Source: “SACRIFICE AND ATONEMENT: Psychological Motives and Biblical Patterns”, By Stephen Finlan, Fortress Press, 2016.
Thispodcast explores the concept of atonement as purification, tracing its origins from ancient sacrificial practices, particularly within Jewish tradition, to its reinterpretation in early Christianity. The author emphasizes how ritual functions to restore order, solidify group values, and alleviate societal anxieties surrounding disorder and supernatural threats, as seen in both Israelite and Greek cultures. A significant portion of the discussion centers on two primary categories of impurity in ancient Israel—ritual and moral—and how sacrificial rites, especially on Yom Kippur, aimed to cleanse the tabernacle/temple from these contaminations, thereby ensuring God's continued presence. The text also delves into the psychological underpinnings of purity systems, linking them to universal human emotions like disgust and fear, and how these systems foster social stratification and exclusion. Finally, the author contrasts Jesus's radical approach to purity, emphasizing inclusion and mercy over rigid boundaries and exclusionary practices, with later Christian theological developments, particularly Paul's and Hebrews' metaphorical applications of Christ's sacrifice as a final, saving act of purification.
Topic 1: Atonement as Purification and its Sacrificial Origins Atonement, particularly in a Christian context, is deeply rooted in the concept of sacrifice, drawing insights from both Jewish and gentile traditions that early Christians would have been familiar with. The fundamental ideas of sacrificial atonement in the Bible primarily revolve around two purposes: purification and compensation. This means that atonement functions to cleanse impurities, which in turn facilitates the restoration or "forgiveness" of individuals within society. The process of atonement through sacrifice is not merely about the death of an animal, but specifically involves the application of its blood and the burning of its fat. In priestly thought, God's presence in the tabernacle requires regular ritual cleansing to ensure divine continuation, highlighting the central role of purification in maintaining the sacred space and, by extension, the community's relationship with the divine.
Topic 2: The Societal Functions and Psychological Impact of Rituals Rituals play a crucial role in society by restoring order, recognizing and controlling danger, and expiating (cleansing) impurity. Beyond purification, rituals serve to solidify group identity and values, acting as a "restricted code" that enables the enforcement of shared patterns of values and helps members internalize the group's structure and norms. They foster group formation, create solidarity, and facilitate understanding among participants, effectively functioning as a form of rhetoric that persuades individuals to align with a particular social group's worldview and moral system. Furthermore, religious ritual is seen as a response to deep human anxieties about order, both in the face of physical dangers and the perceived threat from hostile supernatural entities. The detailed routines of ritual also serve to reduce anxiety, offering a sense of consistency and even a kind of assurance against divine rejection, as exemplified by the story of Cain's rejected sacrifice.
Topic 3: Purity Systems, Social Stratification, and Boundaries Doctrines of atonement are most prominent in "high group, high grid" societies, characterized by rigid structure and control. In such societies, like postexilic Judah where priests became the ruling class in charge of sacrifices, or classical Greece where social status determined participation in rituals, sacrificial practices reinforce and inscribe lines of power. Purity systems fundamentally help the human mind create distinctions, with "holy" inherently meaning "separate." These systems enforce boundaries, rules, and strictures, distinguishing between what is common and what is holy, clean from unclean. This separation extends to holy places (sanctuaries), holy times (sabbath, rites of passage), and holy persons (priests, Levites). Socially, purification reinforces stratification: high priests are holier than ordinary priests, ordinary priests holier than laypeople, men higher status than women, and Israelites holier than foreigners. Such systems reflect, inscribe, and defend existing social hierarchies, even creating an imagined male lineage through participation in blood sacrifice.
Topic 4: Distinction Between Ritual and Moral Impurity Scholars differentiate between two types of impurity in Israel: ritual impurity and moral impurity, although the Bible itself does not use these exact terms. Ritual impurity is considered natural and not sinful; it arises from common occurrences like proximity to a corpse, menstruation, or skin disease. It is physically contagious and requires purification rites or sacrifices, with no blame attached. Moral impurity, conversely, is blameworthy and not contracted by physical touch. It carries severe consequences, polluting the temple and the entire land, and can lead to banishment or exile. The primary causes of moral impurity include idolatry, homicide, sexual sins, and certain cultic violations. While all impurity poses dangers, particularly if brought into contact with holiness (risking divine death), moral impurity, often termed an "abomination," uniquely threatens the land with defilement, potentially causing Israel to be driven out, just as previous inhabitants were.
Topic 5: Temple Purification and the Central Role of Blood in Atonement The Jerusalem temple was the focal point of Judah's ritual system. In priestly theology, any sin committed in Israel generates a "miasma" of impurity that adheres to and accumulates on the temple furnishings, threatening God's continued presence. This necessitates ritual purification. The main verb for sacrificial purification is kipper, and the primary purifying sacrifice is the hatta't (sin sacrifice or purification offering). The most egregious sins, termed "presumptuous sins," cause impurity to lodge on the kappōrēt (mercy seat), the lid of the ark of the covenant, where God's presence was believed to dwell. On Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the high priest enters the Most Holy Place, sprinkling the hatta't blood on the mercy seat and other sacred objects. This act is crucial for expiating (cleansing) the temple furnishings, symbolically "decharging" the sanctuary of impurity and ensuring God's residence. The sacrificial blood is metaphorically described as a "ritual detergent" or having "magical power" that cleanses the temple, with the understanding that changes in the temple's purity reflect changes in the community's purity.
Topic 6: Scholarly Debates Regarding the Scope of Atonement There is a significant scholarly debate concerning whether the hatta't sacrifice primarily cleanses the sanctuary or achieves forgiveness for individuals. One perspective, championed by Jacob Milgrom, asserts that in the context of the hatta't, kipper strictly means "purge," focusing solely on the purification of the sanctuary. However, other scholars, such as Roy Gane, vehemently argue that while the hatta't does purge the sanctuary on Yom Kippur, its function throughout the year is to cleanse persons. A more nuanced view suggests that both the temple and individuals are in view when it comes to atonement, both on Yom Kippur and throughout the year. This perspective notes that atonement is accomplished through combined blood rites (which purge the sanctuary) and burning rites (which accomplish forgiveness for the offerer's sins). Ultimately, most scholars affirm that temple rituals serve simultaneously to atone for the people and to purify the temple, rejecting the idea that forgiveness of personal sin is absent from these acts. The equivalence of "atone" and "forgive" in rabbinic texts further highlights this connection, even if these views are post-biblical.
Topic 7: Jesus' Revolutionary Stance on Purity Boundaries and Inclusivity Jesus consistently challenged and disrupted the established purity system of his time. He was depicted as profoundly uncomfortable with strict purity boundaries, evidenced by his arguments with purity rules and his direct disruption of sacrificial trade at the temple. Rather than being contaminated by "unclean" people, as the purity system would predict, Jesus transmitted his life and health to them through touch and healing. He rejected religious snobbery by associating freely with gentiles, Samaritans (including women), and marginalized groups like "tax collectors and sinners." Jesus' independent prophetic stance was a direct threat to the priestly monopoly. His approach was about "purity via inclusion," fundamentally undermining the exclusiveness demanded by the purity system. When challenged for associating with sinners, he emphasized that he came to call the sick and desired "mercy, not sacrifice," implying that mercy and the sacrificial system were inherently incompatible due to psychological factors.
Topic 8: The Psychological Roots of Purity Systems: Disgust and Fear The underlying psychology of purity systems is strongly linked to the emotions of disgust and fear. "Core disgust" is defined as a revulsion at the prospect of orally incorporating an offensive object. This manifests in the "law of contagion"—"once in contact, always in contact"—where an object is perceived as permanently contaminated even if the disgusting agent is sterilized. This "magical thinking" makes "causal judgments that defy the laws of physics," extending beyond physical contamination to moral evil, which is perceived as "sticky and contagious." Disgust also functions as a reaction against decay, disorder, and death. Fear, particularly of death, threatening stimuli, and even demons, is another fundamental emotion contributing to purity systems. These emotional responses contribute to a "socio-moral disgust" towards individuals perceived as unclean, such as lepers or menstruating women, and contribute to the development of social boundaries to isolate impurity, such as those drawn against gentiles.
Topic 9: Jesus' Response: Love, Inclusion, and the Eucharist Jesus' approach to impurity and social divisions was one of radical love and inclusion. He actively dismantled boundaries and suspended disgust, inviting "unclean" and marginalized individuals to join the "kingdom" family, a profoundly radical act in his society. His message was that the invitation into God's family is open to everyone, emphasizing welcome and acceptance rather than fear and exclusion. This inclusive attitude is seen as fundamentally spiritual. The Eucharist is presented as a "psychological intervention" designed by Jesus to confront and overcome feelings of social disgust. By universalizing kinship language, the Lord's Supper actively pushes against social fissures and contempt, challenging participants to include more people—even those they might traditionally consider "disgusting"—into their sense of "us." This perspective suggests that the Eucharist might intentionally evoke a disgust reaction that participants are then meant to consciously suspend, leading to a transcendence of social barriers. Jesus' ministry consistently provided not only physical healing but also social acceptance, taking away shame and affirming people's ability to do God's will through trust, without requiring a transaction or substitutionary death.
Topic 10: The Appeal of Sacrificial Cleansing and the Nature of Salvation The enduring appeal of concepts like a transaction with God or sacrificial cleansing is tied to unconscious "magical thinking." This thinking links moral failings to a need for physical cleansing, mirroring behaviors like Lady Macbeth's attempts to wash away guilt. The popularity of "penal substitutionary atonement" is suggested to be psychologically "sticky" due to its connection with the idea of being washed and its appeal to this magical thinking. Furthermore, while Jesus and Paul aimed to deconstruct old social barriers, the adoption of concepts like penal substitution can inadvertently erect new ones, leading to social categorization of people as "Justified versus Condemned and Pure versus Impure." This raises a fundamental question: Is salvation a spiritual reality, based on trust and acceptance, or a magical reality, reliant on ritualistic or physical cleansing? Jesus' emphasis on faith and trust as the path to wholeness and salvation, without explicit reference to atonement or a substitutionary death, leans towards the spiritual reality of salvation.