Editing Abraham (section)

===Christianity===
[[File:Aert de Gelder 009.jpg|thumb|''Abraham and the Angels'', by [[Aert de Gelder]], {{circa|1680–85}} ([[Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen]], [[Rotterdam]])]]
In [[Christianity]], Abraham is revered as the [[Prophets of Christianity|prophet]] to whom God chose to reveal himself and with whom God initiated a [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] (cf. ''[[Covenant Theology]]'').{{sfn|Wright|2010|p=72}}<ref name="WaReMu">{{harvnb|Waters|Reid|Muether|2020|ps=: "Paul also shows us how the Abrahamic covenant relates to the covenantal administrations that precede and follow it. ... There is, then, covenantal continuity between the inaugural administration of God's one gracious covenant in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15) and the subsequent administration of that covenant to Abraham and his family (Gen. 12; 15; 17). The Abrahamic administration serves to reveal more of the person and work of Christ and, in this way, continue to administer Christ to human beings through faith."}}</ref> [[Paul the Apostle]] declared that all who believe in Jesus ([[Christians]]) are "included in the seed of Abraham and are inheritors of the promise made to Abraham."{{sfn|Wright|2010|p=72}} In {{Bibleverse|Romans|4|KJV}}, Abraham is praised for his "unwavering faith" in God, which is tied into the concept of partakers of the covenant of grace being those "who demonstrate faith in the saving power of Christ".<ref>Firestone, Reuven. [http://cmje.usc.edu/articles/abraham.php "Abraham."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909233637/http://cmje.usc.edu/articles/abraham.php |date=9 September 2017 }} ''Encyclopedia of World History''.</ref><ref name="WaReMu" />

Throughout history, church leaders, following Paul, have emphasized Abraham as the spiritual father of all Christians.{{sfn|Jeffrey|1992|p=10}} [[Augustine of Hippo]] declared that Christians are "children (or "seed") of Abraham by faith", [[Ambrose]] stated that "by means of their faith Christians possess the promises made to Abraham", and [[Martin Luther]] recalled Abraham as "a paradigm of the man of faith."{{efn|{{harvnb|Jeffrey|1992|p=10}} states "St. Augustine, following Paul, regards all Christians as children (or "seed") of Abraham by faith, although "born of strangers" (e.g. In Joan. Ev. 108). St. Ambrose likewise says that by means of their faith Christians possess the promises made to Abraham. Abraham's initial departure from his homeland is understood by St. Caesarius of Arles as a type of Christian leaving the world of carnal habits to follow Christ. Later commentators as diverse as Luther and Kierkegaard recall Abraham as a paradigm of the man of faith. }}

The [[Roman Catholic Church]], the largest Christian denomination, calls Abraham "our father in Faith" in the [[Eucharistic prayer]] of the [[Roman Canon]], recited during the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]]. He is also commemorated in the [[calendar of saints|calendars of saints]] of several denominations: on 20 August by the [[Maronite Church]], 28 August in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Church]] and the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] (with the full [[daily office|office]] for the latter), and on 9 October by the Roman Catholic Church and the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]].<ref name="LCMS">{{cite web |title=Commemorations |url=https://www.lcms.org/worship/church-year/commemorations |publisher=[[Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod]] |access-date=31 October 2020 |language=en |archive-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704153818/https://www.lcms.org/worship/church-year/commemorations |url-status=live }}</ref> In the introduction to his 15th-century translation of the [[Golden Legend]]'s account of Abraham, [[William Caxton]] noted that this patriarch's life was read in church on [[Sunday before Lent|Quinquagesima Sunday]].<ref name="Caxton">{{cite web|last=Caxton|first=William|title=Abraham|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume1.asp#Abraham|website=The Golden Legend|publisher=Internet Medieval Source Book|access-date=3 April 2014|archive-date=13 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813234236/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume1.asp#Abraham|url-status=live}}</ref>
He is the [[patron saint]] of those in the hospitality industry.{{sfn|Holweck|1924|p=7}} The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] commemorates him as the "Righteous Forefather Abraham", with two [[feast day]]s in its [[Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar|liturgical calendar]]. The first time is on 9 October (for those churches which follow the traditional [[Julian Calendar]], 9 October falls on 22 October of the modern [[Gregorian Calendar]]), where he is commemorated together with his nephew "Righteous Lot". The other is on the "Sunday of the Forefathers" (two Sundays before Christmas), when he is commemorated together with other [[Genealogy of Jesus|ancestors of Jesus]]. Abraham is also mentioned in the [[Divine Liturgy]] of [[Basil the Great]], just before the Anaphora, and Abraham and Sarah are invoked in the prayers said by the priest over a newly married couple. A popular [[hymn]] sung in many English-speaking [[Sunday School]]s by children is known as "Father Abraham" and emphasizes the patriarch as the spiritual progenitor of Christians.<ref name="Smith2000">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Carol |title=The Ultimate Guide to the Bible |date=2000b |publisher=Barbour |isbn=978-1-57748-824-8 |page=91 |language=en}}</ref>

Many [[Conservative evangelicalism|conservative Protestant]] and [[Reformed theology|Reformed]] theologians emphasize Abraham as the primary biblical model of justification by faith. {{Bibleverse|Genesis|15:6|ESV}} — “he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” — is viewed as foundational to this doctrine. In {{Bibleverse|Romans|4|ESV}}, Paul argues that Abraham was justified before circumcision, presenting him as the spiritual ancestor of all believers. {{Bibleverse|Galatians|3:7|ESV}} echoes this: “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” The prophetic call in {{Bibleverse|Isaiah|51:1–2|ESV}} to “look to Abraham” is interpreted by theologians such as Alec Motyer as underscoring Abraham’s righteousness through trust in God’s promise rather than reliance on ritual observance.<ref>Motyer, J. Alec. ''The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary''. InterVarsity Press, 1993, p. 399.</ref> There was an extended delay between promise and fulfillment—25 years between God's initial promise and Isaac’s birth—as a time of spiritual formation. Motyer writes: “Abraham lived half his life without Isaac and half with him—the two halves held together by the promise of God.”<ref>Motyer, J. Alec. ''The Message of Genesis 12–50''. InterVarsity Press, 1987, p. 94.</ref> [[John Calvin]] likewise wrote that Abraham’s later obedience, such as offering Isaac, confirmed “the faith which he had before manifested its truth by its fruits.”<ref>Calvin, John. ''Commentary on James''. Calvin Translation Society, 1855.</ref>

Additionally, many Christians interpret the three visitors who appeared to Abraham in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|18|ESV}} as a foreshadowing of the [[Trinity]], a typology affirmed by Church Fathers like [[Ambrose]] and represented iconographically in [[Andrei Rublev]]’s ''[[Trinity (Andrei Rublev)|The Hospitality of Abraham]]''.