Sacrifice in the New Testament -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 11:46:40 02/02/08 Sat
Author: Erin Risch
Subject: Sacrifice in the New Testament

In Violence and the Sacred, Girard recounts a myth about Ajax in which he slaughters a herd of sheep upon mistaking them for his enemies (9). This reminded me of a different--but also sacrificial--story, that of Jesus casting the demons into the herd of pigs. Matthew 8:30-32 says:

"Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.

The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."

He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. "

The pigs are killed to spare the suffering of the two demon-possessed men. I suppose one might argue that we have no idea whether or not the two men were guilty of any particular crimes, of whether or not the demons were a punishment or consequence or anything of that sort, and therefore one couldn't say for certain that the pigs are subjected to the men's punishment. But the New Testament usually minimizes specific crimes in the light of the natural sinfulness of all mankind. In the case of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, the specific sins of men make no difference; the important thing is that man has sinned.

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