Abraham’s faith in God involves protest, obedience, and promise. All of these strengthen one’s relationship with God. Abraham and Jacob’s relationship with God have become the hallmark for all people of God living their lives of faith and hope. Abraham and Jacob’s stories define what mercy and justice mean.
Biblical faith is “the discovery that we were not saved but that God intervenes in the world, in our life, so that we become saved” (Bouyer 187). Justice is fairness, righteousness, and rewarding good while punishing evil. Justice is not all encompassing when understanding the nature of God in Biblical tradition. Mercy is the central attribute of God. Mercy encompasses justice. Biblical faith is a holistic response to divine revelation.…show more content… The belief in these promises is what motivates Abraham to leave his homeland to go somewhere unfamiliar without hesitation and to sacrifice Isaac, the promised son. God elects (chooses) Abraham as the father of the nations. Promise is the basis of Abraham’s relationship with God. God and Abraham mutually trust the other’s commitment to the promise.
Faith as protest, faith as obedience, and faith as hope in a divine promise are compatible. According to Rabbi Sacks’ video lecture, faith is the courage to live. One cannot live without risk, doubt, and facing the unknown. Doubt involves protest, thinking in faith, free will, questioning, and responsibility. However, the courage to live involves faith in God through obedience, grace, and promise. The act of questioning is a way of showing defiance and showing protest as Abraham did in questioning God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
According to Bouyer, “The covenant of the God who spoke to Abraham is pure grace…if it requires obedience and (as the episode of Isaac shows) absolute faith (obedience without reserve), it introduces its partner to a divine friendship…” (Bouyer 191). A covenant with God is a relationship of mutual self-giving and love. The covenant made between god and Abraham shows that faith in obedience and faith in promise are
