Bristow, How Abrahamic is ‘Abrahamic Dialogue’? 7 How Abrahamic is ‘Abrahamic Dialogue’? 1 George Bristow Introduction Burgeoning efforts in so-called ‘Abrahamic dialogue’ reflect increasing interest in investigating and utilising the common appeal to Abraham by Jews, Christians, and Muslims in today’s pluralistic world. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all trace their roots to Abraham. Parks documents how Abraham has been seen as ‘the first Jew’ by Jewish writers, as ‘the first Christian’ by Christians and as ‘the first Muslim’ by Muslims. 2 Each tradition has at times claimed unique or even exclusive rights to the patriarch. The Qur’an takes note of these competing claims, addressing itself to Jews and Christians: People of the Book, why do you argue about Abraham when the Torah and the Gospels were not revealed until after his time? Do you not understand? God knows and you do not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian (Q 3:65-67). Ancient Abrahamic traditions have thus been utilised to foster both positive relationships and deep interfaith conflict. Kuschel describes this as a ‘family dispute’ in which ‘each of the three faiths believes that it has preserved the paternal or maternal heritage in the purest form’. 3 Yet, in spite of this ongoing dispute, many today believe that Abrahamic identity opens up common ground that should be cultivated for the common good. For example, Moyaert holds that ‘Interreligious dialogue is the place where we can listen to the stories of religious others and enter their world.’ 4 Jewish writer Kogan draws attention to the way distinct identities have developed from the Genesis Abraham narrativeμ ‘That these [biblical] stories, differently interpreted (as they are in Christianity), or differently told (as they 1 This essay is adapted from chapter 1 of George Bristow, Sharing Abraham?: Narrative Worldview, Biblical and Qur'anic Interpretation and Comparative Theology in Turkey (Cambridge, Mass: Doorlight Academic, 2017). 2 D. R. Parks, 'Abraham, the 'First Christian' and the 'First Muslim': Hermeneutics of a Religious Symbol in Western Christianity and Sunni Islam' (PhD Dissertation, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1987). See also Norman Solomon, Richard Harries, and T. J. Winter, Abraham's Children: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conversation (London: T & T Clark, 2005), p. 37. 3 Karl-Josef Kuschel, Abraham: A Symbol of Hope for Jews, Christians and Muslims (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1995), p. 3. 4 Marianne Moyaert, ‘Interreligious dialogue and the debate between universalism and particularismμ searching for a way out of the deadlock’, Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 15, no. 1 (2005), p. 15.