Father Abraham

[volgadon]

http://www.jewishreviewofbooks.com/publications/detail/father-abraham

Martin S. Jaffee has a good review of Jon D. Levenson's recent book, "Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam," which I'm looking forward to read. It should be particularly interesting to an LDS audience as it explores the biblical image of Abraham,and then subsequent developments in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Levenson's argument is that these different traditions use Abraham's image in significantly different ways. Inother words, he is less the universal father of these religions than modern ecumenism would have. Levenson has already written a fantastic book on the sacrifice of Isaac, so this sounds like a worthy addition. I would not go as far as some and suggest that we are a separate Abrahamic religion, but we do have our own unique tradition which this book cannot fail to highlight.

Here, BTW, is a taste of Levenson's thoughts on Abraham.

http://www.jewishreviewofbooks.com/publications/detail/the-idea-of-abrahamic-religions-a-qualified-dissent