Kovačević, Matija.
(2013).
Relation Between Sacrifice and Mercy in Forms of Worship and Pacification.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology.
[mentor Vinšćak, Tomo].
Abstract
Sacrifice is one of the most widely spread notions across the world's cultures. It is present
in secular and religious language, in everyday and extraordinary circumstances, in private
and public sphere. In concurrence with it, some form of sacrificial ritual has found its way
into practically every culture and tradition. Though diminished and modified in form, they
have not disappeared from humanity even today, while in past they have constituted an
ordinary part of everyday life. The purposes of sacrificial rituals were various, but one of the
most common motives which permeated them was reconciliation with the deity, together with
avoidance of penalty and ensuring life and security for the individual and/or the world. On
the other hand, the notion of grace and mercy is not so common. Doctrinally, it appears (with
often significant differences in meaning) only in major world religions, such as Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but it is possible also to discern its
occurrence in those sacrificial rituals which by their forms and narratives imply lesser
contribution on the part of man, and greater contribution on the part of deity in the
pacification processes. The goal of this thesis is to study what are the relations between the
notions of sacrifice and mercy in public and private worship; how does a worshipper
understand the meaning and relation between those two notions; and on which one of them
does he or she rely more when approaching the deity and seeking reconciliation to the same.
For this purpose, several examples from various cultures have been compared: Babylonian
penance, sacrificial worship of Heaven in China, Israelite Sanctuary, Roman pax deorum,
Aztec human sacrifice in comparison with Incan conceptions and practices, and the case of
ceremonial massacre of the religious dissenters in 16th century Paris. Using suitable
qualitative methods (Alasuutari), comparative analytical method and textual analysis, along
with applying theories of symbolic and interpretive anthropology (Geertz), hermeneutics
(Ricoeur), reflexive ethnography (Davies) and cognitive anthropology (Strauss & Quinn), the
thesis shows – on the basis of available historical, ethnographic and religious documents –
the relation between those two notions in the religious understandings and acts of man.
Where possible, a concise analysis of the social implications of these beliefs is provided,
answering the question: how does the particular understanding of relation between sacrifice
and mercy motivates social behavior
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