No Sacrifice, Animal or Human, is Required to Atone for Our Sins. By Dr. Chapman Chen
- Chapman Chen
- Apr 14
- 7 min read
Executive Summary: The significance of body and blood in animal sacrifice (OT) and in the Pauline interpretation of Jesus’ Eucharist (NT) needs to be demystified and their connection to animal-flesh-eating exposed. In Lamb of the Free (2024), Andrew Remington Rillera argues that most sacrificial ceremonies in the Hebrew Bible are not meant to atone for sins; the one exception is intended to purify the sanctuary. Within the NT, Jesus’ death on the cross is not about Him dying instead of us, but rather serves as an appeal for us to emulate Him, take up our own crosses, and enter into His just suffering and eventual glory (Rillera 2024:243-4, 251; 1 Peter 2:21-24).
Rillera’s main problem is that he dismisses great prophets’ (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, and Micah), and even Jesus’ opposition to animal sacrifice. For example, in Isaiah 1:11-17, God explicitly says that He loathes animal sacrifice. The righteous, vegan prophets were succeeded by Jesus, who declared, “I desire COMPASSION, not sacrifice!” (Matt. 9:13, 12:7). In truth, through his bold Temple Raid, Jesus laid down his life for the liberation of animals (Mark 11:15-18; Akers 2000, pp. 113-134; Waters & Anderson 2024), while also aiming to awaken us from hypocrisies and violence and turn us toward true spirituality and compassion.
Rillera’s position is internally inconsistent: on one side, he affirms that Jesus’ death on the cross is NOT to be seen as a religious offering (Rillera 2024:243), yet elsewhere he calls Jesus “the ultimate Passover offering” (Rillera 2024:196, 285). Like Paul, Rillera attempts to portray God as a deity demanding blood before granting pardon.
However, both God and Christ extend forgiveness without the necessity of bloodshed (e.g., 2 Samuel 12; John 8; Luke 15). Scripture teaches that each person is accountable for their own moral choices (Deut. 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 16:9). No one can die in place of another (Ezekiel 18:20). The interpretation of the Eucharist as Jesus’ body and blood is entirely absent from the Didache. Per the Dead Sea Scrolls’ Community Rule, the primary form of the Eucharist was simply a shared vegan banquet—a foretaste of the Heavenly gathering (James Tabor 2012; Chilton 2011). Mosaic Law strictly bans the consumption of blood, even in metaphor, and Jesus himself stated that he came not to undo the Law but to fulfil its purpose (Matt. 5:17). It is Paul—the anti-vegan apostate—who reshaped Jesus into exactly what He stood against: a sacrificial lamb (Thompson 2024).
Ultimately, animal offerings, Paul’s version of the Eucharist involving body and blood, and carnivorism are all part of the same idolatrous tradition (cf. Hyland 1998), where flesh-eating is simply a form of worship of the stomach-god (Proverbs 23:20-21). Cut out all meaty vice; follow the Vegan Christ! (This paper was presented on 8 April at the Flesh and Blood Theologies Conference (SST), University of Warwick.)
1. OT Sacrifices are Mostly Non-atoning
According to Andrew Remington Rillera’s (2024) Lamb of the Free, sacrificial rituals in the OT are mostly non-atoning; the only atoning one is for cleansing the sanctuary. In the OT, the regular burnt offering at the Tabernacle is for “divine invitation” by way of the “pleasing aroma” (Lev 3:16; Num 28:2, 24) of the offering (Rillera 2024:27, 31-2); the well-being offerings signify sacred feasting between God and people (Rillera 2024:27); the Passover commemorates God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt (Rillera 2024:28, 68).
2. Jesus’ Death is a Call Upon Us to Follow His Example
In the NT, Jesus’ crucifixion is not a substitutionary sacrifice but a call upon us to follow His example, pick up His cross, and share in His righteous sufferings and resurrection (Rillera 2024:243-4, 251). This is based on 1 Peter 2:21-24 (KJV): “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
3. Rillera’s Problems
Rillera’s (2024) main issues are that he disregards the opposition to animal sacrifice expressed by the five great prophets—and even by Jesus—and that he overlooks the possibility that those horrific animal sacrificial rituals were later additions, inserted by “the lying pen of the scribes” (Jer. 8:8 NIV).
4. Animal Sacrifice is Loathed by the Lord
In the OT, animal sacrifice is detested by God and opposed by at least five great prophets (Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 7:22-23; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-22; Micah 6:6-8). For example, “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me,” indignantly asserts God in Isaiah 1:11-17 (NIV); Micah 6:6-8 highlights that God is not pleased with thousands of rams, but with justice, mercy, & humility. Jeremiah 7:22-23 reveals that God did not command sacrifices when He brought Israel out of Egypt, but rather obedience. Hosea 6:6 stresses that God “desire[s] mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Amos 5:21-24 reflects a blatant rejection of hollow religious rituals in favour of justice and righteousness: “I hate, I despise your feasts…Even though you bring me…offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them…But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
5. Jesus as a Martyr for Animal Liberation
These vegan righteous prophets were succeeded by Jesus, who proclaimed, “I desire COMPASSION, rather than sacrifice!” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7), quoting Hosea 6:6. Actually, Jesus died for animal liberation (Mark 11:15-18; Akers 2000, pp. 113-134; Waters & Anderson 2024), apart from waking us from our falsities (Matt. 4:17, 23:13), violence, indifference (Matt. 7:12) and debaucheries (Matt. 5:27-28) to love (Matt. 5:44; John 15:13) and compassion for all sentient beings (Matt. 22:39, 25:40), and to a chaste (Matt. 5:27-28, 18:8-9; Mark 7:20-23), spiritual (Matt. 5:3; Luke 12:31), pure (Matt.5:8), and simple (Matt. 6:19) form of life.
In emptying the Temple of innocent creatures about to be murdered for sacrifice, slaughtered for sacrifice, and in calling the Temple-turned-butcher-shop "a den of murderers" (Mark 11:16, Luke 20:46, Matt. 21:12-13 KJV), Jesus debunked the evil and fraudulent nature of animal sacrifice and disrupted the chief priests' and scribes' lucrative revenue stream, who immediately afterwards conspired to destroy Him (Mark 11:15-18), eventually leading to His arrest, and crucifixion, (cf. Keith Akers 2000, pp.117-118; Hyland 1993).
6. Both Rillera and Paul are Making God Look Blood-Thirsty
Rillera’s stance is self-contradictory. On the one hand, he asserts that Jesus’ death is NOT a sacrifice (Rillera 2024:243). On the other, he contends that Jesus is “the ultimate Passover Lamb” (Rillera 2024:196, 285), and that 1 John 1:7 means that the blood of Jesus purifies us of all sin just as water-washing purified people on the Day of Decontamination in the OT (Rillera 2024:218), thereby endorsing Paul (1 Cor. 5:7), the anti-vegan apostate's, distortion of Jesus' martyrdom for animal liberation (Akers 2020) into a new form of blood voodoo, succeeding the animal sacrificial cult in the OT, as pointed out by Pastor J.R. Hyland (1993).
Just like Paul, Rillera tries to make God look like a blood-thirsty devil, who won’t forgive people without tasting blood. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins,” states Paul (Hebrews 9:22).
7. God and Christ Forgive without Requiring Bloodshed
Yet, the idea of Jesus believing that God demands His blood to pardon humanity is incompatible with Jesus’ teachings about God as a merciful being (Luke 15:11-32). As asserted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 19:16-29 and John 8:11, the key for sinners to receive forgiveness and attain eternal life is to keep the Commandments, to help the poor, to confess, to repent, and to stop sinning. No blood of someone else is required. The sins of King David (2 Samuel 12), the adulterous woman (John 8), and the prodigal son (Luke 15), which are all forgiven without bloodshed, are cases in point.
8. Each Person Carries their own Cross
In addition, everyone has free will as gifted by God and is thus supposed to be responsible for their own deeds (Deut. 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 16:9). No one can die in lieu of anybody else (Ezekiel 18:20).
9. The Original Eucharist is Vegan
The Eucharist as Jesus’ flesh and blood is not even mentioned in Didache. a text discovered in 1873 dating to the early 2nd Century/even earlier, is a simple thanksgiving VEGAN meal of grape-vine juice and bread with no atonement via Jesus' body and blood mentioned. The original Messianic Eucharist as described in the Dead Sea Scrolls ("Rule of the Community”) is just a communal meal consisting of bread & wine as a preview of the reunion in Heaven (James Tabor 2012; Chilton 2011).
The consumption of blood, even symbolically, is strictly forbidden by the Mosaic Law, and Jesus came not to abolish the Law but to fulfil it (Matt. 5:17). It’s Paul the anti-vegan apostate who turned Jesus into the very thing he’s protesting:- a sacrificial lamb (Thompson 2024).
Furthermore, Luke juxtaposes the Messianic feast (Luke 22:15-18) with the cannibalistic cult (Luke 22:19-21) in his account of the last supper, making one wonder whether Jesus will drink His own blood with the disciples in the future Kingdom of God. The four Synoptic Gospels' accounts of Jesus' last supper (Mark 14:22-25; Matt. 26:26- 29; Luke 22:15-20; John 6:52-56) come straight from the anti-vegan apostate Paul's (1 Cor. 10:16-17, 11:23-26), almost word for word.
10. Animal Sacrifice, Pauline Eucharist, & Meatism are the Same Cult
Finally, animal sacrifice, the Pauline Eucharist of flesh and blood, and meatism are basically the same cult, per Pastor J. R. Hyland (1998), for meatism is sacrifice to the belly-idol (Proverbs 23:20-21; Philippians 3:19; Hicks 2018). Per Clement of Alexandria’s The Stromata (Book VII, Ch. 6),”sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh.” The Pauline Eucharist even smacks of human cannibalism.
11. No More Blood. No More Lies
Christ calls us to compassion, not sacrifice. He died not to uphold violence, but to end it—especially against God’s innocent creatures.
Reject flesh, reject cruelty, reject the false gospel of blood. Embrace the Vegan Christ. Live with love for all beings.
Put down your knife. Pick up your cross. Follow Him.
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