Capital Punishment in the Pentateuch: Why the Bible Prescribes Ritual Killing

Through the application of mimetic theory Skidmore examines the social impact of capital punishment upon the community, and explores the cathartic nature of this practice within key Pentateuchal texts. Skidmore shows how Mimetic theorists such as Girard advance a view that a community ravaged by vengeance and blood feuds may be saved from extinction by scapegoating one of their own. As the community select a common scapegoat, and vent their collective violence upon this person, peace and or...