
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 11, 1991                   TAG: 9103110298
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A/8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WAR PUT FOCUS ON BIBLE GEOGRAPHY

PROBABLY no other event than the Gulf War has caused us to concentrate on what really is Bible geography. This is the first time I can recall hearing a newscaster report on Ur of Chaldea. That's where Father Abraham was born! Now we know it is west of Basra on the Euphrates River in Iraq.

Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, who remained a wilderness lad and fathered many of the Arabian peoples, and Isaac, who traveled southwest with Abraham toward Canaan and was the founder of the Hebrew nation. Referring to Abraham, Genesis tells us: "In blessing, I will bless thee . . . and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blest."

Great empires came from the seed of Abraham and controlled much of the known world. They also gave mankind at least three significant religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Whether you address the deity as Elohim, God or Allah, you refer to one supreme being.

Perhaps now is the chance for Abraham's children, God's people, to live in peace and equity. Read Genesis again; it's better than C-Span!

PRICE M. COLLINS

ROANOKE

by CNB