thentian

Oh, there are lots of example of son-sacrificing in mythologies from around the world! I found this site while looking for one I remembered from Norse mythology:

http://www.bartleby.com/196/65.html

Notice this interesting passage towards the end: "...It was an ancient custom in a crisis of great danger that the ruler of a city or nation should give his beloved son to die for the whole people, as a ransom offered to the avenging demons..."

karlmarx

And YHWH was so "merciful" that he stopped Abe's hand at the last minute. As far as gods go, you can't get more "merciful" than that.

John Kesler

What's interesting about this promise is that everything in it--which Genesis 22 claims was given because Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac--had already been promised, which leads me to believe that vv 15-18 are probably a later gloss, reinterpreting the promises as a reward for Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

thentian

He became even more merciful later on, didn't he? In order to save the lot of us from his own rightful wrath at us being descendants of Adam (thus being guilty of eating the wrong fruit), he sacrificed himself to himself in order to impress himself so much that he would forgive us! But only if we believe this story. Otherwise it's the pits for the lot of us! :frown:

Cheers!

thentian

Or it could be that all of it is later gloss. This site claims that modern arcaelogists are denying the entire Moses story and everything preceding it:

http://www.worldagesarchive.com/Refe..._(Harpers).htm

I don't really need archaelogists to tell me that we're dealing with fiction here, so I can't be bothered to check the veracity of that site, but I'm posting it anyway in case someone is interested.

Cheers!

RareBird

God digs bagels more than whatever bread the arabs schmear hummus on. The Jews offered god a special exclusive discount deal on bagels if he didn't even check out what the ginnies of chinks were baking. So, the deal was done and the rest as they say is hischtory.

Chili

Couldn't be because there is only one Johnny Skeptic

karlmarx

Maybe. Or, alternatively, it was all part of the "plan". Imagine Abe's consternation when YHWH appears to be going back on his promise... and the level of faith he had to muster to nevertheless follow His orders. Ultimately, YHWH does fulfill his promise, so it's not like He goes back on His word.

One could argue that YHWH should have known that Abe would go through with it, given that YHWH is omniscient, and that therefore he needn't have put poor Abe or Isaac through the ordeal. Or, alternatively, that Abe shouldn't have blindly followed such orders, even if they came from YHWH.

However, I think that would be missing the point of the story, because IMO it's not meant to be history. It's cultural origins mythology with a moral. The author wanted to instil somthing in his readers. The moral of the story for Jews IMO (if not interpreted literally but allegorically) is obviously to retain strength of conviction even when faced with an apparently insurmountable set of circumstances.

Interpreted literally, however, it can only be seen as the bizarre behaviour of a psychotic father, taking orders from an imaginary friend.

juergen

Or as a psychotic God who, on one hand knows all, and on the other hand says

He really wants to destroy them, and he also just wants a nation. If not them, someone else.

John Kesler

The problem with this view is that Genesis 22 does not evidence an omniscient Yahweh, in contrast to later pasages such as Isaiah 42:8-9. Notice that God had to discover if Abraham would go through with the sacrifice: