Blood and Belief

The Circulation of a Symbol between Jews and Christians

David Biale author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of California Press

Published:11th Nov '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Blood and Belief cover

Blood contains extraordinary symbolic power in both Judaism and Christianity - as the blood of sacrifice, of Jesus, of the Jewish martyrs, of menstruation, and more. Yet, though they share the same literary, cultural, and religious origins, on the question of blood the two religions have followed quite different trajectories. For instance, while Judaism rejects the eating or drinking of blood, Christianity mandates its symbolic consumption as a central sacrament. How did these two traditions, both originating in the Hebrew Bible's cult of blood sacrifices, veer off in such different directions? With his characteristic wit and erudition, David Biale traces the continuing, changing, and often clashing roles of blood as both symbol and substance through the entire sweep of Jewish and Christian history from Biblical times to the present.

"Biale's writing is as interesting, and sometimes as controversial, as his topics." -- Ingrid Wilkerson World History Connected "Bird provides readers with a readable, informed overview of the state of the question." Hebrew Studies: A Journal Devoted To Hebrew Language And Literature

ISBN: 9780520257986

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 20mm

Weight: 454g

316 pages