Misreading Ritual

Many Christians treat the first half of Leviticus with, at best, benign neglect. Bloody animal sacrifices? Rituals for skin diseases and genital discharges? Surely these things are irrelevant for a modern follower of Jesus. Our engagement with these texts often doesn't go beyond a pious "thank God we don't have to do that anymore!"But this isn't enough if we want to take the world of the Bible seriously. Scripture itself testifies that plenty of ancient worshippers found beauty and meaning in th