I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me (Jn. 14:6).

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me; but you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning (Jn. 15:26).

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth...He will take from what is mine and make it known to you (Jn. 16:12 & 15).

You diligently search the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (Jn. 5:39).

******************************************************************************

"Like Judaism, Islam sees [the journey of Abraham] as being as much of an inner journey as an outer one. 'All spiritual-minded Muslims say that when we pray we should try to be in an Abrahamic state,' says Sheikh Abdul Rauf. 'We should take Abraham's viewpoint toward the world. We should try to be Abrahamic in our being.'

"And how would he describe being Abrahamic?"

'First, complete devotion to God, even if it involves leaving your family and leaving your town.  On another level, making our own contractual agreement with God.  Each of us has a covenant to make with God, 'I will worship you as my God and you will take care of me.'

'And finally, knowing yourself on the deepest level.  The prime objective of religion is to know God, but the only way to do that is to discover God within our own consciousness.  This happened to Abraham, and it can happen to us.  And anybody that happens to will choose to live a life in accordance with God's practice.'

."....Departure is paramount to Christian identity....The message of Abraham is to be alone, to be quiet, and to listen.  If you never hear the Call in the first place, you'll never know which way to go."

                                        [ -- all taken from Abraham by Bruce Feiler]

*****************************************************************************

The "What" of Faith follows the "HOW."   Neither Abraham in the Old Testament nor the disciples in the New knew What they believed until they had surrendered to a Person who called them out of darkness into Light.  The "HOW" is the act of surrender to a Person.  Truth, like Love, is of God and in God, and comes from God.  We can know the Truth only by knowing God.  The Pharisees made it their life's mission to study the Scriptures, but the study somehow had not led to the Abrahamic surrender, to the covenant that each person must make with God.

We don't begin our journey by knowing the Truth, but after we say, "You are my God, and I trust You to lead me," He sends the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all Truth.  It is a gradual process of discovery, like the dawn rising to the full light of day.  And it is always an individual journey:  God has no grandchildren.  We cannot "inherit" the faith.  What we have heard from our forefathers and mothers is only the prelude to our journey. 

In each generation, the journey occurs.  And on the way, we meet the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

He says to us, "I am the God you have heard about from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and.....; now it is between you and Me.  Will I be your God also?"

And it is only after that encounter that the Scriptures begin to unfold to us, that we discover that what we have heard previously was truth, our truth.  Many people who have never read the Bible have discovered its truth by knowing the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Isn't it strange that Abraham is considered the Father of the three major world religions--Islam, Judaism, and Christianity?  I have experienced more fellowship of spirit with Moslems at times than with nominal Christians.  And I have certainly experienced fellowship of spirit with Jews who worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Not all Christians are "children of Abraham;" not all Jews are "children of Abraham," despite their blood-lines; and not all Moslems are "children of Abraham."  But Truth is from the Spirit of God, and He knows how to unite those who belong to Him and who hear His voice.