Fair and Balanced - Great Historical Read
I picked up this book because I'm a history buff and have found that the interesting stories of the Old Testament were rather glossed over my childhood Sunday School classes and adult church services. I found the stories as told by Bruce Feiler fascinating and I really enjoyed learning about the similarities and differences between the three faiths. Knowing that the author was jewish, I was prepared for a jewish slant, but found he treated all three religions very fairly and gave equal time to all. His conclusion is that all three religions have interpreted Abraham for their own, that generations in each religion have and will continue to re-interpret Abraham, and that this is not necessarily a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing when one religion tries to claim Abraham (and other religious figures, events, practices)exclusivley for itself and shut out the other religions. I listened to this book on audio cd and enjoyed listening to the author read the book himself. His extensive research and enthusiasm for the subject made for a great audio book.
My journey
This book gives a fascinating look at the past by bringing it to life in terms of our modern
life. I would recommend it to others who like myself, are searching for a distant root.
Bruce is a master at this subject. Plese read all his books.
Panoramic on the Patriarch
Bruce Feiler lives life to the fullest. He learns. He travels. He experiences deeply spiritual journeys. He writes well, and using his literary skills along with the other things noted above, Feiler produces books that take us with him on each grandiose voyage. His book, Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, does not disappoint.
As in his other works, Walking the Bible and Where God Was Born, Feiler openly identifies himself as a man of Jewish faith raised in the American South. His cultural context clearly noted, he then dives into the murky waters of searching for truth. Abraham may well be the most difficult project for Feiler as a man of faith. He painstakingly notes numerous ways in which followers of his own ethnic and religious tradition has molded sacred texts and crafted oral tradition so as to support their own agenda. He treats commentators and interpreters of Islam and Christianity in like fashion.
Across the narrative, the book gives a snapshot of Islam, Christianity and the Jewish religion with emphasis on how each claims a foundation in the patriarch Abraham.
Abraham provides a close investigation of the multifaceted and crafty, traveling monotheist. Using the texts of the Hebrew Bible, the Koran and numerous commentaries, Brue Feiler struggles with the dualism of Abraham, as both a unifier and a divider. Unquestionably for the majority of the world's religious followers, Abraham stands as a father of polemic children, making him the father of three international and contentious religions. Indeed Abraham is the father of the faith. Given all who claim lineage, Abraham's promise of offspring numbering as many as the grains of sand came to fruition. Can the father figure Abraham heal his larger than life, fractured and estranged family as it exists today?
Great Read
THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ABRAHAM. IT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER IF THE AUTHOR WOULD ALSO HAVE READ THE LDS BOOK CALLED THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE!! IT GIVES AN EVEN BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ABRAHAM
Bringing together the thinking of 3 faiths
Best read on the subject. Enlightening, showing how the history of religion has been manipulated by three faiths for their own people set in the times of the writing.
(92 reviews)
