Sacrifice Unveiled: The True Meaning of Christian Sacrifice

Most ideas of sacrifice, even specifically Christian ideas, as we saw in the Reformation controversies, have something to do with deprivation or destruction. But this is not authentic Christian sacrifice. Authentic Christian sacrifice, and ultimately all true sacrifice (whether one is conscious of it or not) begins with the self-offering of the Father in the gift-sending of the Son, continues with the loving "response" of the Son, in his humanity, and in the Spirit, to the Father and for us, and finally, begins to become real in our world when human beings, in the power of the same Spirit that was in Jesus, respond to love with love, and thus begin to enter into that perfectly loving, totally self-giving relationship that is the life of the triune God. The origins of this are in the Hebrew Bible, its revelatory high-points in Jesus and Paul, and its working out in the life of the Church, especially its Eucharistic Prayers. Special attention will be paid to the atonement, not just because atonement and sacrifice are often synonymous, but also because traditional atonement theology is the source of distortions that continue to plague Christian thinking about sacrifice. After exploring the possibility of finding a phenomenology of sacrificial atonement in Girardian mimetic theory, the book will end with some suggestions on how to communicate its findings to people likely to be put off from the outset by the negative connotations associated with "sacrifice."

Table of Contents:
FOREWORD: The Problem of Christian Sacrifice A brief description of how this book came about. PART ONE: Unveiling Sacrifice 1. The Many Meanings of Sacrifice 2. A Trinitarian View of Sacrifice 3. The Sacrifice of the Mass Conclusion BRIDGE 1.A: Sacrifice in the Ancient World and in the Hebrew Scriptures 1. Sacrifice in the Ancient World 2. General Theory of Sacrifice 3. Sacrifice in the Hebrew Scriptures 4. From the Old Testament to the New BRIDGE 1.B: Sacrifice in the New Testament 1. The Synoptic Gospels 2. The Acts of the Apostles 3. The Pauline Theology of Sacrifice 4. The Temple as Community in Qumran and the New Testament 5. The Epistle to the Hebrews 6. The Gospel and First Letter of John 7. The History-of-Religions Context of "Worship in Spirit and in Truth" 8. The Book of Revelation 9. Summary of New Testament Teaching on Christian Sacrifice Excursus: Spiritualization and Institutionalization BRIDGE 1.C: Sacrifice in the Fathers of the Church 1. The Early Writings 2. The Apologists: Justin and Athenagoras 3. Irenaeus of Lyons 4. Hippolytus of Rome 5. The Early Treatises on the Passover 6. The Second-Century Acts of the Martyrs 7. The Alexandrian Tradition I: The Antecedents: Philo and Barnabas 8. The Alexandrian Tradition II: Christianity Coming of Age: Clement and Origen 9. Augustine of Hippo Conclusion PART TWO: Atonement and Sacrifice: The Distorting Veils - 99 1. Paul and Problems with Sacrificial Atonement 2. Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, and Juliana of Norwich 3. The Sacrifice of the Mass 4. Sacrifice and the Reformation BRIDGE 2.A: Post-Reformation and Modernity: Two Contrasting Poles 1. Sacrifice among the Writers of Late (Post-Enlightenment) Modernity 2. Moment-of-Consecration Theology 3. Mass-Stipend Theology: Theology in Transition BRIDGE 2.B: Liturgical Renewal and Ecumenism 1. The Monasteries 2. Mystery Theology 3. Liturgical Conferences, Institutes, Academies and Societies 4. A High Point of Restorationism: The New Worship Books 5. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy BRIDGE 2.C: Sacrifice and Girardian Mimetic Theory: The End of Sacrifice? 1. General Introduction to Girardian Mimetic Theory 2. Grand Narratives in a Postmodern Age 3. Desire 4. Original Sin as Disordered Desire 5. Original Sin: A Scientific View 6. René Girard as Christian Theorist 7. A Phenomenology of Redemption: Imitate the Desire of Jesus 8. A Post-Scientific Epilogue PART THREE: Unveiling Sacrifice:

About the Author :
Robert J. Daly, S.J., Emeritus Professor of Theology at Boston College, is the author of Christian Sacrificeand The Origins of the Christian Doctrine of Sacrifice. His recent articles, mostly in Theological Studies, have focused on Eucharist, sacrifice, and atonement.

Review :
A substantial critical study of the Christian concept of sacrifice has been sorely lacking for many years. Bob Daly has now more than adequately filled that gap and in a most readable volume successfully achieved his aim of exposing mistaken ideas on the subject by unveiling what that sacrifice it really is - nothing less than the divine love that lies at the heart of all truly human life. 'Culling from his previously published books and numerous articles on sacrifice, Daly lays out once again the historical and scriptural groundwork for a comprehensive understanding of sacrifice.  But this book is no mere updating of his earlier work.  It demonstrates fresh insight and impeccable systematic scholarship as he reverses his starting point and interprets anew. Daly begins by disclosing clearly and succinctly in the opening pages of Sacrifice Unveiled what has now come to be his central point: Christian sacrifice is best understood as a Trinitarian, inter-personal gift-exchange. It is a mutually self-giving event taking place between persons. Christian sacrifice does not begin with us and what we do for God, but begins with God and unfolds in a trinity of "moments." Daly's methodology also marks a reversal, just as his central point turned upside down his approach to sacrifice.  Rather than presenting an historical/theological argument from the beginning and concluding by fleshing out his new insight, he reinterprets the data from the purview of his new central point. This book is not just written for theologians; Daly intends it to be for a much wider audience. Composed in an accessible and engaging style, he weaves personal experiences, stories, homiletic challenge, and solid theology together in such a way to be appealing to a broad range of readers. While unabashedly Roman Catholic, this book is sensitive to ecumenical issues and could be an ecumenical dialogue partner in itself. What a gift Robert J. Daly has given to both the Church and the academic community in Sacrifice Unveiled: The True Meaning of Christian Sacrifice with his reinterpretation of Christian sacrifice as Trinitarian gift-exchange!   Daly began sharing his new thinking with me several years ago.  It is with delight that I read his finished magnum opus.  It has already challenged my own teaching (especially for paschal mystery) and reshaped my thinking and way of living.  I can only hope it does so for other readers. We owe Bob Daly a great debt of gratitude.' - Joyce Ann Zimmerman, Institute for Liturgical Ministry, Dayton, Ohio, USA   "...deserves careful attention, not only from scholars, but from students, and those concerned about how old ideas that have been part of the Christian vocabulary need to be looked at critically." Church Times, September 2009 "A substantial and valuable study that puts the divine love right at the heart of what sacrifice means." Gerald O'Collins SJ, The Pastoral Review, January/February 2010  Reviewed in Franciscan, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 2010 (UK) 'A gift to anyone with an appetite for reasonable study' 'For this reviewer the opening 25 pages offered a bracing and thought-provoking thesis...I find what he [Daly] affirms a very helpful contribution, and I have already discovered that it preaches well in the midst of congregations who do indeed think of sacrifice as fundamentally a 'giving up'. 'I consider this book to be one of the five most significant books dealing with liturgy in our baptismal life, mission and witness published in the last ten years. It is a magisterial treatment of a central insight in that, as Bob Daly never tires of saying, is essential to our everyday Christian living.' This work is astounding in its breadth... remarkably accessible, and will serve specialists and non-specialists alike. I highly recommend this new work and imagine that it will be an important work for a long time to come.