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April 7, 2007
My Grandfather's Column
Abraham's Legacy
One of the best known stories in our Bible is contained in the 22nd chapter of the book Genesis. Abraham is ordered by God to kill his only son Isaac and offer him up as a burnt sacrifice. At the last minute, just as he is about tho plunge his knife into the lad an angel intervenes and speaking on God's behalf says: "Stop it now; let him go and you'll find just over there a ram caught up in brambles. Offer that up instead." The angel goes on to say that because Abraham has obeyed God all manner of wonderful things will happen to him and his descendants. This act of faith was even more remarkable because God had already promised that Isaac would have descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea. It was this (?) great act of faith, to which the three major religions of the book - Jews, Christians and Muslims look back as a common source. I guess it was also a reason why Sigmund Freud became an atheist as well as the father of psychoanalysis.
It clearly never occurred to Abraham that his actions would traumatise his son. Sons, like daughters, were at their father's disposal. The patriarchal system meant that the father, as head of the family had absolute power over his children and could do exactly as he pleased with them. For good or ill fathers did what they could to ensure the family prospered and their own name should be honoured by posterity. For Abraham, Isaac was just a possession, very precious of course but ultimately at dad's disposal.
Strong traces of this patriarchal domination have been passed down to all the religions of the book and persist to this day. Indeed, if you believe that every word of the holy scriptures was dictated by God himself, what other conclusion could you come to? To me it is simply incredible that the Father of Jesus could have acted as the good book here tells it. Jesus it was who said that anyone hurting a child or encouraging others to do so was fit only for slaughter. Thank God that even those of us who, like myself, have all too often hurt a child are still within reach of his all-inclusive forgiveness of all those who will accept it.
The story of the would-be sacrifice of Isaac, like many others in the Bible is conditioned by the beliefs and practices of those among whom the writers lived A friend of mine once said about the Bible: "It's a gold mine, full of wonderful treasure but by no means without its dross." I say Amen to that.
--Peter Graham
Posted by LYT at April 7, 2007 1:37 PM [Message Board]
Comments
amen to that
except I say its like a tin mine
with mostly some pretty old fashioned (of its less enlightened time) poor tin - and the occasional suprise gold nugget...
Posted by: offpat at April 7, 2007 2:30 PM
I dunno. For all of our 'enlightenment' we don't necessarily do a whole lot better today...
[Insert rambling. anger-tinged list of social problems here]
Posted by: David N. Scott at April 7, 2007 3:45 PM
You don't think we do a whole lot better than in Abraham's day?
Speaking as one who'd be dead right now from appendicitis in Abraham's day...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we've improved.
Posted by: LYT at April 8, 2007 1:36 AM
I was being fairly satirical, hence the [Insert] instead of an actual argument. But I do think it's too easy to take shots at people who actually fought and bled to stay alive from our cozy little places.
I think the ancient world had some things up on us as far as people not being islands and caring about their community, and also about their having more on their minds than buying stuff.
A comparison of that size is more of an essay or a book than a blog post, but I was reading even the (grumpier, weirder) early books of the Bible yesterday and found a lot there... releasing debts after seven years, treating foreigners as well as your neighbors, giving the poor fair represntation in court, making sure to help feed the poor and infirm and the animals...
Posted by: David N. Scott at April 8, 2007 6:38 PM
Hrm. Thinking I got off topic.
Anyway, bottom line for analyzing any sort of culture is that you do not start with 'we are awesome and look at all these wierdies over there. Cultural Relativism is, of course, a very abused buzz phrase these days, but it is still important to learn much about anything.
So, though I was exaggerating, I really do think that there's nothing to be gained from passing judgment of the people of the past or in thinking we're so incredibly awesome in comparison. In fact, it's sort of one of the first things never to do in college, at least in my experience.
Posted by: David N. Scott at April 8, 2007 6:49 PM
...one of the first things you learn in college, I mean.
Posted by: David N. Scott at April 8, 2007 6:49 PM
"But I do think it's too easy to take shots at people who actually fought and bled to stay alive from our cozy little places." - couldn't agree with thqat more- but no one was doing that.. I have run-ins with my father all the time over organised religion - the nice thing is to see him having come back so far my way from his earlier more zealous years -
The old testament being full of crap isn't a condemnation of those times either - its just that those times were never good old days - slavery, premature death, disease, starvation, and the well worn stories about it, don't make for good old days - neither do they provide a model of how we should behave today.
The new testament gospels I have a lot more time for.
Posted by: offpat at April 10, 2007 1:38 AM
I do agree with that, to some extent or another.
Posted by: David N. Scott at April 11, 2007 11:02 PM