The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (28 page)

Ab
Rasetsu
.

A guardian of
hell
in Japanese Buddhism.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Abortion
.

The artificial termination of an established pregnancy. In all religions, there is a general tendency to disapprove, but the fact and severity of disapproval varies with circumstances. Thus it may depend on the stage which the pregnancy has reached; on the welfare of the pregnant woman; on the status, value, or (in more recent times) rights of the unborn human life; the assumed gender of that life; the interests of others (e.g. the father); the requirements of whatever is authoritatively determinative of decisions in this area (e.g. scripture). Some religions are thus more definite, in so far as they have normative scriptures in which prescriptions can be found (or from which they can be derived).

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Abot(h)
(Jewish treatise)
:

see
AVOT
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Abrabanel
(Abravanel)
. Isaac ben Judah

(1437–1508)
, Jewish statesman, commentator, and philosopher. He succeeded his father as treasurer to the Portuguese king Alfonso V, but was compelled to flee to Spain when he was suspected of participating in rebellion against his successor. Although in the service of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, he failed to prevent the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, and went into exile, eventually settling in Venice where he died. By the age of 20 he had written
Ateret Zekenim
(The Crown of Elders) examining divine providence. In
Rosh Amanah
(The Principles of Faith) he defended
Maimonides
, although he also maintained that the isolation of some dogmas as seemingly more important than others is wrong, since the whole of
Torah
is a seamless robe. He wrote commentaries on many biblical books.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Abrabanel, Judah
(also known as Leo Hebraeus
,

c.
1460–
c.
1523).
Jewish Portuguese philosopher, poet, and physician. He served as personal physician to the Spanish viceroy in Naples and was the author of
Telunah ‘al ha-Zeman
(Complaint against Time) and four poems about his father
Isaac
. His most famous work was a philosophical dialogue on the theme of love (
Dialoghi di amore
).

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Patriarch
of the Israelite people whose story is told in
Genesis
.
In the
aggadah
, Abraham is seen as an ideal figure who kept the
oral law
even before it had been revealed. As the first to recognize God, he is the father of all
proselytes
.
In Christianity, Abraham is an exemplar of the efficacy of faith without law (Romans 4, Galatians 3. 6–9) and of faith as such (Hebrews 11. 8 ff.). In James 2. 20–4, his faith (in his willingness to sacrifice
Isaac
) is an illustration of
justification
by works. He was believed to have been one of the just liberated by
Christ
on his descent into
hell
. See also
ABRAHAM'S BOSOM
.
In Islam, his name (in the Qur’
n) is Ibr
h
m. He is seen as a
prophet
and the one who together with his son Ism
‘
l (Ishmael) restored the original monotheistic worship at the
Ka‘ba
in
Mecca
. (Qur’
n 2.125). Ibr
h
m is considered as the original Muslim, who submitted to
All
h
as a
an
f
(monotheist) and muslim (3. 67). Islam is itself referred to as the ‘religion of Ibr
h
m’ (
millat Ibr
h
m