Abraham

A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths

By: Bruce Feiler

Narrated by: Bruce Feiler

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

At a moment when the world is asking, "Can the religions get along?" one figure stands out as the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. One man holds the key to our deepest fears and our possible reconciliation. Abraham.

Bruce Feiler sets out on a personal quest to better understand our common patriarch. Traveling in war zones, climbing through caves and ancient shrines, and sitting down with the world's leading religious minds, Feiler uncovers fascinating, little-known details of the man who defines faith for half the world.

Both immediate and timeless, Abraham is a powerful, universal story, the first-ever interfaith portrait of the man God chose to be his partner. Thoughtful and inspiring, it offers a rare vision of hope that will redefine what we think about our neighbors, our future, and ourselves.

©2002 Bruce Feiler (P)2002 HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc.; 16 9

Critic reviews

"A winning mix of insight, passion, and historical research...provides a basis for fostering genuine communication." (Christian Science Monitor)
"This is a pure joy to read." (Publishers Weekly)
"A vivid and discerning tour through a land that reflects this epochal figure's life of exile, questioning...and faith." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Feiler's combination of journalism, commentary and self-discovery tells the reader volumes about humankind." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
"Feiler delivers a wealth of information in an accessible and entertaining format." (The New York Times Book Review)

Abraham

I was deeply disappointed in the quality of this work. The author lumped Jewish tradition, Islam, and Christianity in one bag and then chose the parts he thought were accurate. The author certainly did not believe in the Abraham of the Bible. I could not recommend that anyone waste their time and money reading this book. In contrast to what I usually get from Audible Books, I feel cheated on this one.

Passionate Reading

The great things about this book are not only the wealth of material on the place of Abraham in all three Traditions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, but also, and perhaps more so, the passion and energy of the author's quest, for, as he points out, in discovering Abraham we discover ourself.

wordy but easy listening

I agree with the reviewer form Santa Ana (that the author could have stated his case more succintly), but this is a relaxing and informative listen - a good tri-faith perspective on Abraham (who, like the rest of the Bible can't be reduced to just the words about him in the Bible text); it's also a message of hope for interfaith relations in the longer term.

I couldn't finish the print version of one of Feilor's other books because I found it a rambling read, but I think I will download the audio of the same work for listening.

Abraham is relaxing because it's kept simple, a narrative of a personal journey of discovery, and not weighed down with footnotes or detail. For that kind of listen on related topics (also good but not so relaxing), try Karen Armstrong.

Worthwhile but wordy

Feiler takes a secular view of the Abraham story and discusses the significance to the three religions. Trouble is his thesis could be easily stated in about half the time. Also the last 45 minutes or so is a preview of his "Walking through the Bible". Nevertheless if you are interested in the topic and have nothing better to listen to this one is OK.

A Journey, But Not to the Heart

I so looked forward to this book, but what a disappointment! The author strains so hard to turn a phrase the book reads like a high school creative writing essay. That could be overlooked, perhaps, if conclusions reached were based on sound logic. Instead of an honest attempt to paint a rich picture of Abraham on top of the charcoal outline we already know, the author seems to reach for whatever might be the most fantastic or controversial conclusion even when it contradicts the very research he presents. This book is clearly not of a journey to the heart of three faiths. It is more like opening a tabloid in line at the grocery store.

well done

So many historical writings tend to be quite dry. This, on the other hand, was really entertaining as well as informative.

He looks at Abraham from the perspective of each of the big three religions, traveling to the region and interviewing scholars. So, the story is not just WHO Abraham is but WHAT he means to each of these religions.

Well done.

Not what I was looking for exactly, but good none-the-less

Great writing and narrating. Was looking for something a little more historically grounded that dug into the details of Abraham's life and the culture / context of his day. This is more of a journalistic investigation on how Abraham has come to be known to the world today.

Brotherhood of Man...Complex

Three Faiths and three different perspectives well examined.
What I enjoyed about this book is the deep insights into the man and the legends that have arisen about him over time. I loved the narration and the passion Mr Fielder has for his subjects. I will listen to this one time and again.

Missing almost half the book

I had to get this book for my college class, but it’s missing the last few chapters! Dont buy this if you want/need the last few chapters.

Side note: author makes many numerous claims about different religions that dont line up with what the religions actually believe. He also often times gives no reference to where he got these assumptions and just leaves them hanging as if it was factual. The book is well written and it would be easy for a non-religious person to be fooled into believing everything in the book is true.

Example: in chapter 1 he claims christianity goes out of it’s way to tie Abreham into the religion which is blatantly false. Abreham is a direct part of the bloodline of Jesus which is important to the Christian religion as Christians use the old testiment to review the bloodline of Christ, and the spiritual warefare of the devil attacking that bloodline. It’s used to review reflections and prophesies of the messaiah as well as a display for the necessity of a messaiah.

Another example: he claims Abreham is the first monotheist. There is an entire 1/5 of the book of genesis that rejects this idea.

Another example: he tells a parable about 3 brothers and their grain. While it is a nice story he claims it’s a part of the christian and judaic religion when it’s nowhere to be found

Another example: he claims Adam’s eating of the apple is strictly a display of Adam preferring Eve to God which is pretty blatantly false

Another example: He claims the tower of Babel was a threat to God. This is completely false.

Another example: after stating Abreham to be a monotheist he claims Abreham still contacts and prays to multiple gods (a not only false but also self contradictory claim) again, he gives no references to where any of these tie in to the religion of Christianity

These are just a few notes i took from reading it for my college class. It’s a well written book, but the education necessary for studying the figure of Abreham so closely is incredibly lacking it almost hurts to read.

Excellent presentation!

As an academic with a PhD in Religious Studies, I must say this was written with depth, integrity and scholarly research, yet presented in an easily understandable and captivating way that depicts the essence of Abraham. We’ll done!