The only problem with the Quran version is that it came several hundred years after the original. Same story different lead character.
abraham , a question for those who still believe in god
by looloo 44 Replies latest jw friends
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nancy drew
there are so many bible episodes that don't feel right to me and everytime I tried to find a good and reasonible explanation it would only last for a little while and than the question would come up in my mind again and I grew tired of trying to make it fit. I've decided if I don't feel good with it I don,t care who said or did it. I'm just leaving at "it just feels wrong".
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HappyGuy
I don't know why some find this one hard to understand.
Abraham was a citizen of Ur, making him a Chaldean.
The Chaldeans practiced human sacrifice.
What is hard to understand about Abraham obeying his god's instruction to sacrifice his son?
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BurnTheShips
Thanks, Snowbird. Now I've got to get a copy of the Book of Jasher. I wasn't aware that it was quoted in the OT as a source!
From the wikipedia page:
But according to Rabbi J. H. Hertz ( Chief Rabbi of the British Empire ), child sacrifice was actually "rife among the Semitic peoples," and suggests that "in that age, it was astounding that Abraham's God should have interposed to prevent the sacrifice, not that He should have asked for it." Hertz interprets the Akedah as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. "Unlike the cruel heathen deities, it was the spiritual surrender alone that God required. " In Jeremiah 32:35, God states that the later Israelite practice of child sacrifice to the deity Molech "had [never] entered My mind that they should do this abomination."
If we accept Rabbi Hertz's explanation, then there's a definite progression here, I think. First we had people sacrificing human life to their gods. Then Abraham had an encounter with God, and had a revelation, he was taught to not engage in this practice that was common among his people. He formed a covenant with this God. From there we progress to animal sacrifice as a substitute (the ram that was caught in the branches)--a step in the right direction. Then, (and I speak as a Christian for you Jews on here), in Jesus, we have the sacrifice that puts an end to all need for further sacrifices. The veil of the Temple tears, and eventually the cult of Temple sacrifice is put to a definite end. The Christians moved on from animal sacrifice in the 1st Century, and the Jews did too. It's almost like God is taking us by the hand and leading us to better things over time.
BTS
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snowbird
Joshua 10:12-14 The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening:
"Stop, Sun, over Gibeon;
Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley."
And Sun stopped,
Moon stood stock still
Until he defeated his enemies.(You can find this written in the Book of Jashar.) The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day. There's never been a day like this before or since - God took orders from a human voice! Truly, God fought for Israel.
2 Samuel 1:17-18 Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, and gave orders that everyone in Judah learn it by heart. Yes, it's even inscribed in The Book of Jashar. MSG
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/index.htm
Sylvia