# "Abrahamic Faith" vs "Faith of Abraham" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743 "2023-10-18T06:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/1 "2023-10-18T06:58:11Z")
The road that I live on has two Church(s) of God of the Abrahamic Faith within a couple of thousand feet of each other, where one schismed off the other around 70 years ago. Recently the older one has covered their permanent sign with a temporary cloth sign where they have changed from a Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith to a Church of God, Faith of Abraham. I’m curious, anyone have any ideas about the doctornal differences? I’m getting a distinct “People’s Front of Judea vs Judean People’s Front” vibe. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/2 "2023-10-18T09:32:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Church of God, Faith of Abraham Me too (or maybe “angels on the head of a pin”, but in an idle moment some googling produced these: > **[Church of the Blessed Hope](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Blessed_Hope)** > > Christianity • Protestantism > The Church of the Blessed Hope (or Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith) is a small first-day Adventist Christian body. The churches\[a\] have common roots with the Christadelphians and the Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith). > Benjamin Wilson spent his early life in Halifax, England. Benjamin, with his brothers, Joseph, John, and James, questioned the teachings of their local Baptist church and "became convinced that the promises to Abraham were central... > **[About - faithofabraham.org](https://www.faithofabraham.org/about/)** > > Our Group Our Church is a small group that meets in our building on the corner of Pioneer and Evergreen in Cashmere Washington.  On an average Sunday we have around 120 people in attendance.  Our focus is on truth as it... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/3 "2023-10-18T12:28:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > …they have changed from a Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith to a Church of God, Faith of Abraham. I’m curious, anyone have any ideas about the doctornal differences? Maybe it’s not a doctrinal thing. Perhaps the older church is just trying to update their image a bit and differentiate themselves from the other church more. “Church of God, Faith of Abraham” has a cleaner, more modern-sounding rhythm to my ear than “Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith”. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/4 "2023-10-18T13:10:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Abrahamic Faith As “Abrahamic Faith” is used (in religious and non-religious circles) to mean all the three major religions who consider Abraham their founding figure (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). So could it be they changed it to make it clear they are in Christian not one of the other two religions? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/5 "2023-10-18T13:48:42Z")
Wasn’t Abraham Jewish, so the “faith of Abraham” literally would be Judaism? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/6 "2023-10-18T13:51:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t Abraham Jewish, so the “faith of Abraham” literally would be Judaism?. Yeah! And how can _all_ those Baptist churches be the _first_? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/7 "2023-10-18T14:25:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t Abraham Jewish, so the “faith of Abraham” literally would be Judaism? According to tradition (I can’t remember if it’s especially stated in Genesis), Abraham came from the land of Ur, somewhere in what’s now Iraq, to Canaan and settled there. Of course his pact with God was the foundation of the Jewish faith, but the Jews as a people didn’t already exist. So it’s debatable if you can call Abraham Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/8 "2023-10-18T14:26:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t Abraham Jewish, so the “faith of Abraham” literally would be Judaism? Depends on what is meant as Jewish. Abraham was not a son of a Jewish woman, raised with Jewish traditions. Neither was he a descendant of Judah nor Jacob. But perhaps he received special dispensation to be Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/9 "2023-10-18T15:06:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t Abraham Jewish, so the “faith of Abraham” literally would be Judaism? This is a debate that has raged amongst three religions for two millennia so is unlikely to be settled on this thread (or by a change of church signage) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/10 "2023-10-18T15:07:17Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > But perhaps he received special dispensation to be Jewish. Abraham was a Jew, everyone who followed was only Jew_ish._ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/11 "2023-10-18T15:56:08Z")
It could just be that the Church of God, Faith of Abraham disaffiliated with the parent COGAF for any number of reasons: they didn’t want to pay affiliation dues anymore, the parent church was pressuring the two congregations to bury the hatchet and combine, they didn’t like the newly elected head of the parent church, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/12 "2023-10-18T16:46:25Z")
“The faith of Abraham” — some sort of proto-Judaism. “Abrahamic Faith” — Judaism, Christianity, Islam. That is what those words mean. The meaning some church somewhere ascribes to them is also very interesting for bored anthropologists everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/13 "2023-10-18T16:48:23Z")
Ask them which end of the egg they open first. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/14 "2023-10-18T17:24:45Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > But perhaps he received special dispensation to be Jewish. > > Abraham was a Jew, everyone who followed was only Jew_ish._ You mean Judah? The clue is in the name… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/15 "2023-10-18T17:33:45Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > You mean Judah? The clue is in the name…. Well yes, if you wanna be _correct_ about it and ruin the joke, Abraham was a Hebrew (עברי) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/16 "2023-10-18T18:54:43Z")
There is also the (in)famous variant, “Im Grunde gab es nur einen Christen, und der starb am Kreuz.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/17 "2023-10-18T19:14:33Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > “Abrahamic Faith” — Judaism, Christianity, Islam. I’ve checked into a few of these churches, They look like an attempt by Christians to convince the other two groups to believe in Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/18 "2023-10-18T20:44:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > There is also the (in)famous variant, “Im Grunde gab es nur einen Christen, und der starb am Kreuz.” I didn’t know the quote, but I was sure it was from Nietzsche after reading it. For the non-German speaking crowd: “In essence, there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross.” ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/19 "2023-10-19T01:37:53Z")
The Wikipedia link earlier tends to show why the church might want to change its name. _Abrahamic Faith_ in modern parlance is very generic. _Faith of Abraham_ is underlining a core difference they have from mainstream Christians. They are placing explicit emphasis in their doctrine on Abraham and his covenant, to the exclusion of some mainstream Christian doctrine. The history of the church does however read like the People’s Front of Judea. But they are hardly alone in this. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743/20 "2023-10-19T02:04:23Z")
This kind of reminds me of the dispute between the Judean People’s Front and the People’s Front of Judea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abrahamic-faith-vs-faith-of-abraham/991743.md?page=2)