Meaning of Religions Adherence to the Abrahamic Tradition - Essay Example

Meaning of religions adherence to the “Abrahamic tradition”   Abraham was the son of Terah, husbandto Sarah and father to Isaac, different religions use his life experiences in theological teachings. Abraham Is viewed as a very important figure in theology, believers in different religions view themselves to be the offspring’s of Abraham. Religions use Abraham’s tradition to date mainly in terms of his story as per the different canons, which mainly portrays faithfulness and obedience in God almighty. Adhering to a “Abrahamic tradition” in either Christianity, islam or Judaism means to stick to the teachings in the Abraham story, and to stick to the qualities portrayed by this patriarch. Adhering to a tradition that is historicary and theologically interconnected to two other religions means to stick to something common among all religions, as all of them believe in the existence of only one God The Jews use the Hebrew bible as their canon, the canon contains the story and the portrayals of Abraham Jews refer to Abraham as Abram, which later changed to Abraham after the making of the covenant, in the canon Abraham is the son of Terah, husband to Sarah and father to Isaac. In Judaism, sticking to the Abraham tradition is because of his obedience in God and the faith he had in God, Abraham was righteous. The covenant he made with God, which is to make him the father of all nations with circumcision as the physical evidence to show all his descendants, is also very important in Judaism. Abraham was a man full of faith and obedience, when God called Abraham and instructed him to leave his home Haran to go to an identified destination Abraham obeyed and left, God however made a covenant with Abraham used up to date by the Jews . The covenant between God and Abraham was that of giving him many descendants, as the stars in heaven, that is from Abraham a great nation would emerge that would greatly benefit human kind. Despite the fact that Abraham and Sarah and no children, Abraham had faith in God that he would fulfil his promise by giving him a son Jews view circumcision very important up to date, they believe that for all the descendants of Abraham circumcision should be necessary just as the Hebrew bible states that the covenant is everlasting to all the descendants of Abraham. Judaism religion is guided by the covenant in which the followers believe to have emerged; this brings to the religion the meaning of Abraham in their teachings. Jews also have the believe in the faith and the obedience that Abraham had in the almighty God. 1. Trible, Phyllis, and Letty M. Russell, Hagar, Sarah, and their children: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006) Even with all the doubt that Sarah had after God promised them a son, Abraham kept his faith and believed that God would keep his word. Acts of faith and obedience are displayed all through the story of Abraham, from leaving his land, to accepting the covenant and circumcision. This Abrahamic tradition acts as a guiding stone for Judaism religion. Abraham still accepted to make the covenant with God no matter all the impossibilities it had. Jews highly value Abraham’s acceptance to make the covenant with God with circumcision as the physical evident and hence believe that all Jews should be circumcised, as they believe they are all the descendants of Abraham and circumcision was to be the physical sign to the descendants. Sticking to the Abraham tradition forms a major pillar in Judaism religion as it guides them on the moral characteristics they should have towards God. God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham proceeded to try and sacrifice him to God. This portrays Abrahams believe in only one almighty God, to an extent he was willing to sacrifice his son for him, this brings in the theological believe of monotheism Muslims use the Quran as their canon; the canon refers to the Muslim as Ibrahim, son of Terah, husband to Sarah and father to Isaac. Abraham portrayals in his story act as some of the guiding principles to the believes in the Islam religion. Muslims use Abrahams in their theological teachings mostly due to the characteristics he possessed To the Muslim Ibrahim as they call him, was a man that was faithful, truthful and kind, they refer to him as a friend of God. Hence they believe that they have to possess this characteristics to be holy enough and be close to Allah the Quran repeatedly refers to Abraham as “hanif” which basically means a man full of faith, this shows that all Abrahams actions as per the Quran were guided by the faith and the obedience he had in God. All these Abrahams characteristics that guide the islam religion come from his story, Abraham leaves his father and his people to go to an unknown land as instructed by god shows his obedience in Allah, after reaching the unknown land he still builds a sacred shrine of him and his family to worship. All his portrayals on faith bring the central believe to the Muslim that all actions should be guided by faith in God 2. McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān (Leiden: Brill, 20012006), 5-8 As per the Quran Abraham possessed the quality of submission, most Muslims possess this quality of submission which guides them .the story of Abraham guides the islam religion, it also guides the theological teachings on faithfulness, submissiveness and the qualities all the believers should have to become “friends of Allah.” The believe and the use of the story in the theological teachings help the religion to grow in the way it is supposed to and the followers to attain the qualities of obedience, trust, and faithfulness in God To the Muslims these Abrahamic tradition is one that runs through all the religions, however there might be a few differences, for example the Muslim believe that Abraham existed long before Judaism and the Christian religion began. To the Muslim Abraham was somewhat a Muslim as the Islam religion existed long before the other religions. The Abrahamic traditions however give the true meaning of having faith in God. The Muslims try to be like Abraham, a man they believe to be truthful, gracious and kind. They believe that as a Muslim each of them should possess these qualities in order to be righteous and also become “friends of God”. By possessing these qualities the believers and the followers all become closer to God, this can be shown through the Abrahams story. Through his possession of the quality of faithfulness and obedience in god brought him closer to an extent where God told him what he was planning to do, for example God told Abraham that he was to destroy Soddom and Gomorrah To the Muslims adhering to the Abrahamic tradition makes the followers of the religion ”friends of God”, Abrahams possession of the quality of submission is also adapted by the Muslims mainly during the periods of fasting Abraham’s story portrays monotheism; all through Abraham stuck to only one God, the almighty God. When Abraham argued with God on Soddom and Gomorra fate, God still destroyed everybody in the two cities, but still Abraham kept his faith and obedience in Him The Christians use the bible as their canon, the canon contains that Abrahamic story which Christians use in their theological teachings to symbolize different things. Abrahams as per the bible was the son of Terah, husband to Sarah and father to Isaac. The story of Abraham symbolizes mainly faith and obedience in God, quality that all the Christians believe they should possess. In his story, Abraham left his homeland to anta unknown land as instructed by God, this already shows that Abraham possessed the character of obedience in God. The bible include Abraham both in the new and the old testament, Abrahams faith and obedience in in both the old testament and the new testament, all through the old testament the patriarchs portrays his faith and obedience in God. The New Testament states that once one dies he rests in Abrahams bosom, a place the Christians believe to be paradise for the faithful. The only way to get to this paradise once one dies is to have faith in Gods only begotten son Jesus Christ Christians believe that the lineage that Jesus Christ came from was that of Abraham. Redemption for both the Christians is through Christ, this redemption can only occur to those with faith like that of Abraham in Christ. Abrahams tradition brings a more spiritual interpretation regarding the covenant an what it is to be Abrahams descendant, with faith and obedience the Christians believe that one can be righteous, and through faith also all the believers become the descendants of Abraham After reaching the unknown land God made a covenant with Abraham , in which God promises him to be the father of all those who are faithful, the covenant was sealed by physical evidence of circumcision. The Christians believe that all people school follow the footsteps of Abraham and possess all the qualities, the qualities of faithfulness and obedience believe to form the pillars of the Christian religion. Faithfulness in God is evident all through the story of Abraham, God promises Abraham that he would give him a son and make him he father of the nation in spite the fact that Sarah was barren; Obedience in God by Abraham is evident where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac All through the story of Abraham there has been portrayals of monotheism believe, Abraham even with all God wanted him to do, for example sacrifice Isaac he continued to believe in only this one God. This forms the main pillar in the Christian religion, the believe in one God, the creator of all both the heavenly and the earthly. In relation to Abrahams story Christians believe that they everybody both the gentiles and the Jews should possess the qualities Abraham had in order to become righteous before God and rest in Abrahams bosom Abrahams traditions is used in theological teachings in Christianity to bring the Christians closer to God as his story gives an example on the way people should live before God and also shows the that they should embrace the new word in a spirit of oneness. Obedience and faithfulness are the main qualities each believer should have in God in order to enter his kingdom 3. John Kaltner, Ishmael instructs Isaac: introduction to the Quran for Bible readers (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical press, 1999),81-93 4. Monotheism: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Film, Directed by Corinna Guerrero. SCTR: Santa Clara University, 2014 Conclusion Adhering to a tradition that is historically, textually and theologically interconnected symbolizes unity. All through the canons, the story of Abraham and monotheism the key point is unity in human kind. One of the main theme in these stories is unity, in monotheism God the creator is portrayed to be singular, one and indivisible.to the religions if God has oneness so should the human kind, in the story of Abraham, he is promised descendants that will form one unified nation, this also portrays that human kind should live in unity. The traditions taught in the Abrahams story run through the different religions as they provide guidance on how humanity should live, the qualities each individual should possess to becomes “friends of almighty God. Bibliography Gentz, William H.The Dictionary of Bible and religion Nashvilles: Abingdon,1986 Read More