AJ I have never used the term "blind faith". For me faith is not blind, it is rooted in an assurance of future.

Historical research shows that Abraham was the first to believe there is only ONE Creator of the Universe, the event with Isaac was that defining moment. No longer to follow the many gods and their human sacrifice for fertility, but follow his new conviction, that the Universe, though diverse, was created as a unit by only ONE power, of which we are a part with. That same creative power that gives the Universe meaning is present within us; either to recognize or blindly deny as fictitious.

Sorry Josephus, but I thought your “bling faith” was a typo meant to read “blind faith”. Tell me more about this apparently ostentatious form of faith.

<<For me faith is not blind, it is rooted in an assurance of future.>>

Yes, a form of confidence or trust. That’s more or less what it is for every Christian when it’s pointed out how foolish it is to believe something without evidence. In my experience, however, Christians are happy to revert back to the original religious definition of faith when accusing atheists of having a faith too.

By the way, unless this assurance of the future has come from a reliable source (and not an imagined being), then it is still blind.

Dear Josephus,

What historical research shows that Abraham was the first monotheist? Please cite your source and tell what the evidence was that justifies your assertion.

Historical research is digging up the evidence to show certain things happened in the past.

My oldest son has actually done historical research. Pella is the first Christian settlement east of the Jordan. He was part of an archaeological team that made a dig at Pella. Pella is at the confluence of two rivers so it was an attractive place to settle. It was also an attractive place to attack. There are at least 33 settlements there one on top of another with layers of dirt in between gathered in the periods between settlements. The middle Bronze Age in that area was the time of Abraham, and they went down that deep and deeper. My son is a palynologist. His job on the dig was to examine the pollen grains in the dirt at a particular level and to tell from that what plants were growing at that particular time in that area. From that evidence he could tell about the climate and what they probably ate. That is historical research - gathering the data from which a historian can base a historical narrative. Some other sources of historical research are records of business transactions, cargo manifests and school lessons. Kramer of the University of Pennsylvania Museum has translated cuneiform tablets to get that sort of information.

Speculation about the meaning of Biblical texts is NOT historical research. Anyhow what is the source for the assertion that Abraham was the first monotheist and what evidence supports the assertion?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten tells about a pharaoh who might have been the first monotheist. From that site:

Historian James Henry Breasted [87] considered Akhenaten to be “the first individual in history,” as well as the first monotheist, romantic, and scientist.

AJ,

"You must really be getting desperate if you’re now playing irrelevant semantical games."

Must be catching!

No. No games being played here, Is Mise. My point with regards to abortion has simply been that no-one has the right to use someone else's body for their survival and that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy. Nothing said in rebuttal to that so far has invalidated it.

No need for semantics.

//Historical research shows that Abraham was the first to believe there is only ONE Creator of the Universe//

So what did Adam and Eve believe then? Because if you look in Genesis 3, they actually meet and talk with the guy. Surely they weren't worshipping any other gods?