Imitating Abraham: Ritual and Exemplarity in Jewish and Christian Contexts (Jewish and Christian Perspectives)

Imitating Abraham provides exciting glimpses into the reception history of the character Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, illuminating the manifold ways in which interpreters draw upon his legacy to authorize practices like sacrifice, circumcision, hospitality, feasting, prayer, and personal and corporate piety. Abraham holds surprises: his name is used in magical amulets―some published here for the first time―to ward off demons, protect cattle from illness, and even to round up runaway slaves. Researchers, students, and all interested in Biblical, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Studies, as well as ritual and exemplarity will want to read this book.

Claudia D. Bergmann is Professor for Biblical Theology and Exegesis at Paderborn University (Germany) and the author of Festmahl ohne Ende: Apokalyptische Vorstellungen vom Speisen in der Kommenden Welt im antiken Judentum und ihre biblischen Wurzeln (Kohlhammer, 2019).
Thomas R. Blanton IV is Visiting Assistant Professor at John Carroll University. He is the author of A Spiritual Economy: Gift Exchange in the Letters of Paul of Tarsus (2017); his research examines early Christianity and ancient Mediterranean economies.