Joseph Campbell, the famous American anthropologist and mythology scholar, listening to the Jewish and zionist religious scholar Martin Buber who was talking about Phoenicians and what terrible criminals they were in sacrificing their elder sons to Moloch. About fifteen minutes later, he comes to Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. Dr Campbell addresses the speaker: "Dr Buber, how do you distinguish between the divine and diabolical invitation ?" Dr Buber inquired : " What do you mean by that ?" Dr Campbell explained : " Well some fifteen minutes earlier, you were excoriating the Phoenicians for killing their oldest sons and now you 're celebrating Abraham for having been about to do the same thing with his oldest son. So, what is the answer ?" Dr Buber said : "The answer is 'We' with a capital W - We believe that God spoke to Abraham". That was the only answer Dr Campbell received regarding this matter.
From Dr Campbell book: Transformation of myth through time.
From Dr Campbell book: Transformation of myth through time.