Paul the Apostle

Across multiple traditions, the bestowal of a new name signifies a fundamental ontological shift, often marking a covenantal entry, a prophetic commission, or the attainment of enlightenment. While Abrahamic narratives frequently frame this as a divine intervention altering a patriarch's destiny or role, Eastern traditions often depict the new name as a title earned through the realization of an inherent, previously obscured nature. Scholars debate whether these changes denote a literal change in identity or a rhetorical device emphasizing a new social or spiritual function within the community.

This parallel examines the motif of prophetic iconoclasm as a definitive rupture with ancestral polytheism. While the narrative of Abraham smashing idols in the Qur'an serves as a paradigmatic origin story for monotheistic rejection of images, the Hebrew Bible presents Moses destroying the Golden Calf and Hezekiah later dismantling the Nehushtan as acts of cultic purification within an established covenant. Christian tradition, particularly in Acts 17, shifts the focus from physical destruction to rhetorical deconstruction of idols in the Athenian Areopagus, reflecting a different missionary strategy. Scholars debate whether the Abraham narrative in the Qur'an is a midrashic elaboration of Genesis or an independent tradition emphasizing the prophet's logical refutation of idolatry.