Abraham the Missionary? The Call of Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Inter-Religious Studies

Issue

13

First Page

67

Last Page

71

Publication Date

2-18-2014

Abstract

Probably more than any other in the Hebrew Bible (or what Christians call the Old Testament), this passage—the so-called “Call of Abraham”—is regularly used to explain not only why God chose Israel but also what God’s larger plan is for the world. I should clarify, however, that this is almost exclusively with respect to Christian interpreters, or those with an interest in Christian theology. This is a crucial point, and in some ways is the crux of my reflections in this paper: It seems to be taken for granted by many Christian interpreters that Genesis 12:1-3 is not only an important passage but a key passage, one that explains God’s election of Israel and unlocks the meaning of the rest of the Bible. Further, it needs to be underlined that this is in distinction to Jewish readers, those who usually understand the passage to be important, but for other reasons. In this short paper I will examine why this might be so and I will suggest that readings of this type can in fact be harmful for Jewish-Christian relations, inaccurate with respect to election theology, and can reveal a subtle form of supersessionism that is best avoided.

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