Ritual Sacrifice: A Concise History

By Brenda Ralph Lewis and Brenda Ralph-Lewis

Book Overview

Sacrifice -- whether human, animal, or object -- has been practiced for thousands of years. Brenda Ralph Lewis examines the reasons behind these rituals and attempts to convey the mentality of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0756778417
• ISBN13: 9780756778415
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Diane Pub Co
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Excellent overview of a critical issue

Understanding ritual sacrifice is critical for any understanding of religions and spirituality, whether past or present. Lewis does an excellent job of clarifying the issue. She goes beyond the instinctive paring of sacrifice and human sacrifice to tackle the bigger issue, ritual sacrifice that does not involve blood being shed or things dying. Ritual sacrifice means giving up something to the supernatural, which includes (but is by no means limited to) food, money, valuables, and so on. Even lighting a candle and saying a prayer falls under ritual sacrifice. Lewis ties all of these things into a larger framework to give the reader a better understanding of the universality of ritual sacrifice and the power it has. The only caution is that if the reader is very knowledgable about these issues, this book won't add anything new to the mental database. This book will aid people just getting into the topic and those who are looking for a better framework. Overall, though, I highly recommend this book.