As others on this thread have said, one of the most important things about the spread of Christianity was that it halted the practice of human sacrifice.
I took the "blood" references, as you mentioned above, as meaning, "You no longer have to sacrifice your children or any other humans in an effort to please your god. Christ did that for you, once and for all. It's no longer necessary, so stop doing it."
Christianity would only be a blood cult if its followers continued to use blood rituals that used actual blood. But they don't. Again, Christ put a stop to that.
That's interesting. I don't think most of us have a good appreciation for the ancient role of blood sacrifices. It was probably quite the revelation to be confronted with the "beginning of the end" of the blood sacrifice.
I agree - it sounds like many, many ancient cults were built around human sacrifice. And what's really shocking is that it still goes on today. Most people don't believe that - they think we're too modern and educated for that stuff - but sadly, they're wrong. It's still there and it happens among the highest levels, not the lowest.
As others on this thread have said, one of the most important things about the spread of Christianity was that it halted the practice of human sacrifice.
I took the "blood" references, as you mentioned above, as meaning, "You no longer have to sacrifice your children or any other humans in an effort to please your god. Christ did that for you, once and for all. It's no longer necessary, so stop doing it."
Christianity would only be a blood cult if its followers continued to use blood rituals that used actual blood. But they don't. Again, Christ put a stop to that.
That's interesting. I don't think most of us have a good appreciation for the ancient role of blood sacrifices. It was probably quite the revelation to be confronted with the "beginning of the end" of the blood sacrifice.
I agree - it sounds like many, many ancient cults were built around human sacrifice. And what's really shocking is that it still goes on today. Most people don't believe that - they think we're too modern and educated for that stuff - but sadly, they're wrong. It's still there and it happens among the highest levels, not the lowest.