To my Jewish friends: The purpose of this series is to promote peaceful discussion. My goal is to make you think; if you can say, "Your articles made me think", then I will feel I have been successful at my goal. I'm not attempting to change your mind; only to bring to light certain things of which you may not have been aware. Sadly, to date I have only received ad hominid attacks as a result and no fruitful conversation has emerged. If you can disprove my points made, I would gladly reconsider them; but to date I have not seen any convincing proofs to the contrary, merely denials of my statements. My sources are listed; if a source for a given quote is not listed, bring it to my attention and I will provide it. I drew my information from JEWISH history, but am labeled an anti-Semite for this. Are the Talmud and Tanakh anti-Semitic? If they were, I was not made aware of this.
Muslims, Christians, and Jews believe that at the beginning of time, God created the first man and woman. Mankind quickly lost respect for their Father and Creator. Furious at the corruption of man, He decided to destroy the earth by flood. Thereafter, mankind again returned to idolatry and disbelief. The earth was again filled with false worship until one man, son of an idol manufacturer, realized that there was One higher and greater than the statues before him. With his decision to smash those idols, Abraham became the most influential man in Jewish history, having shaped the world in immeasurable ways. Abraham had eight sons, but only two became important in world history: Ishmael and Isaac. Both were promised by God, both were under Divine protection, both blessed, and both were to become great nations.
Jewish and Muslim traditions state that when Sarah became jealous of Hagar, Ishmael and Hagar were sent into the wilderness. Both traditions state that Abraham went often into the Arabian desert to visit Ishmael. The Torah says (Gen. 18:17-19) that God loved Abraham because He knew Abraham would teach his children God's ways. Muslim tradition says that Abraham and Ishmael build the Kaaba as a place to worship God. The children of Ishmael settled the Arabian peninsula. Isaac had two sons, Jacob (Israel) and Esau. The children of Esau settled the south Jordan region. The children of Israel were brought down to Egypt by severe famine. Four hundred years later, a lone prophet, Moses, was selected by God to bring them out, because they had become slaves to the Egyptians. Jewish tradition states that had they remained in Egypt but one more night, the children of Israel would have been forever lost to idolatry. Moses led the children of Israel through the wilderness towards Canaan. At the end of his life, he wrote a song calling heaven and earth to testify against the Jewish people when they forgot God. But he did give them hope: prophets bearing his message would continue to be sent to mankind. The responsibility fell on the shoulders of mankind to receive those prophets and obey their message.
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