Average Rating: 
Rating: - Interesting, thought-provoking but hardly accurate
I enjoyed the book thoroughly but was disturbed by Feiler's tendency to make sweeping statements without giving any authority for them. Certainly many of his statements about Christianity are incorrect. For example, he mentions in passing that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. This is not true. Among many other things, Jesus purported to forgive sin (which only God can do), claimed that He has always existed and will come to judge the world at the end of time. His teachings pointed to Himself ("I am the bread of life", "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father", "I am the Light of the World," etc.) rather than away from Himself and toward God. Feiler also discribes Paul as "not formally educated." The common understanding among Christians is that Paul was highly educated, born into a family of Pharisees (the most rigorous observers of ancient Jewish law), was sent to Jerusalem at a young age to study under the great rabbi Gamaliel where he surpassed his contemporaries in religious knowledge and practice. If there is authority for the statement that Paul wasn't formally educated, Fieler doesn't give it to us.
Rating:  - More than just another sequel....
After having enjoyed Bruce Feiler's previous book, "Walking the Bible," I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this one. He had already covered the journey of Abraham in the first book, so what more could he add with a sequel? It wasn't until I heard him talk about Abraham on National Public Radio that I realized this book is not another travelogue. It's a chronicle of Feiler's own inner journey to understand the connections among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through their common father, Abraham.As Feiler tells us in this book, the sedrah portion he studied for his own Bar Mitzvah was "Lech lecha," the section of the Torah which deals with God's call to Abraham to leave his home and go to a place that God would show him. It is said that one's Bar Mitzvah portion is forever connected with one's personal destiny. This is certainly true in Feiler's case. His lifelong fascination with Abraham has led him to write a very interesting and thought-provoking book. Don't expect this to be a scholarly study. It's not. In fact, there are some glaring historical inaccuracies. For example, Feiler credits the "Essene" Qumran community with "starting" the tradition of midrash (Jewish hermeneutics). Apparently he's not up on recent Dead Sea Scroll scholarship, because it is now seriously questioned whether (A) the Qumran community was Essene and (B) whether the scrolls in question came from Qumran or a Jerusalem library that was hidden at the time of the Roman siege. At any rate, midrash did not begin at Qumran. (He also confuses midrash with the Mishnah at one point...) I'm sure that Muslim and Christian readers will find similar errors -- but that's not the point of the book. Feiler is exploring how the three religions have viewed Abraham in various periods of their history, and how those perspectives have changed over the centuries. What he seeks is a way to bring the three monotheistic religions together in a productive dialogue where they can meet as equals on the common ground of sharing their origins in Father Abraham. He presents us with an Abraham that we can relate to at the beginning of the 21st century. That's the heart of the book; all the rest is commentary. Regarding that commentary, the book is a bit lopsided when it comes to Jewish POVs. Feiler never identifies what kind of Jew he is, but I looked up his childhood synagogue, Mickve Israel in Atlanta, Georgia, and it's listed as "America's Oldest Reform congregation." Nothing wrong with that -- except that I suspect he carries a common Reform prejudice against Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. He never interviews any -- except for a token Hasidic boy who just happens to be at the Western Wall. The Jews he does interview are all academic scholars and "modernized" rabbis. On the other hand, he goes out of his way to talk to top leaders in the very traditional Christian and Muslim communities. He seems fascinated with their colorful clerical garb; perhaps the plain black clothing of the Hasidic Rebbes was not as exotic? There is also a certain flippancy about the way Feiler describes the relationship between God and Abraham, as well as his own relationship with the stories. I realize that he is writing for the general public, and is probably giving voice to the "skeptic" POV for the benefit of his readers. Still, the fact that he is Jewish and has not included the POV of the more traditional (and respectful) branches of Judaism leaves the reader with the wrong impression that all Jews are as irreverant as he sometimes is. Muslim and Christian readers should be aware of this, i.e., that Feiler's reactions are his own, and do not represent the POVs of all Jews. Within Judaism there is a vast diversity of views, the same as with any other group. When he can set his academic skepticism aside, Feiler's prose soars and inspires. At times it reaches the level of poetry. I get the feeling that this is the real Bruce Feiler, the sincere seeker who, like so many Reform Jews I've met, feels he must show a "scientific" face to the world but who, deep down inside, is a really a mystic on a quest. Like all such quests, it is the process of the pilgrimage that transforms the person, not the facts he encounters along the way. Read from this perspective, this book is indeed a fascinating journey.
Rating: - Uniting, not dividing
During this age of constant conflict in the Middle East and around the globe, Bruce Feiler authors the book "Abraham" which chronicles the foundations of the world's three most popular monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recall their origins to the faith of Abraham, a devotee of God more than willing to give his only son if it would so please God. An interesting and well-written book that recalls the aspects that unite these three religions rather than focusing on what divides them. A great read.
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