BOUND BY THE BIBLE: JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

the long version

The sacrifice of Isaac is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. It is also a shocking account of how Abraham's faith in God was demonstrated by a willingness to sacrifice his long-awaited son at God's command. This story has been a source of fascination for Jews and Christians for many centuries and, here, Edward Kessler offers an account of Jewish and Christian interpretations of this biblical story. For understandable reasons, it has been assumed that Judaism influenced Christian interpretation, but relatively little attention has been given to the question of the influence of Christianity upon Judaism. Kessler provides an insight into this two-way encounter and argues that neither Jewish nor Christian interpretations can be understood properly without reference to the other. --From publisher's description.