Prophet Abraham is revered not just in Judaism, but in Christianity and Islam as well.He gave them their most cardinal principle of faith i.e. a belief in the existence of only one Almighty God.The concept of a covenant with God sealed with the sign of circumcision , and ,sustained through the institution of prophecy, continues to retain the faith and sustain the hopes of billions to this day .Finally submission and obedience to the will of God as a means of spiritual enlightenment , epitomized in his supreme trial – a willingness to sacrifice his only son when God so orders – is celebrated even to this day as the source of their blessings by all three faiths.
Seculiar scholars how ever tend to dismiss the historicity of Abraham, and believe the stories about him to be a mix of myth and legend. Yet they cannot deny that Abraham as a person – no matter mythical or historic – has had a profound affect in shaping the religious beliefs of the more than 60% of the world’s inhabitants. Even though some may hold ‘The blood of Abraham’ responsible for humanity’s greatest slaughters.
Monotheism, a covenant with God, prophecy and submission to God’s will; four concepts of such staggering spiritual dimensions, must surely have their roots is some thing other than legend. All legends have a kernel of truth. What then is the kernel of truth in The Abrahamic legends? Perchance if the seculiar scholars were to for once accept divine prophecy as a valid presumption, and then measure the promise of the covenant sustained through prophecy as a hypothesis to be proved, their findings might amaze them.
Each subject needs its own method of approach. A commen error is to apply physical criteria to the study of spiritual studies. Scholarly intellectual perception can never enable the mind to articulate or objectify The Absolute God’s working. Neither can a study of theology , since the theological format being a human artifact has the same limitation. Moreover it needs its holy book as authority - and holy books can be putty in the hands of priests!
Yet theology is unmistakingly related to the unique & living un-knowing insight of the genuine mystics of humanity. In philosophy & different spiritual traditions, this insight or "gnosis" has been given numerous names. It is related to "contemplation in the light of truth". Nevertheless, the presence of this Divine bliss sustains all spiritual traditions.
Abraham was a prophet in the mystic mould - and the prophets from his seed so many others in the same mould. It is in a study of the ‘seed’ of Abraham, that the seed of all spiritualism lies. In this blog I aim to pursue my thoughts in this direction.
