What historical evidence is their for Abraham?

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What Extra Biblical evidence is their for Old Testament prophets, including Abraham?
 
Jesus talks about Abraham: ‘‘Now about the dead rising–have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?’’ Mark 12:26-27
 
I believe Jesus also said, “before Abraham I AM”

there is no doubt that Abraham existed and fathered many nations.
 
Muslims also recognize Abraham as their patriarch, quite apart from the Christian or Jewish traditions.
 
I have a couple snapshots I took with the old guy. I’ll try to dig them up.

Seriously though, what are you looking for here? He was the leader of a small tribe of nomads thousands of years ago. What evidence would you expect outside of that tribe’s history?
 
Virtually every neutral or pro-religion world historian on earth takes the Bible’s Abraham as a real person, using only the Old Testament. Do you have a reason for rejecting the OT?
 
A while back, some archaeologists found some records written in Akkadian that describe some customs that are consistent with some of those described in Genesis. In addition, they also mention the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gommorah. What more do you expect? Do you expect there to be a video existing of everything that Abaraham did and is said to have done in the Bible and then a video of people telling the stories of him on and on until they were written down in what we today know as the Bible?
 
Zenas said:
I just gave it to you–the Koran. It’s definitely not biblical.
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The Koran is loaded with retellings of events in the OT, from Genesis onward. They actually believed in Torah, but that the Jews perverted it, otherwise they would have seen that he was the prophet to come. Muslims even used to face Jerusalem for prayer and ate pork because of the Jews, and Muhammad’s initial energetic evangelization attempts. He also ripped off the Chrstian NT, and there is even an allusion to the protoevangelum of James regarding Mary. Muhammad came into contact with heretical sects as well as a smattering of orthodox Christians that moved east into Arabia as well, as partially evidenced by his adaptation of the “seven sleepers of Ephesus.” Muhammad was heavily influenced by both Judaism and Christianity, and the OT was his source for learning of Abraham. As such, it doesn’t really work as an “extra-Biblical source” for the historicity of Abraham, since his source was the Bible to begin with. It’s dependent attestation, not separate, independent attestation.
 
It seems that this thread is quickly moving toward a debate as to whether or not there existed a historical person named Abraham whose exploits are described in the Bible. I am not aware of any hard evidence for the existance of a historical person named Abraham. We also have very little evidence for the existence of King David or his son Solomon. These people would have lived, as I understand it, some 3000-8000 years before Christ. This would put them on the outside edge of when people in general began to write history and keep records. So, it would be truly remarkable to find now some well preserved artifact that would prove that Abraham actually existed. Still, we have evidence in the the existence of the Church or, more broadly, the existence of a strongly and widely held belief in a single God. It is in fact the most dominant belief on the planet. Monotheism is, IMHO, the inheritance that we share–Jews, Christians, Muslims alike. Now, whether Abraham was a singular person or an amalgam of many individuals or a tribe or group of tribes to whom this great truth was revealed is, again IMHO, irrelevant. It’s a very interesting and perhaps worthy intellectual pursuit, but not necessary to my continued faith there is one God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all that is seen and unseen. I humbly submit that the artifact you might be seeking is not some ancient tablet or stone or scroll. It is new and fresh. It is the fact that even to this day there are more adherents to that belief than there is to any other belief. It is the fact that I and many others still hold dear in their hearts a firm belief in the God of Abraham. In that sense, Abraham not only existed but continues to exist. He is alive and well.
 
Big_Ro said:
It seems that this thread is quickly moving toward a debate as to whether or not there existed a historical person named Abraham whose exploits are described in the Bible. I am not aware of any hard evidence for the existance of a historical person named Abraham. We also have very little evidence for the existence of King David or his son Solomon. These people would have lived, as I understand it, some 3000-8000 years before Christ. This would put them on the outside edge of when people in general began to write history and keep records. So, it would be truly remarkable to find now some well preserved artifact that would prove that Abraham actually existed. Still, we have evidence in the the existence of the Church or, more broadly, the existence of a strongly and widely held belief in a single God. It is in fact the most dominant belief on the planet. Monotheism is, IMHO, the inheritance that we share–Jews, Christians, Muslims alike. Now, whether Abraham was a singular person or an amalgam of many individuals or a tribe or group of tribes to whom this great truth was revealed is, again IMHO, irrelevant. It’s a very interesting and perhaps worthy intellectual pursuit, but not necessary to my continued faith there is one God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all that is seen and unseen. I humbly submit that the artifact you might be seeking is not some ancient tablet or stone or scroll. It is new and fresh. It is the fact that even to this day there are more adherents to that belief than there is to any other belief. It is the fact that I and many others still hold dear in their hearts a firm belief in the God of Abraham. In that sense, Abraham not only existed but continues to exist. He is alive and well.
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Thank you. Is it the same for Issac and Jacob? What historical evidence exists for them?
 
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