Editing Human sacrifice (section)

====Christianity====
Christianity developed the belief that the story of [[binding of Isaac|Isaac's binding]] was a [[foreshadowing]] of the sacrifice of [[Christ]], whose death and resurrection are believed to have enabled the salvation and atonement for man from its sins, including [[original sin]]. There is a tradition that the site of Isaac's binding, [[Moriah]], later became [[Jerusalem]], the city of Jesus's future crucifixion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Voices from the children of Abraham |website=Newman Toronto |url=http://www.newmantoronto.com/040311childrenofabraham2.htm |access-date=17 September 2021 |archive-date=24 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724201446/http://www.newmantoronto.com/040311childrenofabraham2.htm }}</ref> The beliefs of many Christian denominations hinge upon the [[substitutionary atonement]] of the sacrifice of [[God the Son]], which was necessary for salvation in the afterlife. According to Christian teaching, each individual person on earth must participate in, and / or receive the benefits of, this divine human sacrifice for the atonement of their [[Christian views on sin|sins]]. Early Christian sources explicitly described this event as a sacrificial offering, with Christ in the role of both [[priest]] and human sacrifice, although starting with the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], some writers, such as [[John Locke]], have disputed the model of Jesus' death as a propitiatory sacrifice.<ref>{{cite book |title= Christian Theology: An Introduction |last=McGrath |first=Alister E. |pages=390–395 |edition= 2nd |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing|Wiley-Blackwell]] |year= 1997 |isbn=0-631-19849-0}} According to [[Alister McGrath]], early sources describing a human sacrifice include the [[New Testament]]'s [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] and writings by [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Athanasius of Alexandria]]. Later sources, besides Locke, include [[Thomas Chubb]] and [[Horace Bushnell]].</ref>

Although early Christians in the Roman Empire were accused of being cannibals, ''theophages'' (Greek for "god eaters")<ref>{{cite book |last=Benko |first=Stephen |title=Pagan Rome and the Early Christians |page=70 |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-253-20385-6}}</ref> practices such as human sacrifice were abhorrent to them.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Britons |first=Christopher Allen |last=Snyder |page=52 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=0-631-22260-X}}</ref> [[Eastern Orthodox Christian|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Roman Catholic]] Christians believe that this "pure sacrifice" as Christ's self-giving in love is made present in the [[sacrament]] of the [[Eucharist]]. In this tradition, bread and wine becomes the "[[Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist|real presence]]" (the literal [[Logos-Sarx-Christology|carnal Body]] and Blood of the Risen Christ). Receiving the Eucharist is a central part of the religious life of Catholic and Orthodox Christians.<ref>{{cathEncy |wstitle=Sacrifice of the Mass}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=202&SID=3 |title=Sacrifice of the Mass |publisher=Orthodox Church of America |website=Oca.org |access-date=25 May 2010}}</ref> Most [[Protestant]] traditions do not share the belief in the real presence but otherwise are varied, for example, they may believe that in the bread and wine, Christ is present only spiritually, not in the sense of a change in substance ([[Methodism]])<ref name="wesley">{{cite wikisource |title=Articles of Religion |wslink=Articles of Religion (Methodist) |at=Article&nbsp;XVIII – Of the Lord's Supper |first=John |last=Wesley |author-link=John Wesley}}</ref> or that the bread and wine of communion are a merely symbolic reminder ([[Baptist]]).<ref name="baptist supper">{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Russell D. |chapter=Baptist view: Christ's presence as memorial |editor1-first=Paul E. (series ed.) |editor1-last=Engle |editor2-first=John H. (gen. ed.) |editor2-last=Armstrong |year=2009 |title=Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper |series=Counterpoints: Church Life |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |isbn=978-0-310-54275-9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R6LkmS_ntYwC&q=Understanding+Four+Views+on+the+Lord%27s+Supper+%28Counterpoints%3A+Church+Life%29&pg=PT27}}</ref>

In medieval Irish Catholic texts, there is mention of the early church in Ireland supposedly containing the practice of burying sacrificial victims underneath churches in order to consecrate them. This may have a relation to pagan Celtic practices of foundation sacrifice. The most notable example of this is the case of [[Odran of Iona]] a companion of [[St Columba]] who (according to legend) volunteered to die and be buried under the church of the monastery of Iona. However, there is no evidence that such things ever happened in reality and contemporary records closer to the time period have no mention of a practice like this.<ref>{{cite book |author=Adomnan of Iona. |title=Life of St Columba |editor-first=Richard |editor-last=Sharpe |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1995}}</ref>