Abraham: 'The First Monotheist' & Other Absurdities

Here, we are exploring the tragicomic fate that befell Abraham as a legend and his Monotheism--and accordingly what may befall those who consider themselves his grandchildren, who are trying to come to grips with his simple yet so profound of a perception.

In our times, Abrahamic monotheism does not fair well, neither in Europe and America nor in its home of origin, or elsewhere in the world.

Billions of humans are born in the Abrahamic traditions yet sel­dom initiated in its proper perceptual training. “Monotheist” is a mere logo for the average Muslim, Jew and Christian to be proud of or disgusted with, as the case may be.

Let's give a suggestion and refer to an absurdity that may help the reader to understand the issue here.

The suggestion is a quiz simple enough for anyone who wishes to do--yet complicated enough to crack brains on end, so watch out ~ alright:

Let he or she turn to oneself or to another and ask:

Why God? - Why not No-God?

Why One? - Why not Many?

Now, what is the percentage of "educated answers" to the above one will get out of all the millions upon millions of Abraham's children living on this planet today?

We say "educated answers" not "right answers" to avoid dogmatic issues for now. In other words, we are concerned with the level of "understanding" here, not "belief" or "faith" which by definition pertains to other sides of the human consciousness.

As for the absurdity, we select two impressions about the man Abraham:

First, in almost all the literature about Abraham, one is told that the worship of the One True God started with him, that he was the "first monotheist."

Now how could that be?

What about Melchizedek?

How about Noah and his Sons?

Enoch?

Adam?

Were they not Monotheists?

Just whence this *POP!* and there was Abraham the first Monotheist?

Second, we go to the “Patriarch of the Desert” nomadic image that a lot of people hold in their minds, yet at the same time we are told that he was from “Ur of the Chladeans,” which de­notes city dwelling, and that latter on he settled in Canaan which is not a desert.

So whence this “Patriarch of the Desert” image? . . .

Furthermore,

Was Abraham from “Ur of the Chaldeans” or “Ur of the Sumerians”?

According to historians, he lived before the times of the Assyrians, who are chronologically centuries before the Chaldeans.

So whence this “Ur of the Chaldeans” thing? . . .

Abrahamic Politicus

The political bottom-line of Abrahamic Monotheism is this:

That without the proper 'understanding' of the Mystery of the One God and how one relates to that God, there is no sense in following the Law or the Way or the Shariah and trying to build anything upon them, for it will be building on sand.

That's the whole gist of the Abrahamic quest and we all are deeply enmeshed in it for evident historical reasons.

Any monotheist, who is aware of the political knowledge and wisdom contained in the traditions of old, knows that the Ancient City was centered around the Temple--as was the case in Ur of the Sumerians, Ur-Salem (Jerusalem) of of the ancient Israelites, and other cities elsewhere in the ancient near east and rest of the world.

And there, in that temple, is to be found the knowledge of how to relate to the Sacred in all aspects of life: the political, the social, etc.

Also, that monotheist should be able to discern the fact, through ample evidence of recorded history, that when the City was centered around the Palace (politics) or the Market (economics) or the Camp (war), it fell into disintegration. For those are not the right centers of balance, neither for the group nor for the individual.

Moreover, to maintain being Faithful as a monotheist is to be disciplined in per­ceiving the One God-One Adam principle of unity, unity of Source and unity of Mankind; is to be trained in conceiving what is to be done accordingly, so one can keep in line within the monotheistic perception; is to be educated as to why we are doing it and what is the wisdom behind it all.

So, how can one expect any citizen in any city that claims to be for the Sacred, who is a member of the human race hence endowed with the faculty of Reason, to accept the hypothesis of One God Creator and Ruler of everything that he/she can see, touch, smell, taste and what have you, without questioning how could that all be of One God only, why not many, and what is God any­way, etc.?  These are all legitimate questions.

Now, who is going to answer that cit­izen who is being "asked" to follow a sacred Law, tread a sacred Way and join a sacred Community in the name of the One God of Abraham?

What kind of an absurd God would this God of Abraham be, if He did not expect His human creatures to pose those questions by their created intel­lects?

In our understanding, no one can answer those questions satisfactorily except the ones who are well trained: the Elders, i.e. the people of knowledge and wisdom. And one should find them where they should be: in the Temple, which is designated to that purpose, be it a mosque or church, synagogue or a designated school for that matter.

However, his­tory tells us that the Temple had to submit time and again to inner and outer games of power-politics which ended up throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Thus, the City has been and still is a house divided unto itself.

Still:

No civilization worthy of its name survived the day without the Principle of Unity: One God and One Adam = Unity of Source and of Mankind, and the proper training the citizen should be provided with according to them.

If humans start demarcating boundaries among themselves based on belonging to this or that "God", this or that "Adam", then civil war is not faraway from their sight.

Belonging to higher and lesser "Gods", higher and lesser "Adams", destroyed Polity once too many in human history.

So a modern day "Child of Abraham" should remember that:

No Law, No Way, No Shariah can be implemented without One God-One Adam first. The contours of the tragicomic history of the Abrahamic legacy were shaped through out the centuries according to that simple yet so profoundly elusive principle.

Beside, these Law, Way and Shariah are things of divine origins by definition. And divine things require divine guides by their own logic.

Do we have divine guides around? ...

No we do not. We have elders, yes. But no divine guides.

Hence, and for a finale, on his and her part, a child of Abraham should approach the world as a Monotheist first, now more than ever. Being a Muslim, Jew, Christian should come second to that.

He and she should understand that their journey in life is part and parcel of the quest imprinted on the Patriarch, whether they are aware of it or not, whose journey was that of a Solo Monotheist.

His children are blessings to no one if they do not perceive and conceive the way Abraham perceived and conceived of God, the Universe, and Man. And walked his talk accordingly.

Peace.