The Roots of Violence in our religions
May 30, 2008
By Dave
A new book by Bruce Chilton, “Abraham’s Curse: The roots of violence in our religions” was reviewed recently in the Jerusalem Post.
Chilton focuses on the story of the binding of Isaac / Ishmael as the archetypal story of martyrdom, but also finds numerous correctives from sacred texts in each tradition that clearly indicate that God does not want human beings to sacrifice ourselves or our children.
Chilton’s bottom line is that “the time is now for the Abrahamic religions to find a safe way down from Mount Moriah”, ie we need to overcome our violent histories and learn to live with each other.
Abraham’s Curse is available at Amazon.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: abraham, books, violence.
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1. Susan Frykberg | June 2nd, 2008 at 3:40 am
Yes, living together. That is what we must do. Does anyone know any intentional multifaith communities? Agape, susan
2. christianliberal | September 12th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
The trouble seems to be the distortion of martyrdom, corrupting it with violence. It’s original meaning was to sacrifice for others.
You might enjoy seeing my post on this at:
http://christianliberal.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/on-terrorism-martyrs-and-virgins-oh-my/
where research into Near-Death Experiences sheds light on the subject.