Comments:Chronological Reverse Threaded

morosoph wrote today at 8:13 AM, edited today at 9:42 AM
Read Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" for a radical and religious insight into this story.Then there's always Leonard Cohen's classic song "Story of Isaac":
The door it opened slowly,My father he came in, I was nine years old.And he stood so tall above me,His blue eyes they were shiningAnd his voice was very cold.He said, I've had a visionAnd you know I'm strong and holy,I must do what I've been told.So he started up the mountain,I was running, he was walking,And his axe was made of gold.Well, the trees they got much smaller,The lake a lady's mirror,We stopped to drink some wine.Then he threw the bottle over.Broke a minute laterAnd he put his hand on mine.Thought I saw an eagleBut it might have been a vulture,I never could decide.Then my father built an altar,He looked once behind his shoulder,He knew I would not hide.You who build these altars nowTo sacrifice these children,You must not do it any more.A scheme is not a visionAnd you never have been temptedBy a demon or a god.You who stand above them now,Your hatchets blunt and bloody,You were not there before,When I lay upon a mountainAnd my fathers hand was tremblingWith the beauty of the word.And if you call me brother now,Forgive me if I inquire,Just according to whose plan?When it all comes down to dustI will kill you if I must,I will help you if I can.When it all comes down to dustI will help you if I must,I will kill you if I can.And mercy on our uniform,Man of peace or man of war,The peacock spreads his fan.


ginaslove wrote today at 12:56 PM
I believe ,it was a test of obedience that the God of Abraham was asking him to do . After waiting all those years for a son ,God wanted to see who was loved more . The son or Him (meaning God )

mercedo wrote today at 9:52 PM
Ok, you believe in God and every night and day you pray. God is invisible and keeps silent. One day you insist God ordered to kill your son. Are you going to do by order of invisible silent being? It is better for us to take God for his conscience. The situation Abraham had to consider killing his only son is nothing but for Abraham's own sake. It is natural for us to guess that he must have had a time of starvation.


ullangoo wrote today at 7:50 PM
Yes, the test interpretation is the traditional one. It's not logical to me. If God knows everything, he'd know what Abraham would do, so why put him - and Isaac! - through that? For all I know, the myth may be a memory of a time when human sacrifice was practiced.


mercedo wrote today at 10:56 PM
ullangoo saidFor all I know, the myth may be a memory of a time when human sacrifice was practiced. I think so, too.
Reply deleted at the request of the author.


iamrevmike wrote today at 9:43 PM
It is foreshadowing. Abraham was willing to make the same sacrifice that God actually made, thereby man kind was worthy of salvation.


mercedo wrote today at 10:53 PM
Abraham was willing to offer his only son but he didn't have to do that. God sent Jesus to redeem the original sin Adam made. Jesus was crucified but resurrected soon. He ascended to heaven and now he is going to rule God's Kingdom. thereby man kind was worthy of salvation.God created Adam and Adam was given free will. He practiced the free will and got an original sin. Jesus is God's only son and sent to save mankind. God loves humans as deep as he sent his only son. It's hard to understand Christian theology.


ullangoo wrote today at 11:00 PM
mercedo saidIt's hard to understand Christian theology. I won't contradict you on this, my friend.


ullangoo wrote today at 10:01 PM
Mer - the last thing a parent would do if the family starved was to kill his/her children. Most parents would rather kill themselves so that the children could survive. It's an insane interpretation. Abraham, I think, was used to getting answers from God. Personally, if I received such a message: that I had to kill my child or any child, I'd go looking for another object of worship.

mercedo wrote today at 10:32 PM
In Hebrew Biblical times there is one description that parents killed their child to feed themselves in time of extreme starvation. I think it's not uncommon for ancient people to eat their kids.


ullangoo wrote today at 10:58 PM
I think killing (and eating) children has always been extremely rare. Basic human instincts haven't changed that much.On the other hand: we know human sacrifice from many so-called primitive religions. There are indications that they at least sometimes were done with the victim's consent. What Abraham performs is obviously a cult ritual - the altar and so on.