Abraham's Sons and Heirs
Abrahamic "roots" are being claimed by everybody these days. That Israel descends from Abraham to Isaac and Jacob is clear. From that it's easy to trace descendants in the history of Israel. What's not easy is to trace the other sons of Abraham, like Ishmael. There is reason to think that a number of peoples living in the mid east can trace a descendancy to Abraham as well, but the Biblical record does not select them specially, the "seed" comes through Isaac.
Christians claim a shared ancestry to Abraham, but it's based on actions and beliefs that are derived from Judaism. I think that commonality is good as long as Christians don't then claim a higher level of descent based on supersecession, substitution of the first by the second. The good aspect to this is how our common beliefs and religious behavior can work well together. The bad aspect is that many Christians (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and some protestant) will alternatively claim priority in their heritage as a argument against Jews and Israel.
Islam however claims a different heritage, the Qur'an has changed the lineage by erasing Isaal in favor of Ishmael. They also claim that Abraham was a Muslim, a clear move of supersession. To me the only clear motive with this approach is to destroy Jewish history, religion and land claims in present day Israel.
Christians have lately picked up the Islamic claims and incorporated them into a political and relgiously ecumenical move to smooth over the present day claims between the 3 monotheisms. I don't buy into that notion, it compromises the claims and history of both Jews and Christians. Clearly the Jews have priority in all of this. It doesn't promote understanding, it only trys to make peace based on false histories and claims.
Recently I read several of the books by Bat Ye'or on Islam. These really clear up a lot of the historical events and present days claims like the Abrahamic "roots" discussion. I recommend these books, they are extremely well documented and presented. Titles include "The Decline of Eastern Christianity", "Islam and Dhimmitude" and "Eurabia".
Christians claim a shared ancestry to Abraham, but it's based on actions and beliefs that are derived from Judaism. I think that commonality is good as long as Christians don't then claim a higher level of descent based on supersecession, substitution of the first by the second. The good aspect to this is how our common beliefs and religious behavior can work well together. The bad aspect is that many Christians (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and some protestant) will alternatively claim priority in their heritage as a argument against Jews and Israel.
Islam however claims a different heritage, the Qur'an has changed the lineage by erasing Isaal in favor of Ishmael. They also claim that Abraham was a Muslim, a clear move of supersession. To me the only clear motive with this approach is to destroy Jewish history, religion and land claims in present day Israel.
Christians have lately picked up the Islamic claims and incorporated them into a political and relgiously ecumenical move to smooth over the present day claims between the 3 monotheisms. I don't buy into that notion, it compromises the claims and history of both Jews and Christians. Clearly the Jews have priority in all of this. It doesn't promote understanding, it only trys to make peace based on false histories and claims.
Recently I read several of the books by Bat Ye'or on Islam. These really clear up a lot of the historical events and present days claims like the Abrahamic "roots" discussion. I recommend these books, they are extremely well documented and presented. Titles include "The Decline of Eastern Christianity", "Islam and Dhimmitude" and "Eurabia".
posted by J B at
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
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