Had he done what he thought God was asking, had Abraham killed his child, then no matter what might have been promised would have lost its value. The victory Agamemnon achieved had lost its significance when at the outset he sacrificed his child. He may even have welcomed the death that awaited his return, finding it more fitting than any celebration might have been. I realize the Abraham story is intended as an example of faith, and maybe it is present in Agamemnon's story too, but faith or duty are not so clearly present. To borrow another story from the Greeks, Odysseus is shown not to be crazy when he cannot kill his child, a more hopeful value of where values might better lie.
For Paul, it seemed a mark of God's love that he would not spare his child. I think it could as easily be a basis not to trust since he who would love his son less might not love us at all. I would rather believe the time for stories such as these is over and that whatever message they might have offered has been replaced by concern for one's own children and a reluctance to find hope in death of any sort.
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