Abraham's True Conversion

The Akedah—the Old Testament story of Abraham almost sacrificing his son, Isaac—has always been one of the most troubling to me. The repugnant violence of the story may no longer be striking to those of us who grew up hearing about Abraham and Isaac's trek to Mount Moriah and what they experienced there. We may long ago have learned to overcome the strong reaction we would have if we heard this story in another context. Yet these twenty-four verses of Genesis raise some of the most difficult and unanswerable questions of scripture: Why would a wise and loving God present such a cruel test to a man already obedient to his covenants? Why would Abraham obey unquestioningly, when he protested against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Does God really demand unquestioning obedience as a higher law than any other, including our most instinctual love and moral reasoning? Can and should we worship a being who would inflict such emotional torture? For Mormons, the story sets up a tension between devotion to God and family that does not sit well with our belief that we serve God best by loving and caring for our families.

Our traditional interpretation of the Akedah can, however, be seen from a markedly different view. In my reinterpretation of this story the themes of sacrifice and obedience remain but in very different forms. Much like the Mormon understanding of the Fall changes Eve from a sinful temptress into a wise and courageous woman, my reinterpretation of the Akedah changes Abraham from an unquestioning, violent patriarch into a man who is seeking God with all the limitations that come from the human experience. I believe that Abraham was a man seeking to do right with the limitations of being acculturated in a damaging tradition that devalued human life and agency. His embedded value system and understanding of God's identity and commandments needed self-conscious realignment. He sought to obey but was not always sure and right about what God wanted.