Why Was Ancient Jewish Ritual so Similar to Ancient Pagan

One seldom reads on Christian sites an acknowledgment that the practices of early Judaism were also practices of Paganism. It was refreshing to see a comparison between the practices of Paganism and Judaism.

Paganism was mostly a local religion so there were many variations. The Pagan practices we know about were similar to those of Jews discussed in the Bible. One would guess we know only some about what went on back then.

One practice of both the Jews and Pagans was human sacrifice. Why would two religions, one with many gods and one with only one, practice the same ritual.

The answer has to go back to the sources of both faiths. Both faiths sprung from the cultures and mores of that period in history. Neither came from a sovereign god--both versions of gods came from the minds of humans. The monotheism made sense to the Jewish culture that was under siege by its neighbors. It needed a unified society.

Polytheism worked well for the Romans. They wanted to conquer new countries because they wanted to collect more taxes. It was not profitable to impose any particular god on new areas because it did not increase tax collections.

As traders and armies crisscrossed the globe they carried with them stories about pleasing gods with sacrifice. Jews and Pagans both bought into the myths of the period.

During roughly the same time, South American indigenous tribes practiced human sacrifice. All groups eventually got smarter. Indigenous tribes decided it was less painful to sacrifice humans from captured tribes. Jews started sacrificing animals.

The gods did not seem to notice these cheaper substitutes.