Abraham on Trial

by Delaney, Carol Lowery

• ISBN13: 9780691070506
• ISBN10: 0691070504
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-11
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Abraham on Trialquestions the foundations of faith that have made a virtue out of the willingness to sacrifice a child. Through his desire to obey God at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his son, Abraham became the definitive model of faith for the major world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this bold look at the legacy of this biblical and qur'anic story, Carol Delaney explores how the sacrifice rather than the protection of children became the focus of faith, to the point where the abuse and betrayal of children has today become widespread and sometimes institutionalized. Her strikingly original analysis also offers a new perspective on what unites and divides the peoples of the sibling religions derived from Abraham and, implicitly, a way to overcome the increasing violence among them. Delaney critically examines evidence from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpretations, from archaeology and Freudian theory, as well as a recent trial in which a father sacrificed his child in obedience to God's voice, and shows how the meaning of Abraham's story is bound up with a specific notion of fatherhood. The preeminence of the father (which is part of the meaning of the name Abraham) comes from the still operative theory of procreation in which men transmit life by means of their "seed," an image that encapsulates the generative, creative power that symbolically allies men with God. The communities of faith argue interminably aboutwhois the true seed of Abraham, who can claim the patrimony, but until now, no one has askedwhatis this seed. Kinship and origin myths, the cultural construction of fatherhood and motherhood, suspicions of actual child sacrifices in ancient times, and a revisiting of Freud's Oedipus complex all contribute to Delaney's remarkably rich discussion. She shows how the story of Abraham legitimates a hierarchical structure of authority, a specific form of family, definitions of gender, and the value of obedience that have become the bedrock of society. The question she leaves us with is whether we should perpetuate this story and the lessons it teaches.

Author Biography

Carol Delaney is Associate Professor in Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University. She has a Master's degree in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Doctorate in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	5	(10)
PART ONE ABRAHAM ON TRIAL	15	(54)
Abraham on Trial: Case for the Prosecution	17	(18)
Abraham as Alibi? A Trial in California	35	(34)
PART TWO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND BIBLICAL EVIDENCE	69	(36)
Child Sacrifice: Practice or Symbol?	71	(16)
Child Sacrifice in the Bible	87	(18)
PART THREE RELIGIOUS DEFENSES AND THEIR SILENCES	105	(82)
Religious Defenses: Prolegomenon	107	(4)
Jewish Traditions	111	(26)
Christian Commentary	137	(25)
Muslim Interpretations	162	(25)
PART FOUR THE TESTIMONY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS	187	(44)
Freud's Blind Spot	189	(22)
Sa(l)vaging Freud	211	(20)
PART FIVE THE SOCIAL LEGACY	231	(20)
Sacrificing Our Children	233	(18)
Conclusion	251	(4)
Notes	255	(40)
Select Bibliography	295	(22)
Index	317