Passing Lifes Tests

How can we live richer lives through contemplating God s merciless demand, the horror of Abraham s test, the faith of Isaac s participation and see our own opportunity to grow by reliving the encounter?

Among stories so terrible they rend our hearts, so profound they touch the depths of our souls, and so exalted they reach to heaven, none is more poignant than the Bible story of Abraham s sacrifice of his son, Isaac. Revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, turned over and over by great secular thinkers searching for meaning, this gripping tale shocks us into complete attention, then takes us-in fourteen short verses-on a roller coaster ride of emotion, challenge and hope.

Brad Artson, known widely for making the Hebrew Bible relevant to our lives, draws on generations of Jewish sages, philosophers and scholars to explore this ancient story, known by Jews as the binding of Isaac and often referred to in English as the test of Abraham. Through his own probing commentary and insightful spiritual reflections, he challenges us to go beneath the simple shocking story and ask: who is the tester, who is the tested and what motivates the test? He invites us to use this powerful tale as a tool for our own soul wrestling, to transcend its words to confront our own existential sacrifices and our ability to face-and surmount-life s tests.