Abraham: Trials of Family and Faith (Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament)
"This interesting study by noted Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim, based on wide reading and deep reflection, is accessible to general readers, students, clergy, and scholars alike. It may be thoroughly recommended for its literary sensitivity and the theological insight it provides into the Abraham narratives in Genesis 12-25; the roles of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Ishmael are all helpfully illuminated. Nowadays, Abraham is often appealed to as a figure held in common between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is therefore good that Fretheim's final chapter helpfully analyses the differing representations of Abraham in biblical and postbiblical Jewish literature, the New Testament, and the Koran."--John Day, professor of Old Testament Studies, Oxford University"Fretheim stays at the cutting edge of interpretation with his distinctive and compelling combination of critical acumen and theological sensitivity. Fretheim has for a long time pondered the Genesis texts and he brings his great learning to this book. But he also moves into the new questions concerning Abraham as 'father of faith' who summons Jews, Christians, and Muslims to think again and to read together as far as we can. Fretheim shows the way in which the interpretive traditions of Jews and Christians have lingered over Abraham. We have come a long way from both innocent pre-critical thought and from arid criticism. Fretheim is a reliable, first-rate guide for new paths of discernment. I cannot imagine a study that better serves the series of Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament."--Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary