Faith Versus Rationality in the Bible: Game-Theoretic Interpretations of Sacrifice in the Old Testament

Abstract

Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of his son, Isaac (as given in Genesis), and Jephthah’s actual sacrifice of his daughter (as given in Judges), are viewed as two-person, nonzero-sum games played by the fathers with God. Different interpretations of these games suggest that there is a trade-off between “faith” and “rationality”: the more sophisticated rationality calculations biblical characters make, the less need for them to have blind faith in God to achieve their goals. Thus, as the faith of a character wavers, his rationality may sustain him — but not necessarily if he deviates seriously and God is unsympathetic.Implications of treating God as a game player are discussed, and comparisons are made with other interpretations of the biblical stories analyzed.

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