“What,” I asked myself, “would a thoughtful person who was totally ignorant of the Christian religion make of the language and imagery of ritual blood sacrifice that pervades Christian theology and worship?”
Our contemporary critic might (with understandable indignation) ask, “What is all this talk of blood sacrifice? You speak of ‘being washed in the blood of the lamb’, sing songs about ‘fountains filled with blood’ and Catholics talk about ‘this victim, this spotless victim, the precious blood and the sacred heart’.”
