Short answer
Yes, by its own account. Christians rightly condemn human sacrifice, such as the child sacrifices of the Inca and the Maya centuries ago. A father who offered up his son today would be tried for murder. Yet Christians believe God (﷾) gave up his own Son to die as an offering for the sins of others. Paul says Christ gave himself "an offering and a sacrifice to God". It is a strange contradiction. The Torah calls the burning of sons and daughters an abomination. God (﷾) stopped Abraham before he harmed his son. The prophet Micah asks whether God (﷾) wants a man's firstborn for his sin. His answer is to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (﷾). In Islam no one dies for another's sin. The Qur'an says, "It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety".
Full explanation
How Christians describe the cross
The New Testament describes Jesus' death in the language of the Temple's sacrifices. Paul says Christ gave himself for us "an offering and a sacrifice to God". He calls him "our passover", sacrificed for us. Hebrews says he appeared "to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself". John the Baptist calls him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. And Paul says God (﷾) set him forth as a propitiation, an offering that turns away anger, through faith in his blood. So the central belief of Christianity is that God (﷾) accepted the death of a man as an offering for the sins of others.
“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”
“For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”
A strange contradiction
Christians rightly condemn human sacrifice wherever they find it. Cristóbal de Molina, a priest in Cuzco, recorded that the Inca brought boys and girls of about ten to the capital from every province. There "the children were strangled and buried" as offerings to the Inca's gods. The Franciscan friar Diego de Landa wrote that in times of trouble the Maya priests ordered human sacrifices, and some people gave their own little children out of devotion. Today a father who killed his son as an offering would be tried for murder. Yet the New Testament says God (﷾) "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all". It says God (﷾) "gave his only begotten Son". What would be a crime in any father, Christians praise as God's (﷾) greatest act of love.
Molina, writing for the bishop of Cuzco, describes the Ccapac-cocha, a sacrifice begun by the Inca ruler Pachacutec. Each province brought to Cuzco one or two boys and girls of about ten years from each lineage, with cloth, flocks, gold and silver. After they had walked round the statues of the Creator, the Sun, the Thunder and the Moon, the Inca had the offerings shared out among the chief shrines of the provinces: "So the children were strangled and buried with the silver figures of sheep". At the distant shrines, "the children, having first been strangled, were burnt in sacrifice, with the sheep, lambs, and cloth." The ruler offered these sacrifices when he began to reign, so that the shrines would give him health and keep his lands in peace.
Landa, a Franciscan friar in Yucatan, writes that besides the feasts at which animals were sacrificed, the priest would order persons to be sacrificed because of some trouble or need. Everyone contributed, so that slaves could be bought, or some out of devotion gave their little children, who were made much of until the day of the feast and closely guarded so that they would not run away. He describes the victim laid on his back on a round stone, held by four men, and his heart torn out alive and given to the priest. He also describes the well at Chichen Itza into which they threw men alive in sacrifice.
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Torah forbids human sacrifice
The Law of Moses forbids offering a child to Molech, a god of the Canaanites. It says the nations of Canaan burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. And it calls this something the Lord hates. Through Jeremiah, God (﷾) says the people built high places to burn their sons and daughters, "which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart". In the Torah, an offering for sin is an animal, or for the poor, even flour. Nowhere does God (﷾) ask for one man's death to forgive another man's sin.
“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.”
“Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”
“And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.”
“But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest’s, as a meat offering.”
God (﷾) stopped Abraham
When Abraham was about to offer his son, God's (﷾) angel stopped him: "Lay not thine hand upon the lad". The story ends with God (﷾) refusing a human offering, not accepting one. Centuries later, the prophet Micah asks whether he should give his firstborn for his wrongdoing, the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul. He answers that God (﷾) has already shown what is good: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God (﷾). Jesus himself told the Pharisees to learn what it means that God (﷾) wants mercy, not sacrifice.
“And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
“Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
The human sacrifices the Bible records
The Bible records human sacrifices, and treats them with horror. The judge Jephthah vowed to offer whatever first came out of his house, and it was his daughter. She herself told him to keep his vow, and he did. When the king of Moab was losing a battle, he offered his eldest son as a burnt offering on the city wall. Willingness does not make such an offering right. Jephthah's daughter consented, yet the Torah still calls the burning of sons and daughters an abomination.
“And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
“And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.”
“And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,”
“Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.”
“Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”
No one dies for another's sin
The Qur'an says no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another. When Abraham was ready to offer his son, Allah (﷾) ransomed the boy with a great sacrifice, an animal. So no human blood was shed. The Qur'an condemns the pagans who killed their own children. It says those who kill their children in folly are lost. Even animal sacrifice in Islam is not a payment for sin: "It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him". The Bible's own prophet says the same: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.
“Say: "Shall I seek for (my) Cherisher other than Allah, when He is the Cherisher of all things (that exist)? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal in the end is towards Allah: He will tell you the truth of the things wherein ye disputed."”
“And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:”
“Even so, in the eyes of most of the pagans, their "partners" made alluring the slaughter of their children, in order to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. If Allah had willed, they would not have done so: But leave alone them and their inventions.”
“Lost are those who slay their children, from folly, without knowledge, and forbid food which Allah hath provided for them, inventing (lies) against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance.”
“It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right.”
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Perspectives
Christian
Christians say the cross is not a human sacrifice like those of the pagans. Jesus gave himself willingly. He was God the Son. And the animal offerings pointed ahead to him.
Jesus gave himself willingly, so his death was not like the pagans' human sacrifices.
Rebuttal
Jephthah's daughter also told her father to do what he had vowed, yet the Torah still calls the burning of sons and daughters an abomination. And in Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "let this cup pass from me".
Jesus was God the Son, so on the cross God gave himself; it was not a mere man offered.
Rebuttal
Christians also say he was fully man, and it was a human body and human blood that died. The Bible says "God is not a man". And Ezekiel says the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. No law of God (﷾) asks for one man's death to pay for another's sin.
The animal sacrifices of the Law pointed ahead to the sacrifice of Christ.
Rebuttal
The prophets pointed away from sacrifice, not towards a human one. Micah refuses to give his firstborn for his sin, and Hosea says God (﷾) desires mercy, not sacrifice, words Jesus repeated.
Abraham too was ready to offer his son, and Muslims honour him for it.
Rebuttal
God (﷾) stopped Abraham: "Lay not thine hand upon the lad". He ransomed the boy with an animal, so no human blood was shed. The story ends with God (﷾) refusing a human offering. The Christian story ends with the death carried out, and makes it the way to salvation.
The Islamic perspective
Christianity rests on the death of a man, offered to God (﷾) for the sins of others, which the Torah's law forbids. In Islam, no one bears another's sin. Abraham's son was ransomed with an animal. And Allah (﷾) forgives the one who turns back to Him.
The New Testament calls Jesus' death a sacrifice to God (﷾) for the sins of others.
Christians condemn human sacrifice in every other faith. A father who offered his son today would be tried for murder. Yet they believe the Father gave up his own Son.
The Torah calls the burning of sons and daughters an abomination, and God (﷾) says He never commanded it.
The Qur'an says no one bears another's burden, and that Abraham's son was ransomed with a great sacrifice.
The Qur'an says it is not the meat or blood of an offering that reaches Allah (﷾), but piety.