Tag: Christian philosophy

“You are to bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the bull’s head. Slaughter the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Take some of the bull’s blood and apply it to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. But burn the bull’s flesh, its hide, and its waste outside the camp; it is a sin offering.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When someone does something wrong, a debt is incurred. The very idea that there can be things that are wrong to do means that by doing them we owe another person or perhaps a group of people a debt of some kind. It may be a small debt resulting from a small offense, or it may be a large debt resulting from a large offense. But there is some party who was not only chiefly offended by our actions, but to whom we are sufficiently accountable that there is some measure by which they can either force us to pay the debt or can otherwise punish us until we do. This idea lies at the heart of the purification rituals God prescribes in the next several verses. Let’s explore this all in more detail here and over the next few posts.