GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast

217. Special Episode | Revisiting God Shares The Story Of Abraham And Its True Significance

• Jerry L. Martin, Scott Langdon

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In this episode, we revisit Abraham’s powerful story and its deeper meaning in God's relationship with humanity. Why could Abraham hear and obey God so completely? What does his unwavering faith reveal about true obedience and trust in divine will?

Jerry Martin explores Abraham's test, questioning whether such an extreme command could truly come from God. The Voice of God explains the necessity of absolute surrender, divine authority, and the spiritual transformation it brings. What does Abraham’s response to God teach us about faith, submission, and moral dilemmas in the Bible?

We also examine Abraham’s contrasting responses—his silent obedience with Isaac versus his bold plea for Sodom. Why did Abraham challenge God’s judgment over Sodom but not question His command to sacrifice his son? Does God evolve through human interaction? Can divine commands be questioned, or is faith about complete submission?

This thought-provoking discussion challenges traditional views on faith, obedience, and divine justice. We delve into the meaning of divine obedience, the nature of God's test of faith, and whether Abraham was a real person or a symbolic figure in religious history.

Join us for this profound journey into one of the Bible’s most debated stories, exploring God’s voice and divine communication, the spiritual lessons from Abraham’s faith, and the complexity of obedience and morality in the Old Testament.

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Scott Langdon 00:17: This is God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, a dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher by Jerry L Martin. He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions and God had a lot to tell him. 

Scott Langdon 01:00: Episode 217. Hello and welcome to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. I'm Scott Langdon and today in Episode 217, we re-examine Episode 24,. God Shares the Story of Abraham and Its True Significance.

Scott Langdon 01:19: Next week on the show, Jerry welcomes back Dr Abigail Rosenthal, author of the new book Confessions of a Young Philosopher, as his guest for our latest Life Wisdom Project episode. The two discuss this very difficult story of God and Abraham and what God asks Abraham to do. Do you have any thoughts on the Abraham and Isaac story? Drop us an email at questions@godanautobiography.com. We'd love to hear from you here. Now is episode 24. God Shares The Story Of Abraham And Its True Significance. I hope you enjoy the episode. 

DRAMATIC ADAPTATION: God Shares The Story Of Abraham And Its True Significance

Jerry Martin - voiced by Scott Langdon
The Voice of God - voiced by Jerry L. Martin, who heard the voice

Jerry Martin: Lord, what was it about Abraham that made him available to hear You, to know it was You?

The Voice of God 02:19: I found that most people had turned from God. I have always communicated with people, whispered in their ears, you might say, given them signs. But most do not listen. They pay no attention--because they do not want to. They are enjoying the pleasures I have given them, or using the pains as an excuse for self-pity. But Abraham was a remarkable man. When I whispered to him, he responded immediately, like a soldier reporting for duty, "Here I am."

Jerry Martin 02:57: In Genesis 12, the Lord speaks to Abram (Abraham's original name) out of the blue. "And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father's house to the land I will show you.' . . . And Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him"--no questions asked. The most famous story occurs years later. The Lord gave the aged couple a son. And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham. And He said to him, "Abraham!" and he said, "Here I am." And He said, "Take, pray, your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah and offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall say to you." And Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took his two lads with him, and Isaac his son, and he split wood for the offering, and rose and went to the place that God had said to him. . . . [They arrive at the place and set up the altar and Isaac is placed on it.] And Abraham reached out his hand and took the cleaver to slaughter his son. We don't breathe until we reach the ending. And the Lord's messenger called out to him from the heavens and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" and he said, "Here I am." And he said to him, "Do not reach out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God and you have not held back your son, your only one, from Me." I always want to know what really happened and couldn't resist asking again, “Was there a real Abraham and did these things really happen to him?”

The Voice of God 04:50: The story is true to My experience with mankind, and there was, in a sense, a first man (person) who heard My voice in this particular way. The absolute authority I hold. He heard it, did not question it, and acted on it--promptly.

Jerry Martin 05:10: The lesson is obedience to God. 

The Voice of God: Yes, that is the obvious lesson and it is the correct lesson.

Jerry Martin: It must have been an important step in humankind's relation to You. Was it also an important step for You?

The Voice of God: Let's pause for a moment over the first part of that.

Jerry Martin: Why it was an important step for people?

The Voice of God: 05:35: Yes, exactly. Every human response to Me had understood that My voice had special standing, hence the early division into the sacred and the profane. The Near Eastern empires had articulated this explicitly as the capstone of an imperial order. But My commands are more than sacred and more than those of a king. They are absolute, one almost wants to say absolutely absolute, not absolute in this or that context or up to a certain point, the way you have to follow a court order unless it is overturned by a higher court. Even Supreme Court decisions and kings' orders can be questioned and criticized. That is within human competence to do. Not with My commands. They are beyond human understanding, not because they are in principle ineffable or bizarre, as if I had some really bizarre reasons, but because the structure of the world and of the spiritual development of the world requires absolute obedience, total yielding.

 Jerry Martin 06:39: Total yielding Isn't that extreme, Lord?

The Voice of God 06:44: You see, it is a matter of principle. Anything held back, even for the best of reasons, is a sacrilege, a defiant act, a claiming to possess things or a right to things or an authority over oneself that one does not have, hence an illegitimate act. You are not only, in a respect, Me; you are Mine. And that is not because I am some petty, or vast, tyrant, but because yielding what is Mine is essential to the spiritual development of the universe, and of you and Me.

Jerry Martin 07:43: But kill my son? If You told me to do that, I would not believe it was Your voice.

The Voice of God 07:49: Don't get hung up on the details. Of course, I would not command such a thing. But only the extreme example is sufficient to drive home the point of obedience and of divine dominion being total. That does not mean you should believe every voice you hear or do whatever some would-be prophet tells you to do.

Jerry Martin 08:11: But You gave Abraham an extraordinary command, and he obeyed immediately.

The Voice of God 08:16: That is right, and that is the correct standard of obedience.

Jerry Martin 08:21: The Abraham who, without a murmur, takes his son to the mountain to be slain reacts very differently when, in Genesis 18, God is determined to destroy the wicked city of Sodom. Over his own son, he does not argue, but over strangers in Sodom, he will not be silent. Will You really wipe out the innocent with the guilty? Perhaps there may be fifty innocent within the city. Will You really wipe out the place and not spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent within it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the innocent with the guilty, making innocent and guilty the same. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?Abraham accuses God of not living up to His job description, and God gives in! "Should I find in Sodom fifty innocent within the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham argues Him down to ten, and God concedes, "I will not destroy for the sake of the ten." God actually seemed to be learning how to be a better divine judge. Lord, Job also argues with You, prophets object to their assignments, and Lamentations laments. Do they teach God?

The Voice of God 09:47: Not "teach" exactly. But I learn from the interaction.

Jerry Martin 09:52: This kind of talk was making me very edgy. At stake is whether God is really God, the God we have placed on a pedestal, or is He something less than that, perhaps much less?Lord, it sounds as if You were unfinished, imperfect, and perhaps inconsistent.

The Voice of God: Yes.

Jerry Martin: So You are developing, discovering Yourself, and becoming fuller?

The Voice of God: Yes.

Jerry Martin: I suppose all this was already implicit in the idea of a developing God, but something that you can accept in the abstract is much harder when you get down to cases. Was God turning out to be profoundly disappointing, or was I missing something?

Scott Langdon 11:02: Thank you for listening to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. Subscribe for free today wherever you listen to your podcasts and hear a new episode every week. You can hear the complete dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin by beginning with episode one of our podcast and listening through its conclusion with Episode 44. You can read the original true story in the book from which this podcast is adapted, God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher, available now at amazon.com, and always at godanautobiography.com. Pick up your own copy today. If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please email us at questions@godanautobiography.com, and experience the world from God's perspective as it was told to a philosopher. This is Scott Langdon. I'll see you next time.