Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:06:59.444Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interpreting the Last Supper: Sacrifice, Spiritualization, and Anti-Sacrifice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2001

JONATHAN KLAWANS
JONATHAN KLAWANS
Affiliation:
Dept of Religion, Boston University, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Some scholars view the Last Supper as a symbolic action, one that articulates a rejection of the Jewish temple. This essay presents an alternative approach. The Last Supper traditions are more subtle than is generally recognized. Also, a good deal of evidence demonstrates that the temple remained an important institution in early Christian practice and thought. Therefore it is necessary to drop the problematic practice of describing sacrificial metaphors as ‘spiritualizations’ of the cult. Rather, we should place the sacrificial metaphors of the Last Supper tradition within the broader ancient Jewish effort to channel the temple's sanctity into various non-sacrificial practices, such as eating and praying.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)