Note: Abraham’s
original name was Abram; God changed his name at a specific point in his life.
For simplicity, I will use the name Abraham in this post.
The account in Genesis where God asks Abraham to sacrifice
his son Isaac baffles many people. One problem is that we approach this story with our own cultural bias, and
therefore, the story confuses us. We are analyzing this story while wearing
specific lenses. We are taking the things we know, such as the nature of God, the
Ten Commandments (“thou shall not kill”), the revelation of Christ, and
teachings of the Church, and refereeing the situation. Keep in mind, Abraham
did not have any of these as a guide.
Abraham was not a Jew, he was a pagan from the city of Ur (ancient
Mesopotamia; modern-day Iraq). For much of his life, he worshiped false gods. Human
sacrifice was a common religious practice in ancient times throughout various
cultures; the ancient people of Ur were no exception. Abraham lived within a
culture that viewed human sacrifice as a common religious ritual. Sometimes,
the victim would even volunteer! For Abraham, a normal, everyday response in order
to please a god was to offer sacrifices to that god. This could include a human
sacrifice.
