Our Father Abraham
Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith
- World Religions
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
Although the roots of Christianity run deep into Hebrew soil, many Christians remain regrettably uninformed about the rich Jewish heritage of the church. Our Father Abraham delineates the vital link between Judaism and Christianity, exemplified by the common ancestry of the two faiths traceable back to Abraham. Marvin Wilson calls Christians to reexamine their Semitic heritage to regain a more authentically biblical understanding of what they believe and practice. Wilson, a trusted voice among both Jews and Christians, speaks to both past and present, first developing a historical perspective on the Jewish origins of the church and then discussing how the church can become more attuned to the Hebraic mindset of Scripture. Drawing from his own extensive experience, he also offers valuable practical guidance for salutary interaction between Christians and Jews. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this book especially suitable for use in groups—Christian, Jewish, or interfaith—as readers strive to make sense of their own faith in connection with the other. The second edition of Our Father Abraham features a new preface, an expanded bibliography of recent relevant works, and two new chapters: one that discusses Jewish-Christian relations after the Holocaust and another that reflects on Wilson’s own fifty-plus-year career as an evangelical Christian deeply committed to interfaith dialogue. As Christians and Jews feel a growing need for mutual support in an increasingly secular Western world, Wilson’s widely acclaimed book will offer encouragement and wise guidance toward this worthy end.
Endorsements (4)
“Magisterial. When Jews read Our Father Abraham, they will recognize themselves in it. Marvin Wilson knows us as we know ourselves. This book is born of scholarship by a faithful Christian who is in love with the Jewish people and the God of Israel. When Christians come to know Jesus in his Jewish setting and understand through Marvin Wilson’s work that the church continues to be nurtured by its Jewish roots, then Christianity will be truthful to itself, and the Jewish people will be much more secure. We are all in debt to this venerable scholar, a rare man of faith.”
“The timeliness of Marv Wilson’s book was evident by its initial reception and growing audience over the years. Three decades later, this second edition shows the timelessness of both the subject and his insights.”
“Our Father Abraham is a stunning achievement! Marvin Wilson has written a magnificent book that breaks new ground in furthering positive Christian-Jewish relations. His superb scholarship is combined with many concrete suggestions for building a new relationship between the church and the synagogue, between Christians and Jews.”
“An ambitious book, sweeping in scope. Wilson has thrown down a theological gaunt¬let, challenging Christians of all kinds to reform a two-thousand-year-old history of misunderstanding Jews and misinterpreting our own sources. Our Father Abraham does not pretend to be the last word in the dialogue, but it is a powerful first salvo!”
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