The First Father Abraham: The Psychology and Culture of A Spiritual Revolutionary

by Henry Hanoch Abramovitch

Overview

This book discusses the adult development of the Biblical Patriarch, Abraham, as a 'Spiritual Revolutionary' (based on Genesis 11-25). It begins with the image of the 'akeda,' the binding of Isaac in which a father is ready to murder his son, and asks what significance this disturbing scene holds for us today. Focusing on the Hebrew text, and with the help of life-cycle psychology and cultural anthropology, the author argues that the 'sacrifice of the most beloved son' must be viewed not as an isolated act, but against the background of his personal and spiritual development, using the Biblical text as a life history. Abramovitch applies several approaches: theory of adult development; Robert Jay Lifton's 'death and continuity of life'; themes of revolutionary continuity; psychology of birth order; name change, identity, and disguise; ethics of survival and post traumatic stress syndrome; and the nature of biography, life history, and life story. Abramovitch relates how Abraham was able to 'solve for all what he was unable to solve for himself alone.'

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780819190277
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	12/22/1993
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.22(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Henry Hanoch Abramovitch is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Behavioral Science, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.

Editorial Reviews

First the Father Abraham is a remarkable study. Abramovitch combines his biblical scholarship with carefully applied principles of cultural anthropology and of the psychology of the innovator. He does so with imagination, insight, devotion, and playfulness. Abraham emerges as a 'spiritual revolutionary' whose personal quest enriches us all.

Robert Jay Lifton

...Abramovitch manages to illumine the psychic, social and personal cost to this revolutionary figure...

From the Publisher