One famous remark by Gregory of Nyssa caught the situation precisely: "Even the baker," he said, does not cease from discussing this, for if you ask the price of bread he will tell you that the Father is greater and the Son subject to him. Rather than being an esoteric issue confined to theologians or bishops, this discussion engaged the participation of a broad range of people. In a culture imbued with Greek philosophical notions, debate raged over the question of whether Jesus Christ was truly divine or whether he was a creature subordinate to God the Father. All rights reserved.:Ī small vignette from the late fourth century reveals how fascinating the Christian people of that time found the question of right speech about god. She has served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America and is the author of several books, including Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology (Crossroad/Herder & Herder) Excerpt. Johnson, C.S.J., is a distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University in New York. His descendants can share in the blessings of Abraham by putting their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.Elizabeth A. We know from the Bible that God made Ishmael into a great nation. But it’s unlikely that all of those in Arabia are descendants of Ishmael, as the descendants of Keturah and the children of Esau also lived in the Arabian Peninsula.Īlthough some modern Arabians could trace their lineage back to Ishmael, not all Arabians are descendants of Ishmael as Muslims try to claim. Old records clearly link the north Arabians with Ishmael’s descendants” (“Ishmael and the Bible,” Emmaus Journal 13:2, 2004). According to missionary and author Kenneth Fleming, “what we know for certain seems to support the theory that the Ishmaelites are, at the very least, a major element in the Arab genetic line. There is most likely some truth in this theory. In fact, Muhammad was a major proponent of this idea, claiming to be a descendant of Ishmael according to the Quran. There is a popular theory common among Muslims and some Christians that Arabian Muslims are direct descendants of Ishmael.
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Later, others settled in the Arabian Peninsula as well, including the descendants of Keturah’s sons (1 Chronicles 1:32–33) and some of Esau’s descendants, among them the Amalekites (Genesis 36:12). This fulfilled God’s earlier word that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12). The descendants of Ishmael became known as Arabs, which basically means “nomads.” From the beginning, the descendants of Ishmael were a warlike people, as “they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them” (Genesis 25:18).
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Isaiah 60:7 mentions the descendants of Nebaioth and Kedar as those who raise flocks. The area of Havilah where Ishmael’s descendants lived is in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula Shur is a wilderness area between Beersheba in the Negev Desert and Egypt. The Bible lists Ishmael’s sons as Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah (verses 13–15). Ishmael’s descendants “settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt as you go toward Ashur” (Genesis 25:18). That came about in this way: Hagar, who was Egyptian herself, found a wife from Egypt for her son, and Ishmael settled in the desert of Paran (Genesis 21:21). The fulfillment is recorded in Genesis 25:12–18-Ishmael had twelve sons who became great rulers and eventually a nation of people. God promised Hagar that Ishmael, as a son of Abraham, would become a great nation (Genesis 21:17–18). Later, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah, and Hagar and Ishmael were driven away because of Ishmael’s attitude toward Isaac (Genesis 21:9–10, 14). Ishmael was a son of Abraham, born of Sarah’s maidservant Hagar in an attempt to bring into the world the son God had promised to Abraham and Sarah.