Paper 89 Overview: Sin, Sacrifice, and Atonement

This paper explores the evolutionary development of religious concepts related to sin, sacrifice, and atonement across human history. Beginning with primitive notions that humans were indebted to spirits and needed redemption, it traces how these ideas evolved from crude practices involving human suffering and sacrifice into more symbolic and spiritualized concepts. The development progressed through stages of taboos, ritualistic observances, self-denial, various forms of sacrifice, and finally to more advanced understandings of forgiveness and spiritual relationships with deity.

The paper examines how fear-based religious practices gradually transformed as human civilization advanced. It details how primitive sacrificial systems, including extreme practices like cannibalism and human sacrifice, slowly gave way to symbolic substitutions and eventually to sacramental rituals still found in modern religions. Throughout this evolution, concepts of sin shifted from mere ritual violations to deeper understandings of moral responsibility and conscious relationship with deity, culminating in a redefinition of sin as deliberate disloyalty to God rather than breaking ceremonial rules.

Primitive humans considered themselves to be in debt to the spirits and in need of redemption from potential misfortune. They believed that spirits derived supreme satisfaction from witnessing human suffering and humiliation, which led to the development of sacrificial systems designed to win favor from these supernatural powers. As time passed, these practices evolved from concerns about committed wrongs to anxiety about duties left undone.

The resulting rituals centered around propitiation ceremonies meant to secure favor from the spirits. Primitive humans believed that special actions were necessary to win divine approval, contrasting with more advanced civilizations that recognized a consistently benevolent deity. These early practices were primarily focused on avoiding immediate misfortune rather than securing future happiness, and the rituals of avoidance, exorcism, coercion, and propitiation gradually merged into comprehensive religious systems.

Taboos represented early human attempts to avoid misfortune by preventing offense to spirit beings through the avoidance of certain objects or actions. Initially non-religious, these prohibitions gained spiritual sanction over time and became fundamental building blocks of social regulation and institutional development. The respect commanded by these prohibitions directly corresponded to the level of fear associated with the powers believed to enforce them, and dramatic incidents often strengthened taboo observance among surviving community members.

Early prohibitions included restrictions on women and property, and as religion played a larger role in taboo development, prohibited items came to be regarded as unclean or unholy. The commandments of Dalamatia, Eden, and the Hebrews represented more advanced taboo systems that replaced countless earlier prohibitions while promising benefits for obedience. Food taboos arose from fetishism and totemism, and eating methods became regulated, eventually evolving into table etiquette and social caste systems that efficiently organized society despite their burdensome nature.

The fear of chance and dread of misfortune drove humans to develop primitive religion as a form of insurance against calamity. Every primitive tribe maintained its own "tree of forbidden fruit," consisting of numerous taboos saying "thou shalt not." As the primitive mind evolved to recognize both good and bad spirits, and taboos received religious sanction, the concept of sin emerged as the transgression of taboo, with death viewed as the punishment for sin.

Sin was initially understood as ritual violation rather than immoral thought, a concept reinforced by lingering traditions of Dilmun and Eden that suggested humans originated in perfection. The habitual violation of taboos became classified first as vice, then as crime under primitive law, and finally as sin within religious systems. The idea of confession and forgiveness appeared early in religious development, with confession functioning primarily as a public acknowledgment of defilement rather than a means of obtaining divine pardon.

Renunciation emerged as a significant step in religious evolution, with fasting becoming a common practice and the forgoing of physical pleasures, especially sexual ones, developing into religious customs. This movement coincided with historical developments when humanity was moving away from wasteful burial practices and establishing more stable economic structures. The concept that material possessions created spiritual hazards gained widespread acceptance, influencing philosophical thought from the times of Philo and Paul through European intellectual history.

The practice of self-denial taught valuable self-control to early humans, representing a significant advancement in social evolution. Physical mortification, including flogging and various forms of torture, became common expressions of religious devotion, with priests of the mother cult even submitting to castration. Sexual continence emerged as a particularly influential aspect of this renunciation cult, significantly impacting many world religions, including Christianity through Paul's teachings, which emphasized celibacy despite his acknowledgment that such views were not part of Jesus' original gospel.

Sacrifice as a religious practice developed from multiple origins rather than a single source, including the natural tendency to bow down before power and to show adoration in the presence of mystery. Early humans measured a sacrifice's value by the pain it produced, beginning with practices like hair plucking and flesh cutting before evolving toward more symbolic forms of self-denial and asceticism. As religious concepts advanced, two primary types of sacrifice emerged: gift sacrifices expressing gratitude and debt sacrifices seeking redemption.

As religious thinking evolved, humans began to view sacrifice as a means of sending messages to deities, introducing aesthetic elements like incense that developed into increasingly elaborate sacrificial feasts. The concept of atonement for original sin emerged as humans lost connection with their evolutionary origins, with sacrifice functioning as a form of insurance against divine displeasure. The practice of sacrificing animals gained prominence as humans developed closer relationships with domesticated creatures, though they initially sacrificed their best possessions, including valuable work animals.

Modern misconceptions about early cannibalism fail to recognize that it constituted an integral part of primitive society's social structure. Cannibalistic practices developed through necessity and persisted due to the influence of superstition and ignorance, functioning as social, economic, religious, and military customs within early communities. Early humans viewed human flesh as an appropriate food offering for spirits, believing that since food was mankind's greatest need, it must likewise satisfy the needs of spirits.

Cannibalism was once nearly universal among evolving races, with all Sangik races practicing it, though Andonites, Nodites, and Adamites originally did not. The practice often began through hunger, friendship, revenge, or religious ritual before becoming habitual, with some tribes consuming only members of their own group to strengthen tribal solidarity. Cannibalism gradually disappeared through various influences, including its evolution into community ceremonies, religious rituals, and ultimately its replacement by human sacrifice to superior spirits.

Human sacrifice developed as both a consequence of cannibalism and a contributing factor to its decline by providing spirit escorts to the afterlife and reducing the consumption of human flesh. All races practiced some form of human sacrifice at certain points in their development, persisting in religious customs of many ancient civilizations and continuing until recent times among certain African and Australian tribes. The Chaldeans were among the first to substitute animal sacrifices for human ones, with Japanese emperors introducing clay images as replacements around two thousand years ago.

The biblical narrative of Jephthah sacrificing his daughter illustrates the tragic conflict between ancient religious customs and advancing civilization. Despite Moses' strict prohibitions against human sacrifice, Jephthah's community approved the fulfillment of his thoughtless vow to sacrifice whatever first greeted him upon returning victorious from battle. Foundation sacrifices, where humans were killed during the construction of important buildings, were once widespread, with remnants of this practice surviving in modern cornerstone ceremonies where trinkets and mementos are sealed into new structures.

Moses attempted to end human sacrifice by establishing a system of ransom payments, creating a schedule of fees that allowed people to redeem lands, properties, and children by making payments to the priests. Groups that abandoned the practice of firstborn sacrifice quickly gained advantages over neighbors who continued these practices, as they avoided the weakening effect of losing sons and disrupting leadership succession. The practice of smearing blood on doorposts to protect firstborn children emerged as a modification of child sacrifice and spread widely throughout the ancient world.

The sex practices associated with primitive worship often originated as alternatives to human sacrifice, with women able to redeem their lives through temple prostitution. This system provided both a means of earning redemption money and a religiously sanctioned outlet for sexual activity. Temple harlotry eventually spread throughout southern Europe and Asia, with the earnings considered sacred gifts to the gods. Over time, further modifications appeared, including mock sacrifices, physical mutilations, circumcision, hair cutting, and finger binding, all serving as symbolic substitutes for complete human sacrifice.

The concept of sacrifice eventually became associated with covenants, representing a significant advancement in religious stabilization as humans began to conceive of deities as beings with whom agreements could be established. This development required significant evolution in the human concept of God, moving toward an understanding of universe controllers as dependable beings with whom partnerships could be formed. The advancement of this idea depended on humans themselves becoming more reliable, moral, and ethical in their own behavior.

Early prayer forms functioned primarily as bargaining sessions with spirits rather than worship, replacing tangible offerings with pleading and persuasion. This approach reflected the developing commercial mindset of evolving races, applying trading skills to relationships with deities. Just as some individuals excelled in trade negotiations, certain people gained reputations as superior prayer practitioners, with prayers of the righteous (those who had satisfied all ritual obligations) considered particularly effective. Many modern prayer practices remain essentially unchanged from these ancient patterns of formalized petition.

The practice of human sacrifice evolved throughout history from literal cannibalism to increasingly symbolic levels of ritual. Early ceremonies of ransom, redemption, and covenant gradually transformed into the sacramental services found in later religious traditions. In more recent periods, priests alone would consume small portions of what was originally a cannibalistic sacrifice while the congregation partook of an animal substitute, representing a significant step toward symbolic religious practice.

The ritual consumption of cakes and wine practiced in connection with the Mother of God cult in Mexico and elsewhere eventually replaced earlier human sacrifices involving flesh and blood. This practice influenced Hebrew Passover ceremonies and later inspired Christian sacramental traditions. Paul, while encumbering Christianity with teachings about blood and sacrifice, effectively ended doctrines of redemption through human or animal offerings by declaring Christ the final and sufficient sacrifice, transforming ancient sacrificial practices into the symbolic sacraments found in modern religions.

Modern humans must develop new approaches to spiritual assurance as ancient sacrificial methods have become obsolete. While the consciousness of sin persists in the mortal mind, traditional thought patterns regarding salvation have become outdated, creating a gap between ongoing spiritual needs and appropriate means for addressing them. This situation requires a redefinition of sin as deliberate disloyalty to deity rather than mere ritual violation.

The capacity to recognize guilt represents a distinctive human trait indicating potential for greatness rather than inherent unworthiness. It provides an initial stimulus toward moral advancement, cosmic insight, and spiritual living that transforms temporal meanings into eternal values. True confession of sin involves the repudiation of disloyalty, though it cannot erase the temporal consequences of such actions. Divine forgiveness represents the renewal of relationship with the Creator following periods of conscious rebellion, requiring not petition but simply the acceptance of restored loyalty bonds.