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Article: Abe's other son: Jews and Arabs, both descendants of Abraham and recipients of God's covenants. (Vox populi - Justice for all).(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Presbyterian Record
- Article date:
- November 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Presbyterian Record. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Call me Ishmael. Melville begins his whale of a novel like this because the narrator is a relative outsider, and at last a castaway.
Now Father Abraham had two sons. The first was born to his concubine, Hagar -- a legitimate procedure then; indeed, his wife arranged it -- when he was getting old and thought Sarah could not produce a son and heir. Abe did this for God's sake, in order that the covenant could bear fruit through his offspring. Had not God said, "[N]umber the stars if you can ... so shall your descendants be" (Genesis 15:5)?
Then Abe had a visit from three messengers ("angels," although the old theologians used to insist that the one who ...