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I just finished reading Abraham subtitled A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths . The author, Bruce Feiler, takes a physical, spiritual and emotional journey to the heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And what in incredible journey. If you want to gain an understanding of that which all three religions hold in common as well as how that very commonality has led to violence, I highly recommend this book.
The very first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, has always held fascination for me. The stories of each patriarch and matriarch are so universally profound, warts and all. None of them comes across as holy or particularly intelligent. The lessons they have to teach us are about both our humanity and our longing for the Divine at our very center. Here’s a quote from the book, quoting Sheikh Abdul Rauf describing becoming “Abrahamic:”

“First, complete devotion to God, even if it involves leaving your family and leaving your town. On another level, making our own contractual agreement with God. Each of us has a covenant to make with God, ‘ I will worship you as my God and you will take care of me’
And finally, knowing yourself on the deepest level. The prime objective of religion is to know God, but the only way to do that is to discover God within our own conciousness. This happened to Abraham, and it can happen to us. And anybody that happens to will choose to life a life in accordance with God’s practice.”

The oldest of the three monotheistic religions is Judaism, with Christianity developing 2000 years ago and Islam only 1500 years ago being a relative newcomer. It had not occured to me in the reading of the Old Testament, that neither Moses or David refer to Abraham. Nor had I remembered, though I am sure I learned this in seminary, that the first five books of the Bible, the central scripture to the Hebrew faith, was not written down until the 3rd centruy BC (or BCE to be more inclusive). The hope of the book is that all three religions can find a way to respect one another through a more complete understanding of our common ancestral father Abraham. I’m not so sure of that but this book has certainly taught me much.
I find it a bit unsettling as well as comforting that out of the whole of this book, it is the quote above with which I most agree. I believe it is only through discovering God within our own conciousness that we will find our commonality and in that I am in agreement with a Sheikh. That is what unsettles my prejudices as well as comforts me with hope.