this book has enriched/will enrich my study of the old testament, new testament, the book of mormon, and the doctrine and covenants maybe more than any other book i’ve ever read. HIGHLY recommend for any believing LDS member (or christian, jewish, or islamic believer) as it seems that everything in the gospel is about abraham and his covenant with God.
This is among the most enlightening, well-written books I have ever read. I would describe it as "eye-opening" and hopefully "life-changing". The author has presented, in surprising detail, the life and character of this great man and his equally great wife, Sarah, drawing on Scripture and historical apocryphal sources. Because Abraham is such a key figure in three major world religions -- Christianity, Islam and Judaism, there is a wealth of ancient writings from all three religious sources dealing with his life. I found myself pondering and trying to digest the content of each paragraph. Every word and phrase seem to be carefully chosen and ordered. In that sense, it is certainly no page turner, but it stimulates a great deal of contemplation and self-evaluation. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
Abraham now is a real person to me with a story and personality. I love so much all that I learned here. I also so so so loved contemplating and learning more about Sarah!
“…everything Abraham did prefigured what would happen to his posterity.”
“All things seem to zero in on him. He has been called ‘the most pivotal and strategic figure in all of human history.’ In his position he binds all things together and gives meaning and purpose to everything that happened.”
“And just what is Zion? As the revelations make clear, it is a condition of heart that we are commanded to live now, as well as an order of things that we are commanded to create and that will someday prevail on the earth—again.”
“They were a team working in perfect harmony, mutually dependent and wholly committed to each other and the greater good of the marriage and the mission God had given them. If she is mentioned less in this book than he, she was no less important, nor, I am convinced, would she feel slighted in the least. Jewish tradition emphasizes not only that her life was a tapestry of perfection, but that her prophetic power and spiritual capacity in certain ways actually exceeded that of her husband.”
“…it is not enough to merely serve as an example of goodness. Sometimes it is necessary to fight actively to eradicate evil.”
“…he acted out of hesed, a Hebrew word whose meaning includes loving-kindness and mercy. The Psalmist declared that “the world is built on hesed,””
“…could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousand years, if he had received no persecution.”…great though Abraham was, he became greater with each triumphant surmounting of a new trial.” As did his future posterity, as understood by Judaism: every trial that he had “remained with us and became a part of us” as God proceeded each time “to chisel a new trait into the eternity of Israel.””
“Abraham’s miraculous deliverance on the altar in Ur may well be history’s most prophetic similitude of the Second Coming.”
“God takes “His chosen, His loved ones, those who walk with Him,” to a place of closer fellowship with God.”
“”Abraham sought for his appointment to the priesthood,” emphasized President Spencer W. Kimball; “he did not wait for God to come to him; he sought diligently through prayer and obedient living to learn the will of God.””
“Abraham “was willing to give up a certainty for an uncertainty—to leave all that he saw around him, for an unseen possession—to resign what was actually his, for something that was only promised.” But “cheerfully and hopefully he set out.” Faith would be one of his constants; it “directed him in the whole course of his life.”
“The people of Enoch’s city were changed from mortality to a sanctified condition so that they “should not die at that time,” but should serve as “ministering angels” until that future day when they will experience “a change equivalent to death” and then enter into the fullness of God’s rest.”
“Abraham is the great example of the path to sainthood available to anyone who becomes “full of love” and, in a childlike manner, becomes “submissive, meek, humble, patient” and “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father””
“”The crime of ingratitude,” noted President Joseph Fielding Smith, “is one of the most prevalent and . . . one of the greatest with which mankind is afflicted. The more the Lord blesses us the less we love him.””
“only one who truly fears God can be without fear of man. The courage and strength of character needed to face the trials and tribulations of our world can come only from a deep and abiding faith in God and his goodness.”
“God has never worked miracles for men “until after their faith,” so that when they finally “saw with their [mortal] eyes” what they had hoped for, it was only after “they had beheld [it] with an eye of faith””
“…the righteous man never feels secure in his righteousness. He is always on guard against some shortcoming in himself and strives to improve himself. It is this sensitivity to any imperfection that makes him truly righteous.””
“”Neither at any time,” says Moroni, “hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God” (Ether 12:18). Sarah’s belief in Jesus opened the door for her to become the mother of Isaac, and hence foremother of Jesus.”
“…for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ—requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God; but actual knowledge, realizing that, when these sufferings are ended, he will enter into eternal rest, and be a partaker of the glory of God.”
“Latter-day Saints “must needs be . . . tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son”(D&C 101:4).”
“…a Turkish source seems to indicate that it was concern for the latter-day Zion that prompted the plea of the angels, who saw “from the Preserved Tablet that the Prophet of the End of Time will come from . . . [the] line” of the son about to sacrificed.”
“What do we see when we look to Abraham? We see first a boy in an incredibly wicked world from which Zion had long since fled, a boy who refuses to go along with the evil practices but prayerfully seeks his Creator in purity and humility. We see a marriage of two people building Zion at home, and then reaching out to gather all to Zion. We see answers to prayers but also increasing persecution, for Abraham’s life “was a continuous tale of sacrifice and suffering for his cause.” And through it all we see a profound faith in the Almighty, a faith carefully cultivated and richly rewarded.”
“Look to Abraham—and learn how to come unto Christ and build the latter-day Zion in preparation for the Savior’s Second Coming. Look to Abraham—and discover the powerful and pure love of Christ that latter-day Zion must acquire. Look to Abraham—and see how the Lord will comfort and deliver Zion when He descends with His hosts of righteous Saints, including His beloved friend Abraham, to fulfill the covenant made to him.”
I have studied much about Abraham before, and I have studied and written much about Zion before - but never have I studied and pondered about the great patriarch in context of the great city of God in the way that E. Douglas Clark brings them together in this book. I am very glad I read this book (at the recommendation of a good friend) because it gave me a deeper appreciation and understanding of the great role Abraham has, does, and will yet play in the redemption of Zion in the world through his personal faithfulness and covenant posterity. It also got me thinking even more deeply about what it means, as Latter-day Saints are prone to claim, to be the posterity of Abraham. I hope that reading this will permanently change the way I think about myself in those terms and that it will do the same for all those who read it. I understand the Abrahamic covenant better than ever before, and I hope I can be an instrument in bringing about its fulfillment.
Readers should be aware that Clark uses the Latter-day Saint perspective of Abraham as the "spine" for his approach to Abraham, but he liberally inserts material from apocryphal Christian, Judaic, and Islamic sources. While thoughtful people may not always agree with some of the nuances of Clark's doctrinal interpretations and/or historical conclusions, I thought he did a pretty good job of focusing on common themes and trends found among the various sources that present a reasonable united narrative of the prophet, priest, and patriarch Abraham and his great yearning for Zion, the city of God. It was much better than Skousen's "The First 2,000 Years," which frequently just seemed to speculate wildly.
While I genuinely respect the tremendous amount of research that went into this book and the enthusiasm the author had for his subject, at times the writing was overly verbose and unnecessarily redundant. So I sometimes felt like I had to wade through some parts to get to the really valuable insights, but it was definitely worth it overall. I highly recommend this book.
If you really want to know about the life of Abraham and Sarah read this book! It includes much old information not available to the public but only to skilled researchers. You will admire this great prophet even more after this book is finished. It is excellent. Sue Maxwell
Overall, it's a great book! I enjoyed learning more about who Abraham was as an individual.
Pros: Coming in as someone who grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'd heard a lot about Abraham, but hadn't studied his life yet. I was thinking of reading Hugh Nibley's book about Abraham, but settled on this one. It Opened my eyes to his whole life story, which is what I was really interested in. I also don't really know a lot about the author, Clark, but you can tell he knows a thing or two about Abraham.
Cons: As someone who just wanted to know Abraham's life story, it seemed really wordy and lengthy. There's a lot of references that, while interesting, seemed a little repetitive. I just wasn't as interested in all of that as much as I was just about who he was and what his life was like.
Overall, a great book. Really enjoyed learning more about Abraham! He lived a life very unique! I think this book would help you learn more about him.
This book is incredibly well researched. I appreciate the author’s tenacity in using all available resources to shed light on Abraham. What an amazing book. It is fascinating to read the reverence paid to Abraham in different religions and in the culture of some countries. I have a greater appreciation of him now in my own faith and a greater understanding of his role in the faith of others. To the author I’d would say it’s apparent this has been a life pursuit and passion. This book will be a blessing to anyone lucky enough to read it.
Amazing, more than 5 stars if I could. I learned so much, and enjoyed the writing as well. It's interesting to learn that there are so many sources, besides the Bible, for these ancient people and times. While not every source will contain gospel truth, as an aggregate, you get an overall, more complete, view of Abraham and his life and characteristics. This has really enhanced my gospel study of the Old Testament.
Abraham is such a central figure in world history. The major religions of the world don’t agree on Jesus but they do agree on Abraham- father of nations. I’m very impressed with the author’s dedication to this topic. He spent his whole life as an amateur researcher focused solely on Abraham.
It took me forever to read this book but it is incredible. I have learned so much of Abraham & his importance as Patriarch. While reading this I have grown to love my Savior Jesus Christ more & have a greater desire to follow Him as Abraham did.
I feel like I see abrahamic types pop up in literature from time to time (Jean Valjean), and have increasingly found myself drawn to Abraham over the last few years. “God is my Lord...and Abraham, Thy friend, my Father”.
For those similarly interested, there’s a lot to enjoy in this book, and even more to emulate. I particularly appreciated the many ancient and traditional sources about Abraham that are not found in the Bible or in other latter day scripture, and that I would likely never had become aware of otherwise. The “followers of Abraham...posses three traits: generosity, simplicity, and humility”. This book helped me to want to be such a follower.
This book reminded me of the First 2,000 years by Cleon Skousen. It takes the life of an ancient figure and brings it to life in a way that a modern reader can relate with. The author has spent vast amounts of time researching all that has come to light about Abraham and is time in apocryphal, Islamic and Judaic texts, as well as drawing from modern revelation. It is amazing to read excerpts from so many varied religious texts while sensing in them the same familiar voice. I thought I might gain deeper insight into the nature of the Abrahamic covenant to the modern Latter-Day Saint, but that is more a matter of personal revelation, not something one should expect from a book on the subject. The real take away from this book is that a reader, once gaining deeper insight into the life and personality of Abraham, feels more comfortable with our ancient forefather and seeks to emulate him.
In my opinion, outside of the Savior, Abraham is arguably the greatest historical figure of all time. This is best captured in a quote from Reverend W.F.P. Noble, "There is no quarter of the globe to which it [the name of Abraham] has not been carried, and it is the only one which is venerated alike by Jews and Christians and [Muslims]; for whatever be their differences..., all of them... claim an equal relationship with this distinguished patriarch, saying "We have Abraham to our father." Indeed, what I loved about this book is it introduced me to writings from each of these religious traditions regarding Abraham so it added so much more to my understanding of this man than that which I've received from "only" the writings I've been exposed to in my own religion. It was fascinating. As my own son is named after Abraham's son (Isaac), I've felt great respect for Abraham for decades but this book really added to that respect (for him and his wife Sarah).
This book was not only very well written, but also both explanatory and concise. The book appeals to men and women in the LDS Church, focusing on the incredible attributes of both Abraham and Sarah.
It tells the eye-opening story of Abraham and Sarah, taking great care not to exclude Sarah at all. In fact, it often highlights Sarah, often stating that Abraham and Sarah were a team, a couple building Zion together, two people in perfect harmony.
The book even refers to Sarah as a prophetess, whose vision may have even exceeded Abraham, yet she always deferred to her husbands judgement and accompanied him on things without hearing them straight from the Lord herself.
The book shows in an enchanting way how to emulate the life of Abraham (and Sarah) in all it's greatness. It details every part of their lives, pulling from every historical record that the author could find, making this book a wealth of knowledge not otherwise easily accessible.
If you've ever wondered "What's the big deal about Abraham?"; "Why Abraham?"; "Just what is Zion?" this is a MUST READ book. The probem is, it's out of print and you're going to have a hard time finding it. Maybe if enough people call Covenant Communications, Inc. and ask about it, they'll re-print it. In the mean time look for a used copy, but expect it to be heavily marked. This book explains so many things and really makes the Abrahamic Covenant, Zion, the request for Isaac's sacrifice, and so many other things understandable, interesting, and vital. As a bonus you get to learn about more about Enoch, angels, Sarah, Ishmael, Judahism, Islam, Joseph Smith, and a whole lot of other things. The Glossary of Terms, Names, and Sources, is so helpful; and don't forget to check out the informational footnotes. There is some really great stuff in them.
Very interesting account of Abraham's history. Nearly half of the book is taken up by citings and references--i.e. the author is extremely well-researched and brought in many apocryphal texts and books by rabbis, etc. This also makes it slow to get through but well worth the effort. It is astounding how well these accounts coincide with the Pearl of Great Price and add great additional insight. I now understand more of why we, Moslems, and Jews revere Abraham and Sarah as much as we do. The account of Isaac's near sacrifice (taking in other accounts) is particularly poignant and beautiful.
This is a heartfelt, in-depth, look at the great patriarch. Clark demonstrates substantial knowledge of ancient Abrahamic sources and weaves the fragmentary accounts of Abraham’s life seamlessly and with great insight. The book's main weakness in my mind is that I didn't feel like I became acquainted with the primary literature from which he pieced together the bits of Abraham's life. However, I left with a greater love and appreciation of Abraham and Sarah and my responsibility as a part of the seed of Abraham.
I had never really considered who Abraham was and why he has been so revered through the centuries. I found this book to be very interesting to the point that I had a hard time putting it down. The author was able to refer to books and ancient manuscripts that most of us can never access or read. I have a profound appreciation of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Their life together has now become something I can emulate and admire. A book that I can now say I have added to my home library because I will read it again.
Fascinating book about the life of the Prophet Abraham. Written by an LDS author it uses all of the standard sources, and hundreds of other sources from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim history. This will definitely be my go-to book for all things "Abraham" in the future.
I especially appreciated the section on the covenant God made with Abraham and which He makes with all of us if we are willing. Worth the time it takes to read.
Amazing that there is so much extra-Biblical source material to build such a complete picture of the prophet Abraham. This is a very dense book - very interesting and inspiring - and actually ties in very well with our lives today. The message for me is that it's never too late to follow a good example and try to be as good as you can be.
I learned so much about Abraham and Sarah based on Jewish and Islamic traditions, apocrophon, and better translations of biblical texts. Some common misconceptions about his life were cleared up for me.
I just started this book, based on very high recommendations from my Dad and brother. I have always been VERY interested in Abraham and the Abrahamic Covenant. I'm enjoying this book so far very much.
This book was fascinating. I didn't know there were so many sources in existence on the life of Abraham. However, unless you're really into Abraham and biblical stories and culture it's not something you can sit and read cover to cover.
This book gave me much to consider, with insights into the biblical Abraham from many extra-biblical sources that fleshed out the stories and supported the LDS Book of Abraham. I can highly recommend this book to those who want to understand Father Abraham better.
Very informative book on the life of Abraham. Synthesizes information from the LDS Book of Abraham, JST Genesis, Apocalypse of Abraham, Book of Jubilees, and other non-canonical sources.