In
Throughout Your Generations Forever, Jay argued that across multiple cultures, blood
sacrifice maintained and legitimated
patrilineal kinship structures. Unlike maternal parentage, the paternity of an infant prior to
genetic paternity testing was uncertain. To construct an unambiguous patriline without
illegitimate sons, patriarchs developed sacrificial
rituals which were transmitted between father and son. Jay argued that the opposition between the purifying power of sacrifice performed by men counteracted the pollution of
childbirth and
menstruation performed by women, allowing patrilineal societies to create pure paternal lineages. Among multiple
cultures including the
Ancient Greeks, the
Hebrews, the
Romans, the
Nuer, the
Ashanti Kingdom, and the
Native Hawaiians, Jay noted that sacrifice was performed by men virtually exclusively, with rare exceptions of women in non-reproductive roles (e.g.
consecrated virgins,
post-menopausal women) performing certain sacrificial rites. Jay further extends this analysis to
the Roman Catholic Church, arguing that the sacrificial tradition of the
Eucharist is inseparable from
Apostolic Succession. == References ==