Among people the world over sacrificial offerings are made to the accompaniment of rites and rituals as restitution of thanksgivings for sins, confessed crimes and other offences. We even hear of human sacrifices being made to unseen powers as propitiatory offerings or redemption of vows. These practices date back to pre-historic times. The practice of animal sacrifices which was widely prevalent among primitive tribes was taken over by the earliest monotheists perhaps at the time Abraham left Ur in about 2000 BC. The earliest converts to monotheism were the Israelites, who as we shall see later systematically destroyed idol worship, an example that Prophet Mohammed emulated in the seventh century after Christianity was firmly established in Europe. But the Israelites adopted most or the pagan practices associated with the sacrifice of animals. Animal sacrifice is a manifestation of the human mind at a very primitive level of spiritual development. Sages and Prophets were to repudiate this practice at a later stage. The sages of the Upanishads rejected the portions of the vedas enjoining animal sacrifice. According to the Mundaka Upanishad, "The path of sacrifices and rituals are very frail boats, the fools who rate them high and indulge in them enter the cycle of births and deaths again and again".

 The Buddha preached against sacrifice in all its forms and enjoined upon the followers for all time to abstain from the taking of life in any form under any circumstances. Where Islam is concerned the sacrifice of humans or animals to idols was condemned and prohibited in no uncertain terms. Sacrifice of either description to pagan gods was widely prevalent under Emperor Maximillian. Saint Catherine who protested vehemently against this brutal practice eventually suffered matyrdorm on the wheel.

 The Prophets of the Old Testament were believers in one supreme deity to the exclusion of all others. They waged a relentless battle against idolatry and human sacrifice. It was the example set by the early Prophets like Abraham that inspired Prophet Mohammed to destroy idol worship and animal sacrifice to idols. It would therefore be a rewarding exercise to attempt a study of the evolution of the practice of sacrifice as recorded in the Old and New Testaments from Genesis to St. Paul the Apostle's Epistle to the Hebrews.

 All sacrifices of the Old Testament had two aspects. On God’s part they were:

(a) A means of instruction – the external holiness required by the ceremonial law represented the spiritual holiness required by God in his worshippers.

 (b) Occasion for blessing man they were a thankful acknowledgement of dependence on God and the confession of sin.

In Genesis (4) we are told that of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a tiller of the ground. The first sacrifice was the fruit of the soil brought by Cain. Abel brought the firstlings of the flock and the fat.

God respected Abel and his offering, but treated Cain's offering with disdain. Thus arose the enmity between the brothers and Cain slew his brother Abel Genesis (8) tells how Noah built an altar and made burnt offerings of every clean beast and fowl that sought refuge in the Ark.

In the Bible there is no divine command as such for the institution of sacrifice. It was a thanks offering to God for providing man 'with the good things of life-the fruits of the field and the produce of domesticated animals.

 Prayer and sacrifice are closely connected. When supplication by prayer brought results the sacrifice was a thanksgiving or the redemption of a vow. Later developed the practice of atonement after the Mosaic law brought a fuller knowledge in the Ten Commandments. Under the Mosaic law the offerings must be the offerees' own property religiously acquired. The sacrifice signified a personal surrender to God. It was significant that wild animals are not acceptable as offerings since they are not the products of man's industry.

Apart from being a thanks offering sacrifice is an atonement for sin or some uncleanness akin to sin. Under Mosaic law sins deserving of death did not admit of expiation through sacrifice. Atonement by sacrifice could be made for:

• Unconscious, unintentional sins.
• Non Capital differences like theft after punishment has been endured.
• Crimes voluntarily confessed for which compensation has been paid.

 A sin can be interpreted as a feeling of guilt for the breaking of a covenant, the violation of property rights or personal injury. Compensation was made ethically by the admission of guilt and materially by making restitution.

 We see in the foregoing the origin and evolution.of civil and criminal law associated with personal and property rights and the imposition of sanctions and punishment both by the religious and civil authorities. At the beginning the two were closely linked. But the laws of the king and the covenant of God complemented each other to ensure peace and harmony among the people. This in turn gave rise to peace offerings. Such offerings were indications that the believers were at peace with God and the sacrifices were acknowledgements. of the continued enjoyment of the fruits of peace. Offerings were made with oxen and sheep. Meal offerings were also made with burnt offerings. They comprised corn, wine, flour, oil, unleavened cake and honey. A portion was placed on the altar and the rest shared by the priest and the offerer.

 The original conception of sacrifice as a thanksgiving for the-good things of life gradually broadened to cover the expiation of sins, punishment for crimes and offences committed in contravention of the laws of Moses. It was left to subsequent prophets to interpret the law in the light of changing circumstances. What follows is a study of the manner in which the concept of sacrifice underwent a progressive development until Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to. atone for the sins of mankind but in effect and in reality to put an end once and for all the practice of making sacrifice for the manumission of sins be they against man or God. Christ brought into fruition an entirely new concept of the nature of the Divine as an all loving father of mankind. It is the culmination of a process that can be seen clearly in the pronouncements of prophets and sages from Moses to Saint Paul the Apostle. For the factual information in this article the quoted authority is the James' version of the Holy Bible translated from the original tongues and with former translations diligently compared and revised. The modern edition was printed at the Cambridge University Press. The nature and form of the sacrifices are explained in the Bible dictionary section of this edition.

 The idol worshipping pagans who lived during the times of Abraham made animal and human sacrifices to Baal. They were polytheists. In Kings (1). 18-20 we are told how Elijah in order to prove the superiority of the one God. Jehovah to all pagan gods arranged a sacrificial contest in which offerings were made to Jehovah and Baal. Jehovah prevailed and the pagans were either killed or converted to the new faith. In Kings (2), Jehu that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal, proclaimed a solemn assembly for Baal and after all. the offerings were made the pagans were slain. The house of Baal was pulled down and all the images destroyed.

 The first noticeable change in the concept of sacrifice we see in the Psalm-of David (4). It indicates a clear departure from the ancient practice of making burnt offerings. "Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord This is an offering free sacrifice from the heart for an abundance of corn and wine.

 In psalm 40 David is more specific, "Sacrifice and offerings thou didst not desire, min6 ears thou hast opened, burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast not desired".

The superiority of prayer of the upright over the sacrifice of the wicked in Proverbs (1 5-8) is another indication of the new trend. 'The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight".

 Isaiah (1 -8) is- the clearest indication that to the mind of the good men at this point of time, sacrifice is abhorrent to God". To what purpose is the multitude of sacrifice to me? I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or the lambs or the goats".

Amos (5-21) is yet another pointer to the rejection of the traditional concept and practice of sacrifice, 'I hate, I despise your feast days; I will not smell in your solemn assembly'. And in Amos (5-22): "Though you offer me your burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts".

This biblical phenomenon, namely the gradual abandonment of the traditional sacrificial offerings is indicative of the emergence of a new image of Jehovah as the loving father of mankind thus paving the way-for the arrival of Jesus Christ, who by making the supreme sacrifice himself, demonstrated the futility of purely external avowal of faith by the offering of sacrifice in any form. In this context, we see a parallel between the Hinduism of the Vedas and the Hinduism of the Upanishads. The Vedas enjoined sacrifice in the same way as the early prophets of the Old Testament. The sages of the Upanishads of condemned the practice as futile.

 In the New Testament we see a total rejection of animal sacrifice as a barbaric survival. It was taken over from the pagans by the early prophets and used to establish belief in one God. The story of creation as told in Genesis was the reaction of Israelites during their captivity in Babylon, to counter the barbaric practices of the time and as an impassioned plea for national liberation from Babylonian and Pharoahnic tyranny. The following reference from the New Testament bring out in broad relief the final break with pagan survival. Its survival even in modem times is symptomatic of the primitive urges that continue to determine and shape our conduct in inter personal relations.

 Jesus Christ incurred the wrath of the Jewish clergy when he campaigned vigorously against pagan and pre-Christian survivals relating to sacrifice. It is against this background that he," went to the Temple of God and cast-out all of them that sold and brought in the Temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and such of them as sold doves and said unto them it is written that my House shall be called the House of Prayer; but ye have made it the den of thieves" (Mathew 21-12, 13). Jesus by this action destroyed a practice that had endured for more than two thousand years. It has served its purpose and had to make way for a nobler conception of the Divine.

 The Acts contain more evidence of Jesus' campaign against animal sacrifice. Acts (14-13, 14, 15) reveal the reactions of Apostle Barnabas and Paul when the p6ests brought oxen and garlands to the gate and would have, done sacrifice among the people. They rent, their clothes and ran out – among them exhorting them to turn from their vanities and unto the; living Gods".

In the Epistles of Paul to the, Hebrews (1 0 4) he says categorically 'For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins". In the first Epistle General of Saint -'Peter the message of Jesus is expressed without ambiguity (P-2-5). "You also, as living stones, we built up as a spiritual House, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ".

 In the foregoing I have followed up the origins and development of the concept and practice of sacrifice as a part of the Judaic tradition commencing from Genesis. It was a slow and imperceptible process. All the great religions O' the world, Buddhism, Hinduism of the Upanishads and Islam have condemned that practice. Mankind has progressed under these great religions during a brief span four thousand years - an all too short a time span to help change human nature up to the stage, when sacrifice to unseen powers and above all to the on-going sacrifices to the god of war is) totally eliminated from human life.

 This article has been written in the cause of promoting interfaith harmony through mutual under-standing and through tire exploration of common ground and points of contact between the religions of the world. An interfaith dialogue will go a long way to dispel distrust and animosities arising from confrontational and polemical encounters among people of different faiths.