Is Christianity a sacrificial or nonsacrificial religion? The following papers on this question represent the revised versions of papers given originally at a session of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R) in Chicago on November 18, 1994. COV&R, founded in 1990, is concerned with the work of René Girard. Relevant portions of my interview with Girard, published in The Girard Reader, have been added to round out the discussion. The topic was first suggested by Joseph Hallman of the University of St. Thomas, who organized the session and served as moderator. He brought together a very able panel. Robert Daly, whose paper served to initiate the discussion, is the author of Christian Sacrifice (Washington: Catholic University of American Press, 1978), a widely read and highly instructive survey of sacrifice in biblical texts and the early church before Origen. Bruce Chilton, a well known New Testament and Targum scholar, has written a number of books and articles relevant to the subject, including The Temple of Jesus. His Sacrificial Program Within a Cultural History of Sacrifice (University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 1992), which contains an extensive discussion of Girard's work. Paul Duff has authored many articles on sacrifice and scapegoating in Hellenistic culture and the New Testament. These include 'René Girard in Corinth: An Early Christian Social Crisis and a Biblical Text of Persecution', which was published in Helios 22 (1995).
The topic of Christianity and sacrifice is an essential one for those concerned with violence and sacrifice from the standpoint of Christian thought and practice. It is certainly right at the heart of the concerns of theologians and ethicists who seek to apply, extend, and criticize René Girard's mimetic theory of the relation of violence and religion in the origins and maintenance of culture.
What should be included in a discussion of the question? Here I shall offer a brief overview of what I see as the basic aspects of the topic and then give a short critical sketch of where the panel stands in relation to these aspects. My purpose is primarily to provide a context for understanding the discussion. The fundamental points to consider, from my standpoint, are (1) a nonsacrificial reading of the Gospels, (2) mimesis, (3) scapegoating and sacrifice, and (4) the problem of a 'postsacrificial' language and practice.