This thesis attempts an analysis of the role played by Abraham in the religious consciousness of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The first chapter presents a theoretical construct which serves as the basis for subsequent analysis. It is argued that one of the major functions of religious consciousness is the integration of experience into a coherent perception of reality. This involves providing a mechanism for identifying, constructing and crossing various kinds of boundaries. The first chapter then attempts to analyze the role of Abraham specifically in terms of identifying and crossing boundaries. The second chapter attempts to use the figure of Abraham to analyze the coherent perception of reality which is offered by each faith to its believing community. The third chapter takes the figure of Abraham as a means of looking at the problem of conflicting perceptions of reality. The problem of religious versus "empirical" approaches to truth is discussed in relation to the historical problems raised by the figure of Abraham and finally the discussion turns to differing religious perceptions of reality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:518004 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Breiner, B. |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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