Abrahamic Religions is an important and insightful book, which examines the creation of “Abrahamic religions” and how this category was spread. His main point throughout the book is that the term is an invented term. Hughes problem that we see throughout his book is that this term often crosses over into academy and this causes the term to be too broadly used as a canopy that encompasses these three religions as the same. In the beginning of chapter one, Hushes makes the statement, “if we simply import interfaith vocabulary and assume it then performs analytical work, our attempts to understand religion as a social and cultural practice becomes highly problematic”. Hughes discusses the ways in which Abrahamic religions has become an intellectual …show more content…
And in chapters three, four, and five, He provides a study of how “Abrahamic religions” has been used and abuse over the years. Basically what Hughes is getting at is that no sources, such as the Quran or Bible, have ever used Abraham as a multifaith that signifies a connection between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, each one does claim that it has the true claim of Abraham, and the other sources are either corrupt or wrong. In history, the use of “Abraham” was only used to show superiority over other religious rivals and that there is only one true way to understand it. Hughes states that throughout his study not once could we find the term utilized in a multifaith sense. He further discusses how the use of it as multifaith is more of a modern use then a premodern. In the mid-twentieth century it is seen that many start to speak of Abraham as more of an interfaith figure. An example that Hughes uses is an insert from president Obama from 2009. Within the insert, Obama references all as “children of Abraham”. This reference signifies a sign of hope in a world with religious violence. Therefore we can see how the use of the term “Abraham” or “Abrahamic” have changed over history. The term has shifted tremendously to a multifaith term following the event of