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Summary: Great read, but soft conclusion......
Review: -First of all, Bruce Feiler is clearly a great adventurer who walks deserts to descend into caves in the midst of war-torn countries. Additionally, he has an intense and admirable passion for this subject and writes an engaging book that ends up being part history, part travel literature, and part theology.-However Feiler seems to stretch at times in making his case that Abraham 'unites' the three religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. On the contrary, Abraham is more a point of contention than one of unity. I wish Feiler had made the statement that all three positions on Abraham cannot be equally true since they often directly contradict each other. A worthy goal is always to divide truth from error in order to understand which position, if any, is accurate. Instead of taking this path, Feiler seems to desire peace at the expense of truth as he places religious harmony higher than a right understanding of theology. -Feiler is correct that the most mesmerizing story of Abraham's life--his offering a son to God--plays a pivotal role in the holiest week of the Christian year, at Easter. This is surely the case as Christianity sees Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac as a foreshadowing of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. However, this is a radically different interpretation of the event from either Judaism or Islam. -Feiler states that Abraham, is a character who has shape-shifted over the millennia to the extent that the religions don't even agree on which son he tried to kill. This is true, and the interpretation may have shape-shifted, but that does not mean the scriptural documents were changed. That is, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the claim that documents had been changed in order to fit with dogma, has little foundation. -Feiler claims that Abraham is a type of metaphor and that this historically elusive man embodies three religions. That's a difficult claim to back up. Abraham 'embodies' all three religions? Certainly Christian scholars would not make that claim. They would claim that only Jesus would fit this role. Abraham was the one to whom the promise was made and Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. Abraham's role would be significantly secondary. -Feiler concludes with a passionate and prayerful argument for peace between faiths. This is a valiant attempt and his motives are surely good. However, it would have been refreshing if he would have explained that when two people theologically disagree with each other that does not mean that they necessarily hate each other. The existence of truth means that at least one party is wrong, but that does not mean that the parties cannot respect each other as people, even though they may not respect all theological positions. Grace, peace, and love can and do exist side by side with truth - and if truth exists, so does error. One party being 'wrong' is part of the package and it is the reality. I wish Feiler's final sentence had been, "Call your brother wrong and love him with those words."
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Summary: A father who binds and divides his children
Review: It's been said that England and America are two peoples divided by a common language. Judaism, Christianity and Islam represent three faiths divided by a common founder: each looks back to Abraham as the first of the faithful, and each is uplifted by the hope, as Abraham's children, to come into the inheritance of God's blessing on him and his "seed." Feiler has chosen the figure of Abraham as a concrete way to explore the question of what these three great religions have in common, how they differ, and whether our many common elements offer any credible hope that we will learn to live together in peace and mutual respect. He explores the question from Jerusalem, where the hopes of the three faiths run the highest, and where the hopes for peace these days seem dimmest. There are no facile reassurances here, but Feiler's generosity to the other two faiths, his willingness to re-imagine Abraham from their point of view as well as from his own Jewish tradition, and (no less) his refusal to paper over the controversial or the politically incorrect, convey the depth of his own determination that we have to find our way to a "yes." The book is simply written, readable in one or two sittings. It makes no pretension to being scholarly or exhaustive; it is an account of one individual's study and exploration of the question. But its simplicity is clearly the achievement of judicious selection and pruning. As fascinating as the varying portraits of the patriarch are in their own right, he recounts no story or midrash unless it illuminates the different approaches of these religions to God and to one another. He makes every anecdote count. Perhaps the greatest ground for hope lies in the historical pattern he discovers: for each of the three religions of the Book, Abraham was initially understood as a common spiritual father of all mankind; and only after centuries did each tradition succumb to the temptation to lay claim to exclusive status as Abraham's heirs. Those exclusive claims have laid deep grooves by now in all three spiritual paths; but the roots remain to be rediscovered and reclaimed. This book deserves to be widely read, among all three communities. It has no final answers; it is really only the barest beginning of the critical trialogue that has to take place. But its honesty, its painful urgency, its commitment to hope, and its publication in one place of narratives so long heard only within the confines of this tradition or that, make it a valuable beginning.
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Summary: A Dreamer Void of Theological Reality
Review: This is poor, since it is but one man's wishful, uninformed, unimpassionate theological thinking. John Warwick Montgomery summarizes Feiler's opinion so well in his new book "Tractatus Logico-Theologicus" -- The characteristic most fully shared by the religions of the world is their incompatability with each other. This fundamental incompatability is at root logical, not sociological. Indeed, sociological conflict between two religions positions commonly rests in the logical incompatability of their respective beliefs." "The desire for religious unity, though not logically justifiable, is eminently understandable; it is a special case of man's fundamental concern to bring oneness out of the diversity of his experience. . . . "We may wish most fervently that the world's religions taught a unified doctrine, but what is the case is not determined by what we wish to be the case." What Feiler wishes to be the case from random, speculative stories does in no small way override the deep-founded, sacred beliefs held to by the three religions, incompatabile at their root level. Poor effort, unfounded by serious believers of any of the three. Wishful thinking doesn't make it so.
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Summary: Another Islam bashing perspective
Review: As an American-Muslim, it was not surprising to see another distorted perspective of Islam from a non-Islamic person. Reading the chapter on Islam basically reinforced my views that Islam as a religion is totally misunderstood in the West. It is about time we start looking into this religion more carefully as a belief, and not as an enemy. Author's bias against Islam cames accross clearly and he should have been more carefull in that regard.
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Summary: Expanded my understanding of this pivotal figure
Review: I, like many evangelical believers, have always (unknowingly) viewed Abraham through Christian-colored glasses. This book expanded my vision, opening me up to views of Abraham that go beyond the simple biblical text. The depiction of Abraham in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), for example, was modified, shaped, and re-interpreted by Christians, Muslims, and even later Jews, often depending upon the situation at the time. The pivotal event of the Abraham story is the near-sacrifice of his favored son to God. Interestingly, to Jews and Christians, the favored son was Isaac, while Muslims hold Ishmael to be the favored son. Christians, of course, regard this event as a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice. Interestingly, Jewish rabbis after the time of Jesus interpreted the text to say that Abraham actually did slay Isaac, who later would return from the dead. The different interpretations of the Abraham story lead the author to conclude that there are actually a multitude of "Abrahams" to fit different historical, political, and social situations. Indeed, Fieler makes a little too much of the fact that there is no archaeological evidence that Abraham ever existed. He doesn't take a hard-line position on Abraham's existence or non-existence, so I guess one could call him an "Abraham agnostic". His ultimate goal, to find common ground and possible reconciliation among the monotheistic religions on the basis of Abraham would have a very shaky foundation indeed if it was based on a mythical character. This book is much more than a study of Abraham. It documents a personal journey by the author to the crucible where these great religions lead a frighteningly non-peaceful co-existence: the land of Israel. After reading of his encounters with various Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clerics, one sadly sees little hope for a full reconciliation. Of course, that should come as no surprise. But this little book can go a long way in cracking open the doors of understanding.
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Summary: Non-history
Review: Do not read this book if you are looking for anything resembling a work of non-fiction or scholarship. It is a meandering collection of new-age pablum.
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Summary: Great book
Review: This book, and The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren are the two outstanding books of the year in my opinion. They were both incredibly helpful and interesting to read.
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Summary: A new perspective
Review: A great book! A very insightfull work with contemporary views from clergy of all 3 faiths. It gives one a whole new perspective on Abraham and new insights into these 3 faiths.
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Summary: A Gem of Understanding
Review: Bruce Feiler is an ambassador. I've heard him speak in person, and he communicates verbally with the same thoughtfulness that he does on the page. Although "Abraham" is a quick and easy read, it offers deep wisdom and insight into the troubles of our religious struggles. Don't read this book expecting to justify your position or bolster your particular brand of faith. Feiler exposes too much dirt to give you that option. Instead, he bolsters faith as a universal concept. For those willing to join in constructive dialogue, Feiler sets the table with little-known facts as appetizers, then leads us to the main course of three religions. Showing little favoritism, he sheds light on the errors of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. He outlines the need that these three religions have for Abraham. He also outlines our need for this historical connection. With words as drink, he washes down the bad taste of extremism and offers hope for something better. I came away from this literary meal having discovered more about all three faiths, good and bad, and having found empathy and care for those that are different from me. In light of recent terrorism, I think Feiler handles the truth wisely...never shrinking from the pain, never extinguishing grace. He takes us into the thoughts of radicals and moderates on all sides. We share in his hopelessness and anger; we follow along as he offers paths to peace. No, "Abraham" doesn't throw out false hope for total reconciliation, but he does challenge us to seek for it individually. One by one, we can make a difference. I believe it's possible. Bruce Feiler, for one, is beginning to do just that.
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Summary: Very Well Written
Review: As an Arab, I thought that a book about the current conflicts occurring written by a western writer must be somewhat biased and uninformed about our culture and point of views. However, i was very surprised. The book protrays all the controversial issues that are cuasing the problem in a scientific approach rather in an argumental one. While Bruce forms his own conclusions in some pages, he still manages to leave space for the reader to analyze and conclude. Moreover, he did some hefty research into all three cultures and civilizations that made the book very professional and provacative. I really enjoyed the book and found it insightful.
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