Jeremy Davis changes the paradigm of sacrifice from one of an offering to an unknown or angry God, to one where sacrifice is more correctly the act of gift giving to enter a deeper relationship with God. In the first chapters, he outlines how biblical sacrifices all had the “metaphors” of sacrifice of food, sacrifice as aroma and sacrifice as a gift. He emphasizes that the act of the sacrifice was not the “killing” of the animal (because grains, fruits and nonliving foods were acceptable), but rather emphasized “heartfelt contrition, praise, fulfillment of vows, righteous action, mercy and humility.”

Fr. Jeremy has a great discourse on gift giving as relationship building. When we meet people whom we want to know better, we offer gifts, and they show their interest in the relationship by offering reciprocal gifts. In this continuing exchange of gifts, relationships become stronger and more meaningful. The same is true of sacrifice or “gift-giving” with our time, talents, and money in our response to the gift of the birth, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

The book also goes into detail concerning the failure of the Mosaic sacrifices and how the sacrifice of Christ brings Salvation. Additionally, he carefully explains how the Orthodox liturgy, the Eucharist and the elements of our worship are the sacrifices we continually offer to God. But just as with the Old Testament offerings, our sacrifices of praise, prayer, incense, candles, and homilies are meaningless if we do not enter the Liturgy and partake of the Eucharist with the right mindset. Early in the book he attributes that God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice because he gave what was convenient, while Abel gave from the first born of his flock.

This book is so full of information and food for thought, and I have barely even scratched the surface in my review thus far, but I think one of the most poignant points that Fr. Jeremy makes is that we have changed the meaning of the word “sacrifice” to have a negative connotation to mean suffering (such as I sacrificed my career for my children, or it was a sacrifice to move into a smaller house). Fr. Jeremy posits that we should only use the word sacrifice in a religious context and should only use it when we mean an offering to deepen our relationship with our God.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcoming Gifts: Sacrifice in the Bible and Christian Life by Jeremy Davis is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand sacrifice in the Old Testament, New Testament and in the Church today. The author does a wonderful job of examining how we commonly perceive sacrifice and then dismantles that perception so thoroughly that by the end of the book you will have a hard time hearing people use the word sacrifice without wanting to give some kind of lecture. The term “sacrifice” in modern usage evokes ideas of loss, pain, blood, death, etc. However, Davis does an exceptional job explaining that sacrifice was a joyous act and more importantly one that fostered communion with God and others. Even for those that have prior understanding that sacrifice always contained some form of meal-sharing will find this book helpful in gaining a much deeper and fuller understanding of sacrifice. The author also helps to reveal how people at the time of Christ would have understood the purpose of their sacrifice. The book can be a bit of a slow read during the analysis of Mosaic Sacrifice (since Leviticus and Numbers were always page turners), however, his analysis of sacrifice in the New Testament and in the Church made it hard to put the book down.



Some may think “Does this matter in my everyday life as a Christian?”. The answer is yes. Davis does a wonderful job not only explaining how sacrifice should be understood, but also WHY it matters. He does this respectfully but unapologetically. In part 4 of this book, covering our sacrifices today, He provides an understanding that sacrifices are at the heart of our Christian faith and yet can be so easily neglected. This is convicting to say the least.



The author's style of writing is engaging and concise. I would recommend this book to any Christian, whether they are coming from a high or low church background. The author uses early church fathers and liturgical excerpts to highlight the understanding early Christians had. Overall, this book is in my top 5 books to recommend to any Christian. Coincidentally, the last book I read also made that list and both of these books were published by Ancient Faith Publishing. Kudos to the publisher on releasing another fabulous book.

[Nathaniel Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was a magnificent read. As the blurb on the back cover says, this should be the go-to book for understanding the sacrificial system in the Bible, as well as how Christ fulfills it and how Christians re-present sacrifices in their lives and in the life of the church. There’s too much to discuss in a short review, but I’ll note that it seems pretty clear, on my side of the Bosporus at least, we don’t think about sacrifices enough in reference to Jesus’s death. Not that we don’t think about them, but we reduce them to a very narrow scope and project an impoverished, modern understanding back onto the Biblical account.

The basic starting corrective is that (animal) sacrifices, and the preparations beforehand, were not bloodthirsty rituals, but were essentially a sanctified process of meat production. A sacrifice was the offering of meat, grain, wine, oil, and incense as a meal between the god and the offerer. The purpose was to build a mutuality and friendship with the god, and show goodwill and cultivate dependence on him. For Israelites, this was, uniquely, done without an idol, but the expectation was very similar. The offering of a meal was a sign of welcome to the God who had rescued them and constituted them as His chosen nation. It was a gift, and though of course Israel’s God did not need to eat or drink, he accepted the gifts as tokens of the trust and loyalty of his people. In making offerings, they were offering their selves, the rite finally culminating in God’s returning of a portion of the food gift back to the offerer for their own consumption. So in a process of reciprocal gift giving, one ate a meal with God.

Detailed, expert, and accessible, and right around 300 pages. A great read for students and laypeople. Those not familiar with the Orthodox Liturgy will find a short, fascinating section on it, and how it relates to this whole matter. Highly recommended.

[Garrett Paschal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped a lot of things fall into place theologically. Although only the appendix mentions penal substitutionary atonement, the entire book reveals that theory to be based on misunderstanding of OT sacrifices. It also clearly explains Christ in light of OT sacrifice and how we are not just benefactors of, but also partakers of Christ’s sacrifice (not only His death but also His life). The beginning of this book is not very practical but it’s essential to the second half of the book which extremely applicable to daily living.

A quote from a quote in the book:
This altar is composed of the very members of Christ, and the Body of the Master is made your altar…Again this one is wondrous because it is stone by nature but becomes holy when it received Christ’s Body; but that altar is holy since it is itself Christ’s Body. You will be able to see this altar lying everywhere—in both alleys and marketplaces—and to sacrifice on it at every hour; for indeed even on this too will sacrifice be performed. -St John Chrysostom

[David Pulliam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Davis seeks to explain how "sacrifice" in the modern world is understood differently than in the ancient world, and for a Christian to know God properly, you have to hold to an ancient view of sacrifice. Sacrifice is a joyful activity for the one who is doing the sacrificing.

He digs at the filioque clause at one point and critiques penal substitutionary atonement (without quoting Anselm, which is strange for someone who likes to go ancient. I know 1,000 years old doesn't qualify as ancient, but Anselm knows a lot more about sacrifice than any of us.)

On one hand, a helpful naunce and encouraging way to think about sacrifice in the Christian life, but on the other, I think he cuts out an essential part of the Christian life.

I think if someone reads this book and thinks Wow, those protestants don't hold a candle (no pun intended) to the EOC. My response is that there John Stott, John Owen or Goldsworthy just name a few.

[Ben Bauman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fr. Jeremy Davis' book provides a refreshing look into an aspect of Orthodox Christian doctrine that many often struggle to grasp. By reexamining sacrifice in its original context, as a relational meal between God and man, "Welcoming Gifts" explains how Old Testament ritual practice perfectly aligns with our New Testament understanding of the eucharist.

I was impressed by the text's accessible tone, often unpacking complex theological rationale in succinct laymen's terms. The book is broken into chapters detailing particular aspects of sacrifice, any or all of which would make a good topic for church discussion groups. I look forward to recommending this book to those seeking a deeper understanding of Orthodox liturgical practice, as well as those struggling to mesh Old Testament offerings requiring blood with the Divine Liturgy's rational and bloodless worship.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

My entire understanding of sacrifice has been transformed over the course of reading this book. This is one I will revisit often. I have no doubt I will be contemplating these ideas and concepts for the rest of my life, if not into the eternities.

Sacrifice (in both the old and the new covenants) is a way to invite the power of God into our lives, build a relationship with Him, and become like Him. I love the idea that we sacrifice “to” God, not “for” something.

I am not Orthodox, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding ancient sacrifice and also how the same concepts apply to us after Christ’s great last sacrifice. But really, it is for anyone who seeks a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father.

My copy is full of notes and highlights.

[Benjamin Linnabary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fr Jeremy Davis does an incredible job of highlighting the connection between Old Testament sacrifices and worship as thanksgiving. Coming from a Protestant upbringing, I was often faced with a view of sacrifice as an emblem of necessary death; this book in many ways shows the opposite: sacrifice as an emblem of restoration and love between God and mankind. The chapters outlining Christ’s own sacrifice and how this restores not only relationship but our own conscientiousness personally brought alot of clarity to the nature of atonement. I highly recommend this book to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox readers!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book to start the year with! Fr. Jeremy Davis unpacks what the word means - to us in the 21st century, and to the ancients who offered sacrifice regularly. (Hint: the way we understand it isn't the same way they did). As he outlines ancient practices and their meanings he brings depth and nuance to the way we live out the Christian life today, and in the last chapter he highlights how the Eucharistic sacrifice brings all these elements together. It's so beautiful. Highly recommend!

[w gall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A potentially life changing clarification of the meaning of sacrifice, especially Christian sacrifice. The thesis is backed with many Holy Scripture passages and commentary from early Church Fathers. It touches on our motives for the time and effort we put into prayer, fasting, charity ("faith working through love"), and our celebration of the Eucharist. Buy it!

[Mikal Lambdin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got 60% through before I had to put it down. 11 hours (audio book) of what read like a doctorate thesis. Even the most minute statement was backed up by 10 quotes, and there was so much repetition. I give it 3 stars because there was a lot of good historical information but it was just twice as long and tedious as it needed to be.

[Alec Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for us modern people who undoubtedly have some bad assumptions about what the word sacrifice entailed for most people for most of world history. It is transformative for how we see Christ's sacrifice, as models such as penal substitution no longer hold any water with an original understanding of biblical sacrifice.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will transfigure the way westerners view the various sacrifices offered in the Christian tradition, from the first sacrifices offered in Genesis to the present day offering of the Eucharist. Very well written and steeped in Patristic understanding.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book on the biblical meaning of sacrifice. If you grew up Protestant as I did, it will really challenge what you were taught growing up. At the same time, it will make perfectly clear that sacrifice (even in the Old Testament) is coherent with the coving God.

[Nickay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be Prepared For New Information

The modern concept of Sacrifice is a far cry from biblical usage. Be prepared to abandon the modern idea, and in return learn what it means biblically, and it was understood and practiced.

[Lance Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Great read! Fr Jeremy is obviously very knowledgeable and yet made this an easy to read book. Enjoyed it. I would recommend using it for a catechism class.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable and engaging treatment of a commonly misunderstood idea.

[Aubriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it! What a thorough explanation this was on Old Testament sacrifices and how we as Orthodox Christians relate to them today.

[Natnael Tefera Mulatu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book discusses about meaning and history of sacrifice throughout the Old and the New Testament. The author claims that the way we look a sacrifice in the modern society is disconnected from the way people did in the Old Testament and the first millennium of the New Testament. In the present day, we consider sacrifice as something of a misfortune; Something to be avoided at all costs. In the past however, it was considered as the highest expression of love and belief.

Sacrifice in the Old Testament was at the heart of fellowship between men and God. From the beginning, we notice abel and cain who competed to sacrifice the fruits of their labor. Abel’s sacrifice was particularly chosen by God not because it was an animal sacrifice or more expensive, rather, because of the good intention of Abel to give up the best of what he owns to the Lord. Later during Abraham and issac era, God asked abraham to sacrifice his only son in mount moriah, and he saw his faithful servant Abraham trusting him to the point where he was willing to give up his only son.

After God delivered his people Israel from Egypt, he gave detailed instructions to Moses about different types forms of sacrifices for forgiveness of sins. Some of them include whole burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering. People used these offerings as a way of building a relationship with the lord. People in the modern times imagine that sacrifices are about the moment of killing, thinking it as the desire to commit violence. However, from the Bible we understand that the moment of killing is not the climax of the act, rather the desire and the decision we make to give what belongs to us to God out of love, trust, and belief.

The New Testament begins, by Christ Sacrificing himself out of love, for the life of the world. This is the ultimate sacrifice and a symbol of the endless love of the creator to his creation. Thus, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Divine Liturgy every week with the center being the Sacrifice of the body and blood our eternal God, and the son of man, Jesus Christ. In addition to that, when we Orthodox Christians pray, as King David says in his psalms, “I will raise my hands as an evening sacrifice” we are sacrificing our time, our body, and our attention to the Lord. When we fast, we are sacrificing the pleasure of eating nice food.

In conclusion, this book made me realize that Sacrifice is in the heart of the faith of Israel in the Old Testament and Orthodox Christianity in the New Testament. This is because, it is a symbol of fellowship, love, trust, and belief between the creator, and us humans. Let me encourage you the reader, thus, to sacrifice your body and soul by standing everyday in-front of God for prayer, celebrating the Divine Liturgy every Sunday, fasting, and partaking of the holy communion.

Warning - Refrain from praising the written note or the writer because it is vain. Instead, praise God for everything.

🍀🍀🍀

Praise be to God, Virgin Mary, and the Holy Cross amen.

© Natnael Tefera Mulatu
ግንቦት ፲፰ ፳፻፲፭ ዓ/ም

[Brandon Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.5 stars. I’m not Orthodox, and I believe the Western Protestant church needs to read this book (especially theologians).

The perspective on the Old Testament sacrificial system in the first half of the book was fascinating, well-explained, air-tight, and therefore very convincing.

As far as this book talks about the Old Testament sacrifice, this book has the right pieces—the pieces just fall into place and click—such an exciting find.

As far as the application to Christ and daily life based on what I now know about Old Testament sacrifice, some points click, others I’m not sure yet. I again feel that I’ve discovered something that will require me to reread the entire Bible and many verses with a new lens. I had never questioned the Western Protestant premise on how sacrifices work or how Jesus operated as a sacrifice to God on our behalf.

The only downside in the presentation of the material was the over-use of church father quotes. I felt that many of the quotes could have been replaced by Scripture’s that sufficiently made the same point (I realize this is a very Protestant view) and that there were too many block quotes when the author already did a fine job summarizing the quotes views.

For anyone who loves Scripture and wants a good foundation for understanding the Old Testament especially, but really the entire Bible, I highly recommend this book.