| DOCTRINES AND DOGMAS |
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| 3 MAJOR THEMES AND
MOTIFS |
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Prophecy, a religious phenomenon
generally associated with Judaism
and Christianity, is found throughout the religions of the world, both ancient
and modern. In its narrower sense, the term prophet
(Greek prophetes, "forthteller") refers to an inspired person who
believes that he has been sent by his god with a message to tell. He is, in this
sense, the mouthpiece of his god. In a broader sense, the word can refer to
anybody who utters the will of a deity, often ascertained through visions,
dreams, or the casting of lots; the will of the deity also might be spoken in a
liturgical setting. The prophet, thus, is often associated with the priest, the
shaman (a religious figure in primitive societies who functions as a healer,
diviner, and possessor of psychic powers), the diviner (foreteller), and the
mystic. |
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In a much broader sense, the term
prophet has been used in connection with social and religio-political reformers
and leaders. |
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A primary characteristic of prophetic
self-consciousness is an awareness of a call, which is regarded as the prophet's
legitimization. This call is viewed as ultimately coming from a deity and by
means of a dream, a vision, an audition, or through the mediation of another
prophet. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah's
call was in the form of a vision, in which Yahweh (the God of Israel) told him
that he had already been chosen to be a prophet before he was born (Jer. 1:5).
When the call of the deity is mediated through a prophet who is the master of a
prophetic group or an individual follower, such a call can be seen as a mandate.
Furthermore, such mediation means that the spirit of the prophet master has been
transferred simultaneously to the disciple. In the case of cult prophets, such
as the prophets of the gods Baal and Yahweh in ancient Canaan, the call may be
regarded as a mandate of the cult. (see also religious
experience) |
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Prophets were often organized into
guilds in which they received their training. The guilds were led by a prophet
master, and their members could be distinguished from other members of their
society by their garb (such as a special mantle) or by physical marks or
grooming (such as baldness, a mark on the forehead, or scars of
self-laceration). (see also religious education) |
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The nature of prophecy is twofold:
either inspired (by visions or revelatory auditions), or acquired (by learning
certain techniques). In many cases both aspects are present. The goal of
learning certain prophetic techniques is to reach an ecstatic state in which revelations
can be received. That state might be reached through the use of music, dancing,
drums, violent bodily movement, and self-laceration. The ecstatic prophet is
regarded as being filled with the divine spirit, and in this state the deity
speaks through him. Ecstatic oracles, therefore, are generally delivered by the
prophet in the first-person singular pronoun and are spoken in a short, rhythmic
style. (see also inspiration,
ecstasy) |
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That prophets employing ecstatic
techniques have been called madmen is accounted for by descriptions of their
loss of control over themselves when they are "possessed" by the
deity. Prophets in ecstatic trances often have experienced sensations of
corporeal transmigration (such as the 6th-century-BC Old Testment prophet
Ezekiel and the 6th-7th-century-AD founder of Islam, Muhammad).
Such prophets are believed to have a predisposition for such unusual sensations.
(see also possession) |
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The functions of the prophet and priest
occasionally overlap, for priests sometimes fulfill a prophetic function by
uttering an oracle of a deity. Such an oracle
often serves as part of a liturgy, as when ministers or priests in modern
Christian churches read scriptural texts that begin with the proclamation:
"Thus says the Lord." The priest, in this instance, fulfills the
prophetic function of the cult. Not only do the roles of the prophet and priest
overlap but so do the roles of the prophet and shaman.
A shaman seldom remembers the message he has delivered when possessed, whereas
the prophet always remembers what has happened to him and what he
"heard." (see also priesthood) |
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The diviner, sometimes compared with the
prophet, performs the priestly art of foretelling. His art is to augur
the future on the basis of hidden knowledge discerned almost anywhere, as in the
constellations (astrology), the flight of birds (auspices), in the entrails of
sacrificial animals (haruspicy), in hands (chiromancy), in casting lots
(cleromancy), in the flames of burning sacrifices (pyromancy), and other such
areas of special knowledge (see also OCCULTISM: Divination: astrology
and Divination:
other forms ; SACRED
OFFICES AND ORDERS: e="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Shamanism ).
(see also divination) |
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Mystics and prophets are similar in
nature in that they both claim a special intimacy with the deity. The mystic,
however, strives for a union with the deity, who usurps control of his ego,
whereas the prophet never loses control of his ego. On occasion mystics have
delivered messages from the deity, thus acting in the role of a prophet, and
have been known to use ecstatic trances to reach the divine or sacred world; e.g.,
many Roman Catholic saints and Muslim Sufis (see below Saint
; see also RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE: e="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The experience of mysticism
). (see also mysticism) |
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In the Western world, Israelite prophecy
is regarded as unique, for not only did it oppose institutionalized religion but
it is understood as having propagated an ethical religion emphasizing individual
freedom, a religion not dependent on mechanical ritual and legalism. |
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The term prophecy also has been used in
a strictly predictive sense, not necessarily dealing with religious themes. In
this sense, The Communist Manifesto, by
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was viewed as a "prophecy" of things
to come; a new approach that goes against the traditional in literature, art,
politics, and other areas may--in this wider sense--be termed
"prophetic." |
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Types of prophecy can be classified on
the basis of inspiration, behaviour, and office. Divinatory prophets include
seers, oracle givers, soothsayers, and mantics (diviners), all of whom predict
the future or tell the divine will in oracular statements by means of
instruments, dreams, telepathy, clairvoyance, or visions received in the
frenzied state of ecstasy. Predictions and foretellings, however, may also be
the result of inspiration, or of common sense by the intelligent observation of
situations and events, albeit interpreted from a religious point of view. |
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Of broad importance to the religious
community is the cult prophet,
or priest-prophet. Under the mandate of the cult, the priest-prophet (who may be
an ordinary priest) is part of the priestly staff of a sanctuary, and his duty
is to pronounce the divine oracular word at the appropriate point in a liturgy.
As such, he is an "institutional" prophet. The difference between a
cult prophet and a prophet in the classical sense is that the latter has always
experienced a divine call, whereas the cult prophet, pronouncing the word of the
deity under cultic mandate, repeats his messages at a special moment in the ritual.
Because of the timeless character of cultic activity, however, every time he
prophesies, his message is regarded as new. |
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Missionary (or apostolic) prophets are
those who maintain that the religious truth revealed to them is unique to
themselves alone. Such prophets acquire a following of disciples who accept that
their teachings reveal the true religion. The result of this kind of prophetic
action may lead to a new religion; e.g., Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad. The founders of many
modern religious sects also should be included in this type. |
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Another type of prophet is of the
reformative or revolutionary kind (looking to the past and the future), closely
related to the restorative or purificatory type (looking to the past as the
ideal). The best examples are the Old Testament classical prophets; e.g.,
Amos and Jeremiah. Many of these so-called literary prophets were working to
reform the religion of Yahweh, attempting to free it from its Canaanite heritage
and accretions. In the Arab world Muhammad is included in this category.
The social sympathy found among such prophets is rooted in their religious
conscience. What may have been preached as religious reform, therefore, often
took on the form of social reform. This kind of prophecy is also found in India
and Africa, where prophets in modern times have arisen to restore or purify the
old tribal religious forms, as well as the customs and laws that had their
sources in the older precolonial religious life. Many of these movements became
revolutionary not only by force of logic but also by force of social and
political pressure (see above, Eschatology
). |
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Though there may be several categories
of prophecy according to scholars, no sharp line of demarcation differentiates
among these different types. Any given prophet may be both predictive and
missionary, ecstatic as well as reformative. |
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In ancient Egypt, charismatic prophecy
apparently was not commonplace, if it occurred at all, though institutional
prophecy was of the greatest importance because life was regarded as depending
upon what the gods said. Some ancient texts contain what has sometimes been
regarded as prophetic utterances, but these more often are considered to be the
product of wise men who were well acquainted with Egyptian traditions and
history. Among Egyptian sages, historical events were thought to follow a
pattern, which could be observed and the laws of which could be discerned. Thus,
times of hardship were always thought to be followed by times of prosperity, and
predictions were made accordingly. (see also Egyptian religion) |
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In Egyptian mantic (divinatory) texts
there are prophetic sayings, but the particular concerns of these texts are more
political than religious. Some are fictitious, and many are considered to have
been prophesied after the event has already taken place. The papyrus text
"The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant" is considered by some
authorities as a prophecy, since the peasant is forced to deliver speeches,
saying: "Not shall the one be silent whom thou hast forced to speak."
This compulsion to speak in the name of the divine is called by some scholars
the "prophetical condition." (see also scripture) |
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In a Hittite text King Mursilis II
(reigned c. 1334-c. 1306 BC) mentions the presence of prophets, but there is no
information about the type of prophecy. More informative are texts from Mari
(Tall al-Hariri, 18th century BC) in northwest Mesopotamia,
where some striking parallels to Hebrew prophecy have been discovered. The Mari
prophets--believed to be inspired--spoke the word of the god Dagon just as
Israelite prophets spoke the word of Yahweh. |
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In Mari, the two key words for prophet
are muhhum (an ecstatic, a frenzied
one) and apilum (the one who
responds). Both may be connected with the cult, but there are incidents
indicating that the muhhum was not
bound to the cultic setting but received his message in a direct revelation from
his god. The apilum usually acted
within a group of fellow prophets. Many of their sayings are political in
nature, but there are also oracles that deal with the king's duty to protect the
poor and needy, indicating that an ethical dimension was present among the Mari
prophets. The messages could also contain admonitions, threats, reproofs,
accusations, and predictions of either disaster or good fortune. |
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The Mari texts are important in the
history of prophecy because they reveal that inspired prophecy in the ancient
Middle East dates back 1,000 years before Amos and Hosea (8th century BC) in
Israel. From Mesopotamia there is evidence of the mahhu,
the frenzied one, known in Sumerian texts as the lú-gub-ba. Mention also is made of some prophets who spoke to
Assyrian kings, and their message is sometimes introduced with the clause:
"Do not fear." Omina (omens) texts containing promises or predictions
are also known. In one of the maqlu ("oath")
texts, in which an asipu priest is
being sent forth by his god, the deity first asks "Whom shall I send?"
(see also Mesopotamian
religion, Syrian and
Palestinian religion) |
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The baru(a divinatory or astrological priest) declared the divine will through signs
and omens, and thus by some is considered to have been a prophet. Though he
might possibly have had visions, he was not in actuality an ecstatic. The art of
divination became very elaborate in the course of time and required a long
period of training. |
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Zoroaster,
the 7th-6th-century-BC Iranian founder of the religion that bears his name, is
one of the least well-known founders of a religion because of the character of
the existing textual materials and because some scholars have advocated that
Zoroaster is a mythical figure. He may have been, however, an ecstatic
priest-singer, or zaotar, who used
special techniques (especially intoxication) to achieve a trance. Zoroaster
found the priests and cult of his day offensive, and opposed them. He preached
the coming of the kingdom of the god Ahura Mazda (Ormazd), who is claimed
to have revealed to Zoroaster the sacred writings, the Avesta.
In the Yasna (a section of the
Avesta), Zoroaster refers to himself as a Saoshyans, a saviour. Messianic
prophecies of the end of the world are found in Zoroastrian literature, but
these are more a literary product than actual prophetic utterance (see also ZOROASTRIANISM
AND PARSIISM ). (see also Zoroastrianism) |
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Prophets were a common phenomenon in
Syria-Palestine. In an Egyptian text (11th century BC), Wen-Amon
(a temple official at Karnak) was sent by the pharaoh to Gebal (Byblos)
to procure timber. While there, a young noble of that city was seized by his god
and in frenzy gave a message to the king of Gebal that the request of Wen-Amon
should be honoured. In another instance, an Aramaic inscription from Syria
records that the god Ba'al-shemain told King Zakir (8th century BC) through
seers and diviners that he would save the king from his enemies. These chapters
reveal the close connection between sacrificial rites and divine inspiration. In
the Old Testament book of Numbers,
chapters 22-24, the Mesopotamian prophet Balaam (who may have been a mahhu)
from Pethor, whom the Moabite king Balak had asked to curse the invading
Israelites, is mentioned. In chapter 27, verse 9, of Jeremiah,
another Old Testament book, it is said that prophets, diviners, and soothsayers
were in the neighbouring countries of Judah: in Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and
Sidon. Since so little is known about these prophets, the question of the
uniqueness of Hebrew prophecy is difficult to assess (see also MIDDLE
EASTERN RELIGIONS, ANCIENT ). |
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The Hebrew word for prophet is navi`,
usually considered to be a loan word from Akkadian nabu,
naba`um, "to proclaim, mention, call, summon." Also occurring in
Hebrew are hoze and ro`e, both meaning "seer," and nevi`a ("prophetess"). |
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Though the origins of Israelite prophecy
have been much discussed, the textual evidence gives no information upon which
to build a reconstruction. When the Israelites settled in Canaan, they became
acquainted with Canaanite forms of prophecy. The structure of the prophetic and
priestly function was very much the same in Israel and Canaan. Traditionally,
the Israelite seer is considered to have originated in Israel's nomadic roots,
and the navi` is considered to have
originated in Canaan, though such judgments are virtually impossible to
substantiate. In early Israelite history, the seer usually appears alone, but
the navi` appears in the context of a
prophetic circle. According to I Samuel, there was no difference between the two
categories in that early time; the terms navi` and ro`e seem to be
synonymous. In Amos, hoze and navi`
are used for one and the same person. In Israel, prophets were connected
with the sanctuaries. Among the Temple prophets officiating in liturgies were
the Levitical guilds and singers: the "sons" of Asaph, Heman,
Jeduthun, who are said to "prophesy with lyres, with harps, and with
cymbals" (I Chronicles). Other prophetic guilds are also mentioned. Members
of these guilds generally prophesied for money or gifts and were associated with
such sanctuaries as Gibeah, Samaria, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, Jerusalem, and
Ramah. Jeremiah mentions that the chief priest of Jerusalem was the supervisor
of both priests and prophets, and that these prophets had rooms in the Temple
buildings. In pre-Exilic Israel (before 587/586 BC), prophetic guilds were a
social group as important as the priests. Isaiah includes the navi`
and the qosem ("diviner,"
"soothsayer") among
the leaders of Israelite society. Divination in the pre-Exilic period was not
considered to be foreign to Israelite religion. (see also Samuel, Books of, Jerusalem,
Temple of, Isaiah, Book of) |
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In reconstructing the history of
Israelite prophecy, the prophets Samuel,
Gad, Nathan, and Elijah
(11th to 9th centuries BC) have been viewed as representing a transitional stage
from the so-called vulgar prophetism to the literary prophetism, which some
scholars believed represented a more ethical and therefore a "higher"
form of prophecy. The literary prophets also have been viewed as being
antagonistic toward the cultus. Modern scholars recognized, however, that such
an analysis is an oversimplification of an intricate problem. It is impossible
to prove that the nevi`im did not
emphasize ethics simply because few of their utterances are recorded. What is
more, none of the so-called "transitional" prophets was a reformer or
was said to have inspired reforms. Samuel was not only a prophet but also a
priest, seer, and ruler ("judge") who lived at a sanctuary that was
the location of a prophetic guild and furthermore was the leader of that navi` guild. In the cases of Nathan and Gad there are no indications
that they represented some new development in prophecy. Nathan's association
with the priest Zadok, however, has led some scholars to suspect that Nathan was
a Jebusite (an inhabitant of the Canaanite city of Jebus). |
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Elijah was a "prophet father"
(or prophet master) and a prophet priest. Much of his prophetic career was
directed against the Tyrian Baal
cult, which had become popular in the northern kingdom (Israel) during the reign
(mid-9th century BC) of King Ahab and his Tyrian queen, Jezebel. Elijah's
struggle against this cult indicated a religio-political awareness, on his part,
of the danger to Yahweh worship in Israel; namely, that Baal of Tyre might
replace Yahweh as the main god of Israel. |
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The emergence of classical prophecy in Israel
(the northern kingdom) and Judah
(the southern kingdom) begins with Amos
and Hosea (8th century BC).
What is new in classical prophecy is its hostile attitude toward Canaanite
influences in religion and culture, combined with an old nationalistic
conception of Yahweh and his
people. The reaction of these classical prophets against Canaanite influences in
the worship of Yahweh is a means by which scholars distinguish Israel's
classical prophets from other prophetic movements of their time. Essentially,
the classical prophets wanted a renovation of the Yahweh cult, freeing it from
all taint of worship of Baal and Asherah
(Baal's female counterpart). Though not all aspects of the Baal-Asherah cult
were completely eradicated, ideas and rituals from that cult were rethought,
evaluated, and purified according to those prophets' concept of true Yahwism.
Included in such ideas was the view that Yahweh was a jealous God who, according
to the theology of the psalms, was greater than any other god. Yahweh had chosen
Israel to be his own people and, therefore, did not wish to share his people
with any other god. When the prophets condemned cultic phenomena, such
condemnation reflected a rejection of certain kinds of cult and
sacrifice--namely, those sacrifices and festivals not exclusively directed to
Yahweh but rather to other gods. The prophets likewise rejected liturgies
incorrectly performed. The classical prophets did not reject all cults, per se;
rather, they wanted a cultus ritually correct, dedicated solely to Yahweh, and
productive of ethical conduct. Another important concept, accepted by the
classical prophets, was that of Yahweh's choice of Zion (Jerusalem) as his cult
site. Thus, every cult site of the northern kingdom of Israel and all the
sanctuaries and bamot ("high
places") were roundly condemned, whether in Israel or Judah. |
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Amos, whose oracles against the northern
kingdom of Israel have been misunderstood as reflecting a negative attitude
toward cultus per se, simply did not consider the royal cult of the northern
kingdom at Bethel to be a legitimate Yahweh cult. Rather, like the prophet Hosea
after him, Amos considered the Bethel cult to be Canaanite. |
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Prophets of the ancient Middle East
generally interjected their opinions and advice into the political arena of
their countries, but in this regard the classical Hebrew prophets were perhaps
more advanced than other prophetic movements. They interpreted the will of God
within the context of their particular interpretation of Israel's history, and
on the basis of this interpretation often arrived at a word of judgment.
Important to that interpretation of history was the view that Israel was an
apostate people--having rejected a faith once confessed--from the very earliest
times, and the view that Yahweh's acts on behalf of his chosen people had been
answered by their worship of other gods. In this situation, the prophets
preached doom and judgment, and even the complete destruction of Israel. The
source of prophetic insight into these matters is the cultic background of
liturgical judgment and salvation, wherein Yahweh judged and destroyed his
enemies, and in so doing created the "ideal" future. What is totally
unexpected is that the prophets would go so far as to include Israel itself as
among Yahweh's enemies, thus using these ideas against their own people.
Usually, however, the prophets allowed some basis for hope in that a remnant
would be left. The future of this remnant (Israel) lay in the reign of an ideal
king (as described in Isaiah), indicating that the prophets were not
antiroyalists. Though they could and did oppose individual kings, the prophets
could not make a separation between Yahweh and the reign of his chosen king or
dynasty. Their messianic ideology, referring to the messiah,
or anointed one, is based on old royal ideology, and the ideal king is not an
eschatological figure (one who appears at the end of history). In this respect,
the prophets were nationalistic; they believed that the ideal kingdom would be
in the promised land, and its centre would be Jerusalem. |
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With the Exile of the Judaeans to
Babylon of 586 BC, prophecy entered a new era. The prophecies of what is called
Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-45),
for instance, were aimed at preserving Yahwism in Babylonia. His vision of the
future went beyond the pre-Exilic concept of a remnant and extended the concept
into a paradisiacal future wherein Yahweh's new creation would be a new Israel.
This tone of optimism is continued in the prophetic activity (late 6th century
BC) of Haggai and Zechariah,
prophets who announced that Yahweh would restore the kingdom and the messianic
vision would come to pass. Prerequisite to this messianic age was the rebuilding
of the Temple (which was viewed as heaven on earth). When, however, the Temple
had been rebuilt and long years had passed with neither the kingdom being
restored nor the messianic age initiated, Israelite prophecy declined. (see also
Babylonian
Exile) |
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There is a tendency in prophetic
preaching to spiritualize those aspects of religion that remain unfulfilled;
herein lie the roots of eschatology, which is concerned with the last times, and
apocalyptic literature, which describes the intervention of God in history to
the accompaniment of dramatic, cataclysmic events. Since the predictions of the
classical prophets were not fulfilled in a messianic age within history, these
visions were translated into a historical apocalypse, such as Daniel. Why
prophecy died out in Israel is difficult to determine, but Zechariah offers as
good an answer as any in saying that the prophets "in those days" told
lies. Prophets did appear, but after Malachi none gained the status of the
classical prophets. Another reason may be found in Ezra's
reform of the cult in the 5th century BC, in which Yahwism was so firmly
established that there was no longer any need for the old polemics against
Canaanite religion. (see also apocalypticism, history,
philosophy of) |
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With the advent of post-Exilic Judaism
(Ezra and after), including its emphasis on law and cult, there was not much
room left for prophecy. The prophetic heritage was channelled through the
teaching of their words. What remained of prophetic activity was expressed in
various literary works that claimed esoteric knowledge of the divine purpose.
The apocalyptic writers saw themselves as taking over and carrying on the
prophetic task, but they went beyond the prophets in their use of old
mythological motifs. The events they described had usually occurred long ago,
but their recounting of these events was for the purpose of hinting and even
predicting the events of the future. There was a far greater emphasis upon
predictive speculation about the future than on the prophetic analysis and
insight into history. The apocalyptic authors wrote pseudonymously, using the
names of ancient worthies (such as Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Daniel, and Ezra). The
literature is predominantly prose, but that of the classical prophets was
predominantly poetry. Apocalyptic language is lavish in its use of fantastic
imagery, frequently using riddles and numerical speculations. In apocalyptic
literature angelology came into full blossom, with accounts of fallen angels
(fallen stars) caught up in the forces opposed to God, frequently pictured in
the old mythological motif of the struggle between darkness and light. Wild
beasts symbolized peoples and nations, and there were esoteric calculations and
speculations about the different eras through which history was passing as the
world approached the eschaton (the consummation of history). (see also Pseudepigrapha, demon,
animal) |
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Dominant in apocalyptic literature is
the theme of God's sovereignty and ultimate rule over all the universe. The
message of the apocalyptic writers is one of both warning of the doom to come at
the end of history, and hope in the new age beyond history under the rule of
God, when the righteous will be vindicated (see above, Eschatology
). |
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Though prophecy did not cease
functioning in early Judaism,
rabbinical Judaism--that influenced by rabbis, scholars, and commentators
of the Bible--sought to limit it by advocating the pre-Exilic era as the
classical time of prophecy. Prophecy was not suppressed, but it came to be
encircled by the law ( Torah)
in that all prophecy had to be in harmony with Torah, which was the definitive
revelation of God's will. Thus, rabbinical Judaism gave prophecy its place of
importance, but only as a phenomenon of the past. Such a theological stricture
could not restrain the charismatic, eschatologically oriented patriots who arose
during the time of Roman hegemony (mid-1st century BC-4th century AD). One
rabbi, Akiba ben Joseph,
joined with a messianic pretender, Bar Kokhba (originally Simeon ben Koziba) in
a revolt (132-135) and functioned as a prophet within that movement. |
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Some prophets are known from the period
of Hellenistic Judaism. I
Maccabees, chapter 14, relates that Simon
Maccabeus, who finally secured political independence for Judaea in 142
BC, was chosen as "leader and high priest forever, until a trustworthy
prophet should arise." The same notion of a prophet soon to appear is
expressed in chapter 1 of I Maccabees. The Hasmonean (Maccabean) prince John
Hyrcanus (reigned 135/134-104 BC) was regarded as fulfilling these
expectations and was called a prophet by the 1st-century AD Jewish historian Josephus
(Jewish War). Josephus also mentions
some Zealots (Jewish revolutionaries) as prophets and also one Jesus, son of
Ananias, who in AD 62 predicted the destruction of the Temple and the defeat of
the Jews. Josephus also mentions the seer Simon, a prophet leader (Antiquities),
and Menahem, who prophesied in the 1st century BC. Among the followers of Judas
Maccabeus, the leader of the 2nd-century-BC revolt, there apparently were
persons who divined knowledge of the future. These and other notations indicate
that seers and prophets played an important role in the intertestamental and
postbiblical periods. (see also Maccabees,
The Books of the, Hasmonean
dynasty) |
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Jewish theology in Alexandria (Egypt)
took up early rabbinical ideas and postulated that the will of God was to be
discerned in the Torah and affirmed that the interpretation of law succeeded
both the prophetic office and the role of sages. The law was thus considered to
be superior to prophetic teaching. The Jewish philosopher Philo
of Alexandria (c. 30 BC-after
AD 40) affirmed that the Jews are a people of prophets. He also asserted that
when a prophet has reached the fourth and final stage of ecstasy he is ready to
become an instrument of divine power. Though Philo was influenced by Hellenistic
concepts of prophecy, his basic foundation was still the Old Testament. Later
rabbis believed that prophecy, though it was a gift from the world beyond, still
required some knowledge. In rabbinic discussions of the nature of truth, it was
generally held that reason alone was necessary but insufficient; prophecy could
supply what was missing. |
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The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides
understood prophecy as an emanation from God to the intellect of man. Thus,
prophecy could not be acquired by human effort. The divine gift of prophecy was
bestowed upon those with both mental and moral perfection, combined with the
presence of superior imagination. Opponents of this view advocated that
Maimonides' concept of prophecy was not Jewish because Jewish prophecy always
showed itself to be miraculous (see also JUDAISM
). (see also Judaism) |
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The problem of false prophets that
occurred in Old Testament times also occurred in the early Christian
communities. Prophets and diviners were widespread throughout the Hellenistic
world. The Greek prophetes was not
only a forthteller but also an interpreter of divine messages. In addition,
there were mantics (from the Greek mantis)--i.e.,
visionary seers--whose visions were interpreted by prophets, soothsayers,
diviners of all kinds, and especially astrologers. The impetus for much of this
activity came from Babylonia. The influx of new religions from the East brought
a profusion of astrologers and prophets. Many schools of astrology
were founded throughout the Hellenistic world, and old schools of philosophy
became very much occupied with astrology. (see also Greek
religion) |
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Prophecy in the New Testament is seen as
both a continuation of Old Testament prophecy as well as its fulfillment. For
New Testament authors, the correct interpretation of Old Testament prophecy is
that it speaks in toto of Christ.
To prove their point, they often cite passages of Old Testament prophecy that
are then elucidated as the words of God about Christ. New Testament writers
follow Jesus himself in this matter, and Jesus is taken to be the prophet that
was promised in Deuteronomy (see John 1:45, cf.
5:39, 6:14; Acts 3:22 ff.). Jesus
regarded himself as a prophet, and so did some of his contemporaries. One
special aspect of the prophetic image, however, is missing in Jesus: he was not
an ecstatic, although supernatural revelations are found in connection with him;
e.g., the transfiguration of Jesus as
witnessed by some of his Apostles on Mt. Tabor. In these New Testament
descriptions of the transfiguration, Jesus is proclaimed to be the Son of God in
words borrowed directly from Old Testament enthronement ritual. As a prophet,
Jesus predicted his own death, his return as the Son of man at the end of the
world, and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. At many points, Jesus is
compared with and interpreted by the classical prophets in New Testament
writings: his death--seen as the martyrdom of a prophet, his sufferings, and
even his identity. (see also messiah) |
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Though the New Testament describes Jesus
as a prophet, he is at the same time believed to be more than a prophet: he is
the expected Messiah (Greek christos, "anointed
one"), predicted by prophets of old, who should reign as the Son of David
and the Son of God. The royal ideology of the Old Testament was most important
to early Christianity, for herein lay the seeds of its doctrines of Christ (see
above, Eschatology
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Several prophets are mentioned in the
New Testament. One, Zechariah, is said to have perished "between the altar
and the sanctuary" (Luke). Reference to his death is included by the Gospel
writers because he was the last prophet before Jesus to have been killed by the
Jews. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, uttered the Benedictus
("Blessed," the initial Latin word of the prophetic song) under the
inspiration of the spirit. His wife, Elizabeth, also was described as being
inspired by the spirit. |
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Others are Simeon, the prophetess Anna,
and John the Baptist. These prophets are conceived by the New Testament writers
as the termination of Old Testament prophecy, a concept also expressed by Jesus
with reference to John the Baptist. |
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The New Testament mentions several
prophetic figures in the early church. Among them are Agabus of Jerusalem; Judas
Barsabbas and Silas, who also
were elders of the Jerusalem Church; the four prophesying daughters of Philip
the evangelist; and John, the
author of Revelation. The term prophet is used with reference to an office in
the early church along with evangelists and teachers, and the recipient of the
letter bearing his name, Timothy,
is called both a minister and a prophet. The prophet's role in the early church
was to reveal divine mysteries and God's plan of salvation. Paul
instructed his followers in the correct use of prophecy, and evaluated it as
more beneficial to the life of congregations than ecstatic glossolalia (speaking
in tongues). He considered prophecy to be the greatest spiritual gift from God,
and in his view a prophet therefore ranks ahead of evangelists and teachers.
With all this prophetic activity, the problem of false prophecy was crucial, and
warnings against it abound in the New Testament. The most dangerous of the false
prophets is predicted in the book of Revelation to John as yet to come. Many of
these prophets, viewed as magicians and exorcists, are condemned for inducing
chaos and for leading people astray. Therefore all prophetic activity had to be
examined. (see also apostolic
church) |
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In the period immediately after the
Apostles, prophets continued to play an important leadership role in the church,
sometimes being called high priests. They were the only ones permitted to speak
freely in the liturgy because
of their inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Gradually, however, the liturgy became
more and more fixed, and less freedom and innovation was permitted; this change,
combined with the threat of false prophecy, eliminated these charismatic
personalities. Among the heretical sects that advocated a return to prophetic
activity, Montanism (2nd
century), led by the prophet Montanus, advocated that the spirit of truth had
come through Montanus. The freedom of doctrinal innovation that Montanus
advocated could well have led to doctrinal anarchy, and the result of the
struggle against this heresy was the suppression of charismatic prophecy,
wherein ecstatic inspiration came to be viewed by the church as demonic. |
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Another prophet who created a problem in
the early church was Mani--the
3rd-century founder of a dualistic religion that was to bear his name
(Manichaeism)--who considered himself to be the final messenger of God, after
whom there was to be no other. |
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In Western medieval church doctrines and
rituals, active prophecy had no place. Prophetic activity was carried on,
however, through holy orders. Mystically oriented holy men would sometimes
appear as prophets with a special message, and even ecstatics found their places
within the monasteries. In Eastern Christianity,
monastic life stressed training in mystical experience. (see also monasticism) |
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Throughout Christian history there have
been millenarian movements, usually led by prophetic-type personalities and
based on the New Testament belief in Christ's return. Their basic doctrine is
chiliasm (from Greek chilioi, "thousand"),
which affirms that Christ will come to earth in a visible form and set up a
theocratic kingdom over all the world and thus usher in the millennium, or the
1,000-year reign of Christ and his elect. (see also millennialism) |
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The early and medieval church hierarchy
generally opposed chiliasm because such movements often became associated with
nationalistic aspirations. Though the key leaders of the Protestant Reformation
opposed chiliasm, and therefore minimized its effects upon the emergent
denominations (e.g., Lutheran,
Calvinist, and Anglican), chiliasm did influence Anabaptist circles (radical
reformation groups), and through them chiliastic ideas influenced Protestant
Reformed theology and have appeared in reform movements, such as Pietism in
Lutheran churches, and various revivalistic movements. (see also Protestantism) |
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Pre-Islamic prophecy in Arabia
was no different in character from other Semitic prophecy. Pre-Islamic
terms for prophet are 'arraf and kahin
("seer," cognate to Hebrew kohen,
"priest"). The kahin could
often be a priest, and as a diviner he was an ecstatic. The kahin
was considered to be possessed by a jinni("spirit"), by means of whose power miracles could be performed.
Also, poets were considered to be possessed by a jinni through whose inspiration they composed their verses. The
importance of the seers and diviners was noted in all aspects of life. Any
problem might be submitted to such men, and their oracular answers were given
with divine authority. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that a kahin
often became a sheikh, a temporal leader, and there were instances in which
the position of kahin was hereditary. (see also Arabian religion) |
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It was against this background that the
founder of Islam, Muhammad,
appeared. During his early career in Mecca (in Arabia) he was considered by his
tribesmen, the Quraysh, to be only another jinni-possessed
kahin. His utterances during this time
were delivered in the same rhymed style as that used by other Arab prophets and
were mostly the products of ecstatic trances. At about 40 years of age Muhammad
experienced the promptings of the one god, Allah, and retreated into the
solitude of the mountains. These retreats served psychologically as preparations
for his later revelations. The central religious problem of Muhammad was
the fact that Jews had their sacred scriptures in Hebrew, and Christians had
theirs in Greek, but there was no written divine knowledge in Arabic. Muhammad's
preoccupation with this concern, along with a sense of the coming Day
of Judgment, became the seeds of his new religion. Contemplation had
matured Muhammad, and biographers point out that, as one may conclude
from the Qur'an, Muhammad received the divine call in a vision.
His ecstatic revelations were in the form of auditions, usually involving the
angel Gabriel reading the divine message from a book. The illiterate Muhammad
had his wife Khadijah, who was 15 years his senior, record them, and they
are preserved in the Qur`an.
Because this is believed to be a verbatim copy of the Heavenly Book, literally
the words of Allah himself, it cannot be questioned. |
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Muhammad considered himself to be
more than a mere prophet (nabi); he
thought of himself as the messenger (rasul)
of Allah, the final messenger in a long chain that had begun with Noah
and run through Jesus. As Allah's rasul,
Muhammad saw his first mission to be that of warning the Arab peoples
of the impending doomsday. No doubt Muhammad was influenced by the
Judeo-Christian tradition in his concept of the Day of Judgment, as well as in
his concept of himself as a prophet. Muhammad, who had felt at one time
that Arabs were religiously inferior to Jews and Christians, became the medium
of revelations that created Islam and raised the Arabs in Muhammad's
own evaluation to a status equal with that of the other two religions. |
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After AD 622, when Muhammad left
Mecca and found refuge in Medina, ecstatic revelations began to play a secondary
role in his prophecy--due to his political concerns--and not only does the
rhymed prose of his message give way to more conventional prose but the content
is more obviously the product of reasoned reflection on all aspects of life. |
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An official Islamic view, and
also that of Muhammad himself, was that Muhammad was the final
Prophet. The Qur`an mentions those men who are considered to have
imparted divine knowledge: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and
Jesus. None of these revealed Allah's message in full, since they were
sent only to one nation. Muhammad, on the other hand, was sent to all
nations and also to the jinn. The
messages of the prophets before Muhammad were believed to have been
either forgotten or distorted, but Islam claims that the Qur`an
both corrects and confirms the sayings of the earlier prophets; Muhammad
is the "seal of the prophets"; i.e.,
the end of prophecy. All prophecy before Muhammad is incomplete and
points to the coming of the final revelation. |
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The prophetic activity of Muhammad
serves as the foundation of Islam and Muslim society. The incomparable
revelations of Muhammad are believed to have brought true monotheism into
the world, to which nothing can be added or taken away. Thus, there is no more
need of prophets or revelations. |
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After the death of Muhammad, the
expansion of Islam brought it into contact with the world at large, and a
Muslim culture (involving science, philosophy, and literature) emerged,
partially as a result of the Muslim acquisition of Byzantine culture. Christians
and Jews became advisers and officials in Muslim courts. Christian philosophers
introduced Muslim students to the works of the 4th-century-BC Greek philosopher
Aristotle and to Neoplatonism (a philosophical system concerning the complex
levels of reality), to theories about the nature of man, to theology, to the
nature of existence, and to cosmology. Philosophical discussions about God,
however, leave little or no room for prophets, and the savant displaced the
prophet as the one proclaiming the will of God. As religious leaders, the
savants were the keepers of sunnah (the life and habits of the prophet) and hadith(traditions about Muhammad's utterances and actions), which are
supplements to the Qur`an. Study of hadith
and sunnah contributed to the beginning of scholarly and scholastic
activities in Islam, from which study emerged the Muslim system of duties
and obligations (figh). Muslim
theology began in the formulation of the doctrine of the general consensus (ijma'),
which was used to determine what was genuine sunnah.
None ventured to question that Allah was the only God, that Muhammad
was his prophetic messenger, or that the Qur`an was Allah's word;
to have done so would have been tantamount to admitting that one was not a
Muslim. |
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Scholastic philosophy was first
introduced openly into Muslim theology by al-Ash'ari
(10th century) who was the first to give Islam a systematic exposition.
Another theologian, Ibn Sina (Avicenna),
considered prophecy still to be a fundamental aspect of Islam, but for
him, a prophet was not the spirit-possessed spokesman of God but rather an
intelligent, intuitive man whose insight results in a place of leadership in
society. Another philosopher, Ibn Rushd (Averroës),
denied the belief that man's knowledge could ever be the same as God's
knowledge; he also denied doctrines of predestination and corporeal
resurrection, both of which were aspects of Muhammad's message. |
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The fact that Muhammad was
considered to be the final prophet did not end prophecy in Islam. After
Muhammad's death, several seers proclaimed themselves his successors. Muhammad
had designated no one to succeed himself, and left no sons. Abu
Bakr, the father of Muhammad's wife 'A`ishah, was chosen caliph
(Arabic khalifah, "substitute, deputy"), but this did not
discourage others from claiming that they were called of Allah and thus
trying to lead their own tribes as Muhammad had led his. Such movements
were crushed by force, which contributed to the rapid expansion of Islam. |
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Some prophets claimed that they were
long-awaited saviour-deliverers (mahdi"restorer of the faith") and even gained some following
beyond their own local tribes. Muhammad Ahmad ibn as-Sayyid 'Abd
Allah of the Sudan preached a holy war against Egypt (1881) and fought
and defeated the British governor-general C.G. Gordon at Khartoum in 1885. In
India (Punjab), Mirza Ghulan Ahmad
claimed that he had received the spirit of Jesus and that he was a prophet- messiah.
He recorded his revelations from Allah in a book. Considering himself to
be the Christ to his generation, he set out to reform Islam by
liberalizing strict orthodoxy, yet avoiding the extremes of the pro-Western
movements of his time. He gained a large following among middle-class Muslims,
but was soon disowned by orthodox Islam. His sect (Ahmadiyah),
though small in numbers, has through its missionary activities spread over much
of the world. Its sociopolitical stance is similar to that of the Black Muslims
of the United States (see also ISLAM ). |
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Buddhist
literature contains predictions of a certain Buddha Maitreya,
who will come as a kind of saviour-messiah to inaugurate a paradisaical age on
earth. Gautama the Buddha himself, the 6th-century-BC founder of Buddhism,
mentioned this prediction. Among the Hindus, the Purana
literature ("old history") contains prophetic passages, but these
are to be understood as predictions after the event has occurred. Hindu religion
has had many prophetic reformers, and the tribes of India, in their struggle for
freedom, have produced prophets who combined the ideas of religious freedom with
the hope of political and social freedom. The Oraons,
a tribe in Chota Nagpur, saw several prophets (bhagats)
appear around the turn of the 20th century. Their intent was to free their
people from foreign culture and political rule, returning to the older Hindu
culture and religion. Such efforts often led to armed rebellion and ended in
disaster. (see also Hinduism,
scripture) |
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In ancient China, divination was
commonplace. One Confucian book involving divination, the "Classic of
Changes," may have been connected with pre-Han Confucianism (before the 3rd
century BC). Classical Confucian religion, however, emphasized the importance of
rational process over inspiration and divination. Autocratic governments
eliminated any such revolutionary, prophet-led movements as occurred in India,
and any prophecy against the establishment was regarded as heretical. Inspired
prophecy found little place in the official state religion. This situation did
not rule out prophecy in folk religion, in which prophets appeared and promised
their followers the good life in this world and in the next. In modern times,
some of these movements became religio-political movements, as when Hung
Hsiu-Ch'üan, an ecstatic epileptic noble of the middle 19th century,
started a movement called the Taiping ("Great Peace"), a sect claiming
that it was establishing the correct political order anew. Hung's
movement--perhaps under the impact of Protestant missions--was quite austere,
and it opposed magic, idols, and belief in spirits. He considered the New
Testament to be authoritative for his new sect, and its rapid growth--aided by
connections with other revolutionary movements--soon resulted in a genuine
danger to the Manchu ruler of China. The Taiping
Rebellion was crushed by Gordon in 1864. (see also Chinese
religion, Confucianism) |
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Diviners and shamans (male and female)
are well represented in old Japanese Shinto.
Japanese shamanism, which was closely related to Korean shamanism, often played
a role in political disturbances and still does. Among old Japanese Buddhist
sects is that founded by Nichiren
(13th century AD), a prophetic enthusiast, religious revivalist, and zealous
nationalist who taught that the Japanese people were the chosen people of God.
In the Shinto revival movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, inspired
persons with eschatological concepts founded movements that became messianic in
character, and drew many of their followers from among the farmers, many of whom
had practiced a Buddhist folk piety. |
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In many nonliterate cultures, especially
those of Africa, shamans,
seers, and prophets are quite common. The same distinction between technical
divination and charismatic prophecy is to be found in these cultures as in the
ancient Middle East. When it is possible to trace the history of prophetic
activity in Africa, scholars usually find that it arises in times of
confrontations with foreign cultures and with the advent of new religions. A
sharp distinction between the diviner and the prophet cannot always be
maintained, for diviners sometimes appear as prophets. A diviner may hear the
voice of a god or spirit in his dreams and visions (in Zulu he is called a
"dreamhouse") and receive a message. Some prophets, avowing a call,
deny any training in prophecy. There are many parallels with the
"rebel" prophets of India. Ecstatic prophets have played an important
role not only in chiliastic and messianic movements but also in those movements
opposing imperialism and European colonization of Africa. Their goal was and is
a return to the old African culture and religion. Eschatological motifs have
often been used in the prophetic preaching of tribal and national movements
aspiring for freedom. Many of these prophets took up Christian ideas. Nxele, a
19th-century prophet of the South African Xhosas, preached the return of the
dead on a certain day, and his successor, Mlandsheni, claimed to be the
reincarnation of Nxele. He and others like him were healers and miracle workers.
(see also primitive
religion) |
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Some of the prophetic founders of reform
movements, which often were more political than religious, became messianic
figures. Other prophets started out as Christian converts but came to a strong
awareness that God had destined them to separate from their churches and lead
syncretistic movements (fusions of various sources), all of which incorporate
aspects of old African religion and, often, allow polygamy. In all these
movements, syncretistic or not, there are also many prophetesses. |
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Prophets also have been found among
American Indians. In 1675 a medicine man, Popé,
arose as a prophetic leader among the Pueblo
Indians. He preached the end of Spanish tyranny and a restoration of
Indian sovereignty. At the height of the movement, several massacres took place,
along with the burning of various church buildings. |
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(G.W.A.) |
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