Robittybob1

They wouldn't have time for that. Is that payment enough? Present your full solution dimreepr please?

@Ten oz - you have begun to demonstrate how complex the allegiances are. Add in a few more countries and you've got it. Do they trust him to pay? No one will ever trust Assad again.

So they said in a documentary but it didn't last. Whereas it is repeatedly said Abraham is the father of monotheism but I don't see the reasons for that.

If all rebel groups surrender Assad has won, and then will he hunt down those who contributed to the chaos? He will feel he has won the war but who is going to pay? Over the last few months we've been lead to believe they had a ceasefire, but every time it gets broken by the Russian backed Assad regime. They seem to equate a ceasefire with surrender, and when they don't surrender the rebel held areas are turned into a bloodbath.

Would the winning side expect retribution, or must they also forgive the former rebels?

There is the saying "you can't see the forest for the trees". Does that fit in with what you are saying? So that is that a total surrender by all the rebel groups?

You certainly show a high level of research into the topic. Are you studying the topic or even teaching aspects of it? Care to share some of your background for it has been a very interesting discussion. Thanks.

It breaks my heart seeing what is happening. What is the solution? If the problem arises from this we have no hope of a solution: Disarray http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/95413-who-was-abraham-that-religions-get-named-after-him/page-5#entry924786

The topic is dear to your heart. "Blessed are the peacemakers". Do you have a solution for peace in Syria? If you care I think we should discuss it in another thread, http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/95631-do-you-have-a-solution-for-peace-in-syria/.

Gobekli Tepe - why was it built and then buried? 12,000 years ago when humans were still hunter gatherers. Did they have tools that could make this?

What have you gained from this focus?

Well it appears to have paid off for the descendents of Abraham for they can now claim ancestral ownership of that piece of dirt. I'm trying to understand why more nations haven't done a similar thing? It is also interesting that Haran is close to Gobekli Tepe. Googled Gobekli tepe and Haran: Was there a connection?

Thanks Disarray - I'll look into researching "The Bible Unearthed Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts by Finkelstein and Silberman" there are lectures on YT. to start with.

@Velocity_Boy - Clicked the rep point in error sorry.

In other parts of the OT it goes on to say the firstborn (of a woman) had to be given to the Lord or redeemed. Ishmael we are not told if he was a first born son of his mother or not, but with Isaac we are told. Is this part of the story recounted in the Quran? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael It doesn't tend to lend itself to turning Ismael into a child sacrifice, but Abraham sure put the child's life in danger when he freed the mother (Hagar) and son. Under the law of Hammurabi what was his responsibilities to her? Did he do wrong releasing her as he did? PS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael#Ishmael_in_Muslim_literature The above is mentioned and nothing about Ishmael being sacrificed.

I would tend to agree with that a bit more than saying it was attributed to Abraham. The first four of the Ten Commandments does tend to make them focus on one God. http://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/10-commandments/the-ten-commandments/10-commandments-list/ "You can have other Gods but none ahead of me". Is that what it says? So that is not strictly monotheistic either then is it?

I was looking for the bits that would be evidence whether it was true or not. Rams caught in a thicket was common. Child sacrifice was common. The burial places of Sarah and co seem to be well preserved even if they are out of bounds. The laws written by Hammurabi seem to attribute lots of interaction between the leaders and their gods. So looking into the extent of Hammurabi's kingdom, I can see why Abraham would need to travel out of that area of influence if he felt he wanted to start his own area of influence. (Haram is up in what is currently Turkey) The fact that the Muslim story of Abraham has variations does not carry weight in this investigation.

I'm not really wanting to know about angels or saints but the common statement that keeps coming up that Abraham starts up a monotheism. I'm just wondering how they come to that conclusion. I think this is along the line I need to examine. What I have tried to understand is how does anyone know who you are dealing with, how does anyone (including Abraham) know which "god" is giving Abraham his experiences?

I was commenting on the bizarre concept of surviving a child sacrifice and what sort of effect that would have on that child. How would anyone know whether that child never spoke to his parent ever again, but one could easily imagine that happening. I have not said whether I accept this incident as true or false, yet you have recorded me saying this! All I can see from my study is that human sacrifice was an accepted historical practice for people from Ur. So if it is reported in Genesis that Abraham sets out to commit child sacrifice it may not out be of the ordinary for that time.

They attribute monotheism to Abraham but is this really so? Does anyone understand that?

I read the other day that it was the Lord who stayed Abraham's arm. Now what that would feel like I have no idea, but I don't think it is just like getting cold feet and changing your mind. Someone pointed out Isaac never spoke to Abraham again after that experience. I don't blame him, yet today we are meant to forgive. Do we always forgive our parents?

In a tomb of the Queen of UR they found a ram in the thicket statue, so whether this was a common image or some sort of meme for the people of Ur I'm looking reasons the same image comes up in the story regarding the sacrifice of Isaac? It would hardly be some reference to the Abraham legend. Inside the same tomb there was some twenty odd servants sacrificed to be with the Queen in her afterlife. So the culture of human sacrifice definitely was common place. Described in

That link gave me some names to use when I go down to the quarry. Thanks.

Rock dust and Biochar Field Trials did not show any advantage. There is a series of trials. Rocks are very insoluble so the mineral don't release rapidly. I'm having my doubts.

@Essay - there's no shortage of rocks in Colorado! Some science mixed with ???