Abraham

This article by Father Michel Evdokimov is the text of a paper delivered in 2000 at the Saint-Sergius Institute in Paris, within the framework of the Fraternity of Abraham, an interreligious association bringing together Jews, Christians and Muslims. Drawing on theological meditation, it offers an Orthodox reading of the figure of Abraham based on the narratives of Genesis and the Epistle to the Hebrews. The central idea is that Abraham embodies a faith prior to any institutional mediation — sacred texts, moral law, theology — grounded in a personal and unconditional response to the divine call. The article examines in turn nomadism as a figure of the soul's inner journey, the episodes of Melchizedek and Mamre as Trinitarian and Eucharistic prefigurations, the prayer of universal intercession, and the sacrifice of Isaac as the paradoxical fulfillment of faith. The theological contribution lies in the articulation between the universalist dimension of Abraham and the Orthodox spirituality of personal encounter with God.