Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Abraham

I'm also reading Abraham by Bruce Feiler. In it, he seeks to portray Abraham, the father of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Abraham was the first monotheist. The people of his time, including, according to Judaic sources, his own father, worshiped many gods. Abraham, or Abram as he was then called, had the courage to break with tradition and follow his own path searching for the one God he knew existed.

His relationship with God was not all sweetness-and-light. It was certainly not a "feel good" religion. Abraham's story is fraught with doubt, broken relationships and confusion and covered overall with a wandering sense of alien feelings. Yet, the quest for God continued and Abraham was changed, and history was changed forever.

3 comments:

Saint Peter's helpers said...

What a wondeful reminder of Abraham's trust in God which didn't exempt him from the struggles that come with being faithful.

I like the image of him being the first monotheist - indeed he is the father of those who believe.

Do you know how he is acknowledged or recognized in the Islam religion?

Staying in Balance said...

Well, according to Feiler, all three monotheistic religions Abraham as a model for their own religion, since he technically predates them all.

In Islam, Mohammad preached in Mecca to the Arabs. Abraham was important because he was a prophet connected with Arabia and, like Mohammad himself, brought the message of monotheism to a group of polytheists. I'm going to post more about this book.

Saint Peter's helpers said...

Thank you. I'll read more on your next post.

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"Slavery ended in medieval Europe only because the church extended its sacraments to all slaves and then managed to impose a ban on the enslavement of Christians (and of Jews). Within the context of medieval Europe, that prohibition was effectively a rule of universal abolition. "— Rodney Stark

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