Philip the Arab and Christianity that appear—save for one reference to Ishmael—figure in the political history of the first three centuries of the Christian era. To Eusebius, the Saracens of the 4th century are direct-line descendants of the biblical Ishmaelites, descendants of the handmaid, Hagar, and the patriarch, Abraham. They are thus outcasts, beyond God's Covenant with the favored son of Abraham, Isaac. The twin images of the Ishmaelite and the Saracen—outcasts and "latrones", raiders of the frontiers—reinforce each other and give Eusebius' portrait of the Arab nation an unhappy color. He may have been reluctant to associate the first Christian emperor with a people
Pharaoh (Book of Abraham) found in the biblical account (Book of Genesis. Chapter:11-12). The following list provides twelve of these elements and themes from the Book of Abraham verses noted in the comparison: 1.A famine struck Abraham's homeland (Abraham 2:1, 5). 2.Haran died in the famine (Abraham 2:1). 3.Terah, after repenting returned to his idols (Abraham 2:5). 4.Believers are the seed of Abraham and are blessed through him (Abraham 2:10-11). 5.Abraham held the priesthood (Abraham 2:9,11) 6.Abraham sought God earnestly (Abraham 2:12). 7.An angel came to rescue Abraham (Abraham 2:13). 8.Abraham was familiar with Egyptian idols (Abraham 2:13; 3:20). 9.Abraham was sixty-two years old