Search Results: Abraham, the Patriarch

In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Abraham is a venerated patriarch whose relationship with God provides the foundational story for God's beneficial relationship with humanity. According to biblical tradition (and some say myth), Abraham...

Young Tsar Alexis (Alexei) Praying Before the Relics of Metropolitan Philip in the Presence of Patriarch Nikon, oil on canvas by Alexander Litovchenko, 1886. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Tsar (also czar) is a Slavic term derived from the Latin caesar. Ivan III (Ivan the Great) (r. 1462-1505) was the first Russian ruler to begin using the title of tsar during his reign instead of the title Grand Prince of Moscow. His grandson...

Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham by Louis Jean Francois Lagrenee Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

God' is the common word for the identity of a higher being in the universe beyond our world, the creator of all known existence, and who rules in conjunction with lower gradients of divinity (angels). In Greek, theikos ("divine") meant to...

Stained glass from St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Canaan was the name of a large and prosperous ancient country (at times independent, at others a tributary to Egypt) located in the Levant region of present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. It was also known as Phoenicia. The origin...

Modern practitioners of Judaism and Christianity often turn to the Bible for stories concerning women and their roles in ancient religion and society. It is important to acknowledge that these stories were written by men. The male perspectives...

A panel from the east doors of Florence’s Baptistery of San Giovanni. Made from 1425 CE by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455 CE). Gilded bronze. This panel shows the angels appearing before Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. The artist Michelangelo...

Abraham Lincoln, photograph by Anthony Berger, 9 February 1864. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.