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by Dr Jones on May 3rd, 2009

Dr Jones

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What was the religion of Abraham and how do you know this? Also, was Abraham a monotheist? He may have only worshiped one God, but is that the same as believing in only one God?

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  • by Hyperion is back in China on May 4th, 2009

    Hyperion is back in China

    +3 Good question - I had along debate on Youtube about this with someone a few months ago.
    .
    Firstly Abraham's religion - He didn't really have what we would recognize as a classifiable religion today (Judaism, Islam, Christianity). He dealt directly with God, albeit sometimes through God's messengers, and he did what God told him to do. There were some others like him and others too that followed him but in Abrahams lifetime the number was fairly small. Too small to be classed as a religion itself yet. It is tempting to assign Judaism to Abraham but this would be wrong. Judaism really only began around the time of Moses with God giving of laws and codes of Judaism and entry into the promised land after the exodus from Egypt. There were somew proto- Judaic elements and behaviors from Abrahams' time but it had not at that time matured into what was to be called Judaism.
    .
    (side note: I know there has been some suggestions on AB recently that Abraham was in fact a Muslim. I don't feel that this has enough credibilty to warrant a detailed reply - so I will just say that I strongly disagree with that position)
    .
    So going back to the one God or more than one god issue; When you read the OT you naturally expect it to be full of statements about there being only one God - this was after all one of or maybe the defining point of Judaism. They believed only in Yahweh, everyone else had a pantheon gods. But as those that have read the Bible with an open mind know only too well, what you are lead to believe or what you expect to be stated in categorical and emphatic fashion is often not there at all or is almost brushed over in the briefest of mentions.
    .
    Such is the case with the 'one god' concept. In the OT from the creation in Genesis right up till about 700BC around the time of Isaiah, there is not one single definitive statement that God (Yahweh/Elohim/Jehovah is the only god that exists - even though this was supposedly the fact that gave Judaism it's identity and differentiated it from the other bronze age cults.
    .
    It is however, strongly suggested in a number of passages that not only the early Jews, but God himself, believed that there were more than one god in existence, albeit that these other Gods were lesser entities than Yahweh (Exodus 12:12 is a prime example). This worship of one God and the acceptance that there are nevertheless other gods in existence is a form of Henotheism. It is not the pure Monotheism that Judaism would later become.
    .
    My own opinion is that in these early days of the Jewish religion, the always pragmatic Jews, whilst believing in Yahweh, also wanted to hedge their bets a little in case Yahweh came up against a more powerful entity at some point in the future.
    .
    For over a thousand years after the time of Abraham, there is no scripture that clearly confirms the Jewsish peoples to be monotheistic despite there being seemingly many perfect opportunites for God to tell them that he is the one and only God. In fact the wording of these passages is extremely carefully chosen so that is doesn't deny the existence of other gods. Most people at some point must have wondered at the odd wording of the first commandment;
    .
    Exodus 20:1-17. Here is the verse:

    And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

    1. You shall have no other gods before me.
    .
    Notice 'I am your' god rather than I am The Lord God Almighty and there are no others.
    .
    Now given that God at this point was both jealous of and preoccupied with the popularity of another regional god 'Baal', what better opportunity would there have been to expose Baal as pure myth than in the commandments - yet he doesn't do so.
    .
    It is only when you get to around the time of Isaiah and the post Babylonian exile period that Yahweh becomes universally held by the Jews to be the one and only God.

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  • by iwnit on May 5th, 2009

    iwnit

    1) Abraham, as he is known from the Bible, "is held as a founding father in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions." However, his historicity is questioned by modern science.

    2) "Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Modern Avraham Tiberian ʾAḇrāhām Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom ; Arabic: إبراهيم‎, Ibrāhīm ; Ge'ez: አብርሃም, ʾAbrəham) features in the Book of Genesis as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and the founder of monotheism. According to Genesis 17:5, his name was changed by God from Abram (probably meaning "the father is exalted") to Abraham, a name which Genesis explains as meaning "father of many".
    Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah and the 20th from Adam . His father was Terah, and his brothers were Nahor and Haran. According to Genesis, Abraham was sent by God from his home in Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, the land promised to his descendants by Yahweh. There Abraham entered into a covenant: in exchange for recognition of YHWH as his God, Abraham will be blessed with innumerable progeny and the land would belong to his descendants.

    Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the progenitor role Abraham plays in their holy books. In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham Avinu or "Abraham, our Father". God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world will come to be blessed (Genesis 12:3), interpreted in Christian tradition as a reference particularly to Christ. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel through his son Isaac (cf. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 32:13) by his wife Sarah. For Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other son Ishmael - born to him by his second wife, Hagar. (Jews and Christians refer to Hagar as Sarah's servant). Abraham is also a progenitor of the Semitic tribes of the Negev who trace their descent from their common ancestor Sheba (Genesis 10:28)."

    "Abraham is held as a founding father in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. Genesis states that the nation of Israel descended from him through his second son, Isaac. Many Arab nations are said to have descended from him through his first son, Ishmael, and Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad is his direct descendent."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham

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  • by Don Gorgeous George on May 9th, 2009

    Don Gorgeous George

    The truth is that Abraham worshipped an egregore. Energy for this egregore was harvested through the prayers of believers of the false God of the christian bible, you know the father of Jesus, and with the thought energy of those who knowingly worshipped the egregore. Thy kingdom come, really means the kingdom of Jewish rule over the gentile people, the NWO. Christians are obviously unaware of this and continue to sacrifice their lives for a cause that is damning their children's future. Much more evidence of this can be found researching the Jewish Talmud. Not all Jewish people are in on it, just a very powerful group at the top. This has been the plan since the beginning and the purpose of the bible was to pave the way.

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  • by kitten on May 9th, 2009

    kitten

    How would be a monotheist be different from believing in one God?

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  • by invisible0007 on May 9th, 2009

    invisible0007

    According to history, Abraham descended from a group of nomads- his father lived in Ur which is a pagan country. His father was known to trade with other countries around the middle east. And if I'm not wrong some of the things they trade are religious items for pagan worship. Abraham was from a pagan family. Most of ancient religions worshipped more than one god. Until Moses encountered God who revealed Himself as One true God..that will bring out a great nation from Abram- his name was changed into Abraham -father of many.

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  • by JESUS-IS-MUSLIM on May 6th, 2009

    JESUS-IS-MUSLIM

    ISLAM: The Religion of All Prophets


    ISLAM is not a new religion but the final culmination and fulfillment of the same basic truth that ALLAH (God) revealed through all His prophets to every people.

    Islam (in Arabic) means the total submisiion to the will of Allah (God) and a Muslim is the person who totally submits to the will of Allah (God). For that, all prophets sents by Allah (God) were MUSLIMS because they all totally submitted to the will of Allah (God).

    As there is only ONE GOD, there is only One Religion. Islam is the preserved pure religion of all prophets sent by ALLAH (GOD). Islam means the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God). Therefore, all prophets were indeed MUSLIMS because they were true submitters to the will of ALLAH, the Creator.

    "Truly, the religion with Allah (God) is Islam. Those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) did not differ except, out of mutual jealousy, after knowledge had come to them. And whoever disbelieves in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, then surely, Allah is Swift in calling to account." [The Noble Quran 3:19]

    "And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [The Noble Quran 3:85]


    (1) Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) was MUSLIM

    "Ibrahim (Abraham) was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim Hanifa (Islamic Monotheism - to worship none but Allah Alone) and he was not of Al-Mushrikun (the disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, idolaters, polytheists, pagans, etc.)" [The Noble Quran 3:67]

    "And this (submission to Allah, Islam) was enjoined by Ibrahim (Abraham) upon his sons and by Ya'qub (Jacob)(saying), "O my sons! Allah has chosen for you the (true) religion, then die not except in the Faith of Islâm (as Muslims - Islamic Monotheism)." [The Noble Quran 2:132]

    (2) Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him) was MUSLIM

    Joseph said: "My Lord! You have indeed bestowed on me of the sovereignty, and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams - the (Only) Creator of the heavens and the earth! You are my Wali (Protector, Helper, Supporter, Guardian, God, Lord) in this world and in the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim (the one submitting to Your Will), and join me with the righteous." [The Noble Quran 12:101]

    (3) Prophet Jacob and his sons were MUSLIMS

    "Or were you witnesses when death approached Ya'qub (Jacob)? When he said unto his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We shall worship your Ilah (God - Allah), the Ilah (God) of your fathers, Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), One Ilah (God), and to Him we submit (in Islam, Muslims)." [The Noble Quran 2:133]

    (4) Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) and his disciples were MUSLIMS

    "Then when 'Isa (Jesus) came to know of their disbelief, he said: "Who will be my helpers in Allah's Cause?" Al-Hawariun (the disciples) said: "We are the helpers of Allah; we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are Muslims (i.e. we submit to Allah)." [The Noble Quran 3:52]

    "And when I (Allah) revealed to Al-Hawarieen (the disciples)(of 'Isa (Jesus)) to believe in Me and My Messenger, they said: "We believe. And bear witness that we are Muslims." [The Noble Quran 5:111].

    =====================


    Jesus using the word "Muslim" in Luke 6:40 in Aramaic; the language Jesus spoke while he preached the words of GOD Almighty:

    Let us look at Luke 6:40 from N.I.V. Bible "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."

    Let us look at what Jesus said in Luke 6:40 in the language of Aramaic translated into Hebrew as shown below:

    "Ein talmeed na'leh 'al rabbo; shekken kal adam she'MUSHLAM yihyeh k'rabbo."

    Taken from the Aramaic bible society.

    Note: Aramaic and Hebrew are read from right to left, which is apposite to English.

    Translation in English: "No student can be above his teacher, but everyone that is a MUSLIM, can be as his teacher."

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