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Summary: For inquiring and open minds -- Hope
Review: While being the common ancestor shared by the three predominate monotheistic faiths, Abraham is revered, respected, interpreted, misinterpreted and sometimes even manipulated by theologians and the faithful who seek claim him as their own. Bruce Feiler attempts to collect the varied and sometimes conflicting stories of the man many believe to be the first to enter into a covenant with God.Universal agreement concerning Abraham does not come easily. Most Jewish, Christian or Moslems would agree that he was the first to acknowledge the existence of a single God, that he entered into a covenant with God wherein he agreed to follow God's instructions to leave his homeland for an unknown destination. Already old and childless, he and his wife Sarah were told by God that they would bear a son, and that their descendants would create a great nation. Later, God instructed Abraham to offer his son, "the son whom you love" as sacrifice to the One God. Beyond those gross generalizations, the story of Abraham morphs in various directions depending upon the beliefs of the story teller. The instruction to take "the son whom you love" serves as a critical focus of debate for many, as Christians and Jews believe that Abraham offered his son Isaac by his wife, Sarah as the sacrifice; whereas Moslems believe that it was his older son Ishmael (born to his slave Hagar) that was placed on the sacrificial altar. Feiler discusses how the various religions interpret similar writings or incidents, and yet arrive at dramatically different conclusions. What elevates this book beyond the realm of a comparative religion text book, is Feiler's balanced portrait of a man who exists in a singular position of relevance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Fundamentalists of any persuasion will likely take issue with some of his observations, but Feiler treats his subject with respect and awe, and a desire to place Abraham into a position that might bridge some of the passions that exist today in the Middle East. He succeeds in that regard, with interviews and discussions with Abrahamic scholars and clerics that give a glimmer of hope for all of us.
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Summary: Should have been called "My Personal Search for Abraham"
Review: The author's goal is apparently to show how Abraham, whose story he says has been claimed and re-invented by three warring religions, can be common ground for a dialog of peace between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The author argues that these religions' tales of Abraham are partly and crucially fabricated. His "biography" of Abraham is crafted to show that, as each of the religions came to need an historical Abraham as its legitimizing patriarch, each defined an Abraham who favored its own followers. Thus, the main source of Jewish/Muslim/Christian inter-religious conflict is not any historical action, viewpoint or instruction of Abraham himself, but arose through the later intervention of partisan religious leaders who, however well-intentioned, poisoned Abraham's legacy. Knowing this, we can now join in the growing conversation for peace that, once again, redefines Abraham--but this time the common father of three religions will be unifying force. All this is well and good, and if your spiritual hopes and existence are attuned to a PBS-style monologue of hand-wringing pleas that we can all just get along if we strive to understand our common heritage while respecting cultural and religious diversity (etc.), you may even find the book as inspiring as do those mainstream publishing professionals whose 5-star reviews seem possibly influenced less by a critical analysis of its content and style than by a desire to believe in (and help propagate) a worldview whereby the author's dreams of Middle East (/world) peace and brotherhood would achieve the historically anomalous status of more than mere wishful fiction. Personally, I was interested in a biography, an unemotional anlysis of what historical evidence exists regarding Abraham's life and what we think we know about his actions and their results. I'm about 20% satisfied in that regard. The book is largely the author's personal story, a tale of how his faith and travels have involved a quest for his own private Abraham (with whom he now hopes to supplant all others). I don't care about his bar mitzvah, don't have any interest in the physical characteristics or speech accents of his various colleagues, and am bored by how he personally felt when looking at this and that holy whatever. He personally reads the audio version of the book, and his diction and emotional inflections seemed off-key and distracting in a way that further alienated me from the text; I kept wondering, "perhaps the style is that of a Jewish sermon, and would be somehow endearing to my Jewish friends?" I wanted to know more about Abraham, and his place in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity; I heard far too much about the author's life, emotions, NY 911 credentials, and dreams for one-world peace. I would recommend this book to those who have little or no knowledge of the religious underpinnings of Arab/Israeli conflict, and who seek a quasi-intellectual emotional understanding of how Abraham's legacy may be a factor in modern perception of that conflict.
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Summary: Road to Reconciliation
Review: In his personal quest to understand Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Christians and Moslems, Bruce Feiler exposes the world's rawest nerve and, perhaps, its road to reconciliation. As the shared ancestor of the faiths that number half of the world's population as believers, Abraham represents the struggle of many who feel they are strangers in a strange land, outsiders who long to number themselves among the insiders, landless who aspire to become landed and believers who seek to assuage their endless pain. He is not special; he is not godly; he is not righteous. Yet God sought him because he was faithful and trusted he would rise to his lofty standards. Don't expect scholarly story. Feiler explores how the three religions viewed Abraham in throughout their history, and how those perspectives have changed. He seeks to unite the three monotheistic religions in a productive dialogue where they meet on the common ground their origins in Abraham. He presents an Abraham to whom we can relate. In doing so, he offers the world a rare vision of hope.
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Summary: Abraham: A Journey to the Hart of Three Faiths
Review: This book covers Judaism, Christianity and Islam with diginity and thoughtfulness. Our father, Abraham, joins us and separates us at the same time. The author in his searching has found information that helps us to understand each other and how we are all connected through this man named Abraham.
I recommended this book to lay persons as well as ordained clergy in assisting us in clearing our vision of others and how their way of faith is perceived May all God's people be one!
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Summary: Not worthy of noteriety!
Review: Feiler does make interesting and true accounts of the three major religions. Feiler also adds far too much personal (and unsubstantiated) conclusions. One is left with as many questions as one started off with. Much of Feiler's "investigations" are not from scholars and are not noted properly. I cannot understand why this novel has had so much success unless it is only because there is not much else to choose from!
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Summary: A Wonderful and Important Book
Review: This is a wonderful and important book. I love the author's honesty, clarity, courage and compassion. I regard his book as a spiritual companion to my book, Abraham, 'The Dreamer/An Erotic and Sacred Love Story. 'May both books lead us to moderation, reconciliation and humility in our dealings with one another and with God.
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Summary: Short, yet highly insightful and provocative
Review: Having read Walking the Bible just prior to Abraham, I was able to get a good feel for the writing style of Bruce Feiler and his infectious enthusiasm for his subject matter. Feiler objectively delineates the first interfaith examination of the man chosen by God to be the patriarch of his people. He thoughtfully and rigorously dissects Abraham through the scripture, teachings, research, sometimes heated interviews, and, of course, his many dangerous travels through The Holy Land to the very sites of the historic happenings. I must admit, albeit a short work, I gained quite a bit of knowledge from Feiler and his spontaneous, yet well-constructed writing style. I learned quite a bit about the current Middle East conflict between the Palistinians and Israel and the prevailing open hostility of many Muslim people toward Israeli Jews. Feiler discusses jihad - according to The Koran it is NOT a justification for violence, but rather an invitation to Islam for "infidels." Regrettably, the fundamentalist sects have made their own contrary interpretation. One tidbit: Ishmael was purportedly to be sacrificed, not Isaac, by Abraham, according to The Koran. Interesting and provocative stuff. Definitely worth a look-see.
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Summary: Interesting thesis but ultimately incorrect
Review: This is ultimately an unsatisfactory book. Feiler does little scholarly research and depends mostly on personal encounters. His thesis that Abraham is claimed as the father of three great religions is incorrect. Feiler tries to account for 4000 years of history in a book of a few hundred pages. As a result much history is oversimplified. For a more detailed discussion of this book go to seniornet.org and look at the book discussion section.
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Summary: First I Hated It But Ended Up Liking It.
Review: At first I thought the author was playing up certain theme for pure sensationalism and I notice quite a few errors of his critique of Christianity and Judaism and I was certain if I set the book down before one of my Muslim friend he or she would also point out many errors. But this book is obviously a good start for people who don`t know much detail about the 3 religions and have know true idea of the reason for the conflict and strife in the Middle East. Individuals who know a great deal about the modern theology of one two or all of the 3 faiths will probably have a problem with the book. Also it reads like a detective novel sort of. I was impressed though how he brought it all home in the final chapters and seemed to be kinda sincere. I felt the same things as all the other reviewer though was prepare to be very forgiven so I was able to enjoy the book inspite of my own alliances. I some of the allegations that he made were`nt true of me or you best believe they were very true for some other people somewhere. No what I mean? So Want an introduction to the 3 faiths and the hostility between them this is an excellent book for you but just be warned that it is very generalized.
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Summary: Basically worthless
Review: This book is, unfortunately, basically worthless. While it's thesis is promising, the author does a poor job of developing it. Rather most of his time is spent in polemics about how much he wishes the three faiths could 'just get along'. While the author might be forgiven for this obviously well intentioned desire, there are worse problems with the book than that. Many, many of his assertions about Christian dogma are blatantly untrue - something he should have known with a minimum of study on the subject. One that comes to my mind is the assertion that Jesus never claims his divinity. As most Christians know, that is blatantly untrue. Pick up the gospel of John sometime. While I cannot claim to know much about Judaism or Islam, I must assume that the author made similar mistakes with his assertions about those religions, given his many mistakes with VERY basic Christian dogma. The reader has to assume that one of two things is wrong with this author:1.he was too lazy to do even the most basic of homework before setting out on his trip or 2.he was trying to portray one of the three religions in a better light than the other two. I don't know enough about Islam or Judaism to guess which of those two problems this book suffers from. The larger point is that if this book suffers from major errors on basics than I feel no choice but to dismiss it's assertions as a whole. If there is anything of value in this book, it is not the Abrahamic historys, but the author's personal struggle to come to some kind of understanding of them. As a personal journal/travel logue this book does have a bit to offer. You get a true feeling of the tension in Jersualem and it's surrounding areas as you read about the author interviewing a 'firebrand' Islamic minister, being escorted by four armed guards into a sacred tomb, and suddenly finding himself alone and without transportation in the middle of a war zone. If this sort of travel adventure interests you, you may like this book. If you are looking for a book about Abrahamic history, then leave this one be. There are plenty of good books, both from varying religous and secular sources, on the subject not to have to spend time sifting through the truth and untruth in this little volume.
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