Historical Evidence
The story of Abraham and his descendants is found in the Book of Genesis. In fact, most of what we know about the early history of the Israelites (later called Jews) is contained in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Jews call these books the Torah and consider them the most sacred writings in their tradition.
Introducing Abraham
Abraham was born in the city of Ur in Babylonia. He was the son of Terach, an idol merchant, but from his early childhood, he questioned his father and sought the truth. The time of Abraham was a polytheistic age – an age in which people believed in and worshipped many gods. Yet within this atmosphere, Abraham came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.
Challenging Polytheism
Accepting and believing in the existence of only one true God, many stories point to Abraham’s efforts to convince his father of the foolishness of his idol worship. One story illustrates how one day Abraham was left alone to care for his father’s store. During this time, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except the biggest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and asked what happened, Abraham replied, “The idols got into a fight, and the big ones smashed all the other ones.” His father replied, “Don’t be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can’t do anything.” Abraham replied, “Then why do you worship them?”
The story of Abraham and his descendants is found in the Book of Genesis. In fact, most of what we know about the early history of the Israelites (later called Jews) is contained in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Jews call these books the Torah and consider them the most sacred writings in their tradition.
Introducing Abraham
Abraham was born in the city of Ur in Babylonia. He was the son of Terach, an idol merchant, but from his early childhood, he questioned his father and sought the truth. The time of Abraham was a polytheistic age – an age in which people believed in and worshipped many gods. Yet within this atmosphere, Abraham came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.
Challenging Polytheism
Accepting and believing in the existence of only one true God, many stories point to Abraham’s efforts to convince his father of the foolishness of his idol worship. One story illustrates how one day Abraham was left alone to care for his father’s store. During this time, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except the biggest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and asked what happened, Abraham replied, “The idols got into a fight, and the big ones smashed all the other ones.” His father replied, “Don’t be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can’t do anything.” Abraham replied, “Then why do you worship them?”