278.3: Abrahamic Texts and Tests (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 9, Study Notes)

“God Will Provide Himself a Lamb”

 

In Part 2 we touch on the place of Isaac in history and then delve into the terrible but widespread practice of human sacrifice in the Ancient Near East.

In Part 3 we wrestle further with the issues of God’s goodness and healthy approaches to obedience. The importance of context is discussed, including that of Mormonism’s own history which also has dark moments. We conclude with some reflections on the relationship of this story to Jesus’ death.

 

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Class Member Reading: Abraham 1; Genesis 15, 16, 17, 21, 22; Hebrews 11:17-19; James 2:21-23; Jacob 4:5

Additional Reading: Hebrews 11:8-19; D&C 132:34-36

Other Reading: Genesis 15-28, skimming to see how the (near) sacrifice of Isaac fits within the larger context.

 

Maxine and Heber continue the discussion and I recorded a separate section with Allen.

 

You can access the Annotated Reading here (or PDF).

You can access the Lesson Notes here (or PDF).

 

Timeline

Lesson Part 2

0:00        Broader Covenant Themes

4:37        Human Sacrifice

13:56     Jewish Interpretations

Study Notes

16:26     Euthyphro’s Dilemma and Obedience
21:36     Parallel to the Atonement

Discussion Part 2

25:07     Academic and Historical Perspective

37:50     Move to Less Harmful Practices

49:04     Jewish Interpretations (Allen)

57:24     Atonement without Jesus’ Death (Allen)

Lesson Part 3

1:15:26  Critical Reading

Discussion Part 3

1:23:30  Euthyphro’s Dilemma

Resources 

• “In Silence”, Meditation on the binding of Isaac from RadioLab
• On Child Abuse and the Sacrifice of Isaac at RationalFaiths
• Must We Kill Isaac? Heber’s RationalFaiths post.
• Mormon Matters episode on Abraham 
• Trials of Abraham, Discovering the Old Testament
• Selections from Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling 
• When Abraham Killed Isaac, FaithPromotingRumor
• “And I Saw the Stars: The Book of Abraham and Ancient Geocentric Astronomy, Maxwell Institute
• Presentation on the Book of Abraham by Michael Ash and Kevin Barney

 

 

Thanks to Jim Henderson for content editing and to James Estrada for sound editing, and as always to Steven Nelson for the beautiful bumper music.