Children of Abraham: But Who Is Abraham? – Part III
Richard L. Shafer[1]
As we
learned last month, Abraham was the patriarch of Judaism: After their conquest by
According
to Feiler, the early Christians needed a link to God too. Like the Jews, Christians found their link
through Abraham. Like those Rabbis, Paul
(a Jew, remember) used midrash: He re-interpreted Abraham. Paul retold Abraham’s story, giving
Christians the authority associated with Abraham.
Paul
wanted to attract gentiles to the new Christian movement, so it was important
to show that Christianity’s Abraham had a relationship with God BEFORE
Judaism. So Paul emphasized God’s more
general covenant with Abraham (as opposed to the covenant God made with Moses). Because Abraham believed in God BEFORE Judaism,
before Moses was given the law, Paul could include Gentiles as part of the new Christian
faith (Romans 11). According to Paul,
Abraham is father of those who believe without being circumcised, as well as those who are circumcised.
Matthew
writes that Jesus descended from Abraham. [3] Paul claims Jesus is Abraham’s sole and
intended “offspring,” the true descendant, and therefore, through their belief
in Christ, Christians are children of Abraham.[4] But Jesus existed before Abraham[5]: “Before Abraham was, I am.” Well, who descends from whom?
Abraham
trusted God, and was called righteous (Genesis 15:6).[6] In Romans 4, Paul says “God accepted Abraham
because Abraham had faith in Him.” Paul,
who mentions Abraham 19 times in his letters, focused on Abraham’s FAITH: When Abraham left his father’s house, he left
on FAITH (Hebrews 11:8).
In
Arabic, “islam” means “submission.” Muslims
believe that Abraham SUBMITTED himself to God well before the Qur’an was
revealed through Muhammad, i.e., well before Islam as we know it came into
being: By his submission, Abraham was
surely the first Muslim. (Jews believe
he was the first Jew.)
Islam also
casts Abraham as a universal figure from whom Muhammad descended through Ishmael.
In fact, 17 of the 25 prophets named in
the Qur’an belong to the family of Abraham, and Abraham makes the 18th. He’s mentioned in 25 of the 114 Surahs of the
Qur’an. He’s a man who, “in the face of
all rationality believes in God.”[7]
For all of us – Jews, Christians and Muslims, -- Abraham models our shared feelings of intimate connection to God, our fear and our awe, our trust and our faith. Having seen how the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam link us all to Abraham, and thus directly to God, consider how we can SHARE these links, and this faithful, observant, submissive-to-God Abraham, among us all.
[1] This is one
of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian
tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings,
beliefs and practices of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
[2] Feiler, Bruce, ABRAHAM: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF
THREE FAITHS.
[3] Matthew 1:1
[4] Feiler, p. 143
[5] John 8:58
[6] The translation presented in the Contemporary English
Version says, “Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord was pleased with him.”
[7] Feiler, p. 166