They resumed about 500 years later, but for only about 200 years. The archeologists that worked at the site where the temple was were blown away by the sheer number of bones, skulls and other evidence of animal slaughter, some 2,000 years later.īut about 70 years after the death of Jesus, the temple was destroyed and the sacrifices stopped suddenly. Not only did the blood sacrifice atone for sins, but the sale of these animals to the masses and the money given to the rabbis to do the grisly murders was an enormous part of the economy of the day. Recent archeological findings suggest that these animals were mostly juveniles raised solely for slaughter. That’s where the tradition of burning incense in the church came from. The stench of death and blood was so overpowering, incense had to be burned around the clock to mask the smell. This must have been a very difficult time to be a lamb, ram, goat, bull, bullock, dove or just about any other species of non-human. At least six animals were killed every day and on special holidays the temple would be packed with people purchasing animals for slaughter. The temple in Jerusalem was the site of unimaginable carnage and rivers from the altar ran red with blood.

So why does this belong in an animal rights blogging community? Well, there is a lot of talk in this book about animal sacrifice.

In fact, he has a lot to say about how the Bible has more than a few things wrong, but that’s for another blog too. It’s based on historical facts, and he didn’t do his research in the Bible. In other words, Aslan writes about how an average person such as Jesus would have lived and socialized in that time period. “Zealot” strips away all the religion from the life and times of Jesus Christ and discusses only what is known about the history of the time. I read the book Zealot, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan and it made me aware that although Christianity does not address animal rights head on, there may be something, anything, that may inspire me to take a second look into Christianity. I’m also a muscle car fanatic, but that’s for another blog. I am an avid reader and devour just about any book that’s non-fiction, political, biographical, true crime, legal thriller or part of the Skinny Bitch series. This journey has taken me to some weird and wonderful places, but some of the material I came across was also dark and disturbing. As a recovering Catholic, I have been on a quest to find a new spirituality that somewhat resembles my own belief system that cherishes the creations as much as the creator.

Zealot jesus of nazareth book