offering made to the object of religious worship, is one of the forms of religious cultus everywhere met with, being co-extensive with religion itself. The offerings made have been various, and the forms under which they have been presented have also varied. The offerings for the most part have been the fruit of the field and of the flock; but not unfrequently the tiller of the field and the keeper of the flock have also been offered in sacrifice. The forms in which they have been presented embrace the natural form, or that form transmuted by slaughtering and burning. The selection of the sacrifice appears to have been made upon the ground of its nearness of relation and preciousness to the offerer; it must be his own, the first and the best of its kind; it must represent him,—must be therefore what he values and loves. And as the sacrifice not only represented the offerer, but represented what was his deepest feeling on the occasion of the offering, this Sacrifice ground of nearness and preciousness furnished different offerings on different occasions. The idea present in and underlying all the forms of presentation appears to be that of bringing the sacrifice near to the object of worship. Another peculiarity of a sacrifice consisted in destroying, in whole or in part, the offering presented to the object of worship. Sacrifices prevailed throughout the whole of the ancient world, both Jewish and Gentile. Christians believe them to have been entirely abolished by the death of Christ. The precise significance of Christ's death has, however, been variously interpreted by different men, and there exists upon the various sides of this important question a large amount of theological literature.