God and Christ do not require the bloodshed of any sentient being to forgive our sins.
1. Jesus Forgives the Adulterous Woman
After saving the adulterous woman from an angry crowd who wants to stone her to death, Jesus forgives her, without having to purify her sin with any blood, be it His own blood, or any human or animal’s (John 8:1-11). He just told her not to do it again and then sends her away.
2. The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Similarly, in the Parable of the Loving Father, when the prodigal son returns home, repents and begs for forgiveness, his father forgives him straightaway without requiring the shedding of any blood as a precondition (Luke 15:11-32).
3. Animal Sacrifice and the Lying Pen of the Scribes
Animal sacrifices in the OT are concocted by “the lying pen of the scribes” (Jeremiah 8:8) to serve their own avarice, despite the five great prophets’ strong protests (Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 7:22-23; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-22; Micah 6:6-8). God forgives people over and over in the Hebrew Bible without any bloodshed being required. The Jewish path to forgiveness, includes simply confession (Leviticus 5:5), repenting (Proverbs 28:13), praying for forgiveness (1 Kings 8:33-34; Psalm 32:5), and making restitution (Numbers 5:6-7; Leviticus 6:4-5). King David confesses and repents of his nasty sins, including murder and adultery, and is told by the prophet Nathan, “The LORD has taken away your sin (2 Samuel 12:13). “No bulls or rams had to be slaughtered and barbecued to gain God's favour,” as indicated by Suzanne Gates (2024).
4. Jesus Confirms that God is Merciful, Not Bloodthirsty
In the NT, Jesus asserts that love of God and thy neighbour is more important than all burnt offerings and animal sacrifices (Mark 12:33). Jesus taking the wrath of God upon himself “for us”, signifying that Jesus was convinced that God demanded His blood so as to pardon humans, is incompatible what Jesus has stated about God being a God of forgiveness, kindness and compassion (Wright 2011:184-5; Joseph 2017:228). “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 15:11-32 JB), Jesus reminds His followers.
5. No Bloodshed, No Remission?!!
However, Paul the anti-vegan apostate comes along and stresses “No bloodshed, no remission” (Hebrews 9:13-22 NKJV). The cannibalistic Eucharist with Jesus’ blood and flesh as wine and bread (Mark 14:22-25; Matthew 26:26- 29; Luke 22:15-20; John 6:52-56) comes straight from Paul almost word-for-word (1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 11:23-26; cf. Tabor 2012:15).
6. Jesus: I Desire Compassion, NOT Sacrifice!
On the other hand, Jesus twice declares, “I desire compassion, not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13; 12:7 NASB)”, echoing God in Hosea 6:6. In emptying the Temple of animals about to be slaughtered for sacrifice, and in calling the Temple-turned-butcher-shop "a den of thieves"(Mark 11:16, Luke 20:46, Matthew 21:12-13 KJV), He debunked the business fraud of animal sacrifice and disrupted the chief priests' and scribes' lucrative revenue stream (Akers 2020: 117-119; Chen 2024), who immediately afterwards plotted to destroy Him (Mark 11:15-18). Paul thus distorted Jesus into the very thing He was protesting (cf. Thompson 2024) by labelling Him the “Passover Lamb” (1 Cor. 5:7).
7. Conclusion
To conclude, Abraham's sacrifice of his son/ram, all the subsequent animal sacrifices in the OT, and the Pauline Eucharist in the NT are basically the same black blood magic, which God detests (Amos 5:21-4), as contended by Pastor J. R. Hyland (1993). And I would add that thanks to the predominance of the flesh-greedy Pauline camp in Christianity, animal sacrifice has, after all, persisted in the form of bloody offerings to the belly-idol of humankind. Put down your evil knives; follow the Vegan Christ!
Article link: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/no-blood-animal-or-human-is-required-to-forgive-our-sins-by-dr-chapman-chen
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